Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (4/175)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

upper deck, together with the provisions he required.

Qatadah said: Its door was on its side.

It is reported from al-Hasan that it was 1,200 cubits long and 600 cubits wide. The well-known report is the first: that it was 300 cubits long.

Zayd ibn Aslam said: Noah, peace be upon him, spent one hundred years planting and cutting down trees, and another one hundred years constructing the Ark.

It is also said that he planted the trees for forty years and dried them for forty years.

Ka'b al-Ahbar related that Noah built the ship in thirty years. It is also reported that it had three decks: the lowest deck was for the animals and wild beasts, the middle deck housed the people, and the upper deck housed the birds. When the animals’ droppings became abundant, Allah revealed to Noah that he should squeeze the elephant’s tail. He squeezed it, and a boar and a sow came forth from it; they then set upon the dung. When the mouse entered the interior of the ship and began gnawing at it and its ropes, Allah, Exalted is He, revealed to him: “Strike the lion between its eyes.” He struck it, and a male and female cat came forth from its nostril; they then set upon the mouse (1).

His saying, Exalted is He: “Whenever a leading group among his people passed by him, they ridiculed him.” They would say: “This man who claims to be a prophet has become a carpenter.” It is also related that they would say to him, “Noah, what are you making?” He would reply, “I am making a house that travels upon the water,” and they would laugh at him. “He said, ‘If you ridicule us, then we will ridicule you when you behold Allah’s punishment, just as you ridicule us.’” If it is asked, “How can ridicule issue from a prophet?” the answer is that this is a form of parallel expression; that is, “If you treat me as ignorant, then I shall treat you as ignorant when the punishment descends upon you.” It is also said to mean: “If you ridicule us, you will see the outcome of your ridicule.”

“So you will come to know who will be visited by a punishment that will disgrace him, and upon whom an enduring punishment will descend.” (39)

“So you will come to know who will be visited by a punishment that will disgrace him”: that is, humiliate him. “And upon whom will descend”: that is, become inevitable for him. “An enduring punishment”: one that is everlasting.

(1) These details concerning the Ark, its length, its decks, what it carried, the creatures, and how some of them were created from others, etc., are also mentioned by al-Tabari and al-Suyuti. They are among the Israiliyyat (Judeo-Christian reports) fabricated by the Jews and their like throughout the ages. They were widespread and well known in the pre-Islamic period; when Islam came, converts from the People of the Book spread them among the Muslims. These were transmitted in good faith and were not denounced as false, on the assumption that their invalidity was self-evident. Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) noted the oddity of the preceding report of Ibn Ishaq cited by al-Baghawi. See Muhammad Abu Shahbah, al-Israiliyyat wa al-Mawdu'at, pp. 301-305; Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 2:445-446.

الْأَعْلَى مَعَ مَا يَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الزَّادِ. وَقَالَ قَتَادَةُ: كَانَ بَابُهَا فِي عَرْضِهَا. وَرُوِيَ عَنْ الْحَسَنِ: كَانَ طُولُهَا أَلْفًا وَمِائَتَيْ ذراع وعرضها ست مائة ذِرَاعٍ. وَالْمَعْرُوفُ الْأَوَّلُ: أن طولها ثلثمائة ذِرَاعٍ. وَعَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ قَالَ: مَكَثَ نُوحٌ ﵇ مِائَةَ سَنَةٍ يَغْرِسُ الْأَشْجَارَ وَيَقْطَعُهَا، وَمِائَةَ سَنَةٍ يَعْمَلُ الْفُلْكَ. وَقِيلَ: غَرَسَ الشَّجَرَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً وَجَفَّفَهُ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً. وَعَنْ كَعْبِ الْأَحْبَارِ أَنَّ نُوحًا عَمِلَ السَّفِينَةَ فِي ثَلَاثِينَ سَنَةً، وَرُوِيَ أَنَّهَا كَانَتْ ثَلَاثُ طَبَقَاتٍ، الطَّبَقَةُ السُّفْلَى لِلدَّوَابِّ وَالْوُحُوشِ، وَالطَّبَقَةُ الْوُسْطَى فِيهَا الْإِنْسُ، وَالطَّبَقَةُ الْعُلْيَا فِيهَا الطَّيْرُ، فَلَمَّا كَثُرَتْ أَرْوَاثُ الدَّوَابِّ أَوْحَى اللَّهُ إِلَى نُوحٍ أَنِ اغْمِزْ ذَنَبَ الْفِيلِ فَغَمَزَهُ فَوَقَعَ مِنْهُ خِنْزِيرٌ وَخِنْزِيرَةٌ، فَأَقْبَلَا عَلَى الرَّوَثِ، فَلَمَّا وَقَعَ الْفَأْرُ بِجَوْفِ السَّفِينَةِ فَجَعَلَ يَقْرِضُهَا وَيَقْرِضُ حِبَالَهَا، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ تَعَالَى إِلَيْهِ أَنِ اضْرِبْ بَيْنَ عَيْنَيِ الْأَسَدِ فَضَرَبَ فَخَرَجَ مِنْ مَنْخَرِهِ سِنَّوْرٌ وَسِنَّوْرَةٌ، فَأَقْبَلَا عَلَى الْفَأْرِ (١) . قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَكُلَّمَا مَرَّ عَلَيْهِ مَلَأٌ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ سَخِرُوا مِنْهُ﴾ كَانُوا يَقُولُونَ: إِنَّ هَذَا الَّذِي يَزْعُمُ أَنَّهُ نَبِيٌّ قَدْ صَارَ نَجَّارًا، وَرُوِيَ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَقُولُونَ لَهُ: يَا نُوحُ مَاذَا تَصْنَعُ؟ فَيَقُولُ أَصْنَعُ بَيْتًا يَمْشِي عَلَى الْمَاءِ، فَيَضْحَكُونَ مِنْهُ، ﴿قَالَ إِنْ تَسْخَرُوا مِنَّا فَإِنَّا نَسْخَرُ مِنْكُمْ﴾ إِذَا عَايَنْتُمْ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ، ﴿كَمَا تَسْخَرُونَ﴾ فَإِنْ قِيلَ: كَيْفَ تَجُوزُ السُّخْرِيَةُ مِنَ النَّبِيِّ؟ قِيلَ: هَذَا عَلَى ازْدِوَاجِ الْكَلَامِ، يَعْنِي إِنْ تَسْتَجْهِلُونِي فَإِنِّي أَسْتَجْهِلُكُمْ إِذَا نَزَلَ الْعَذَابُ بِكُمْ. وَقِيلَ: مَعْنَاهُ إِنْ تَسْخَرُوا مِنَّا فَسَتَرَوْنَ عَاقِبَةَ سُخْرِيَتِكُمْ. ﴿فَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ يَأْتِيهِ عَذَابٌ يُخْزِيهِ وَيَحِلُّ عَلَيْهِ عَذَابٌ مُقِيمٌ (٣٩) ﴾ . ﴿فَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ يَأْتِيهِ عَذَابٌ يُخْزِيهِ﴾ يُهِينُهُ، ﴿وَيَحِلُّ عَلَيْهِ﴾ يَجِبُ عَلَيْهِ، ﴿عَذَابٌ مُقِيمٌ﴾ دَائِمٌ.

(١) هذه التفصيلات عن السفينة وطولها وطبقاتها وما حمل فيها، وعن المخلوقات وكيفية خلقها من بعضها ... إلخ ذكرها الطبري والسيوطي أيضا، وهي من الإسرائيليات التي اختلقها اليهود وأضرابهم على مر العصور، وكانت شائعة مشهورة في الجاهلية، فلما جاء الإسلام نشرها أهل الكتاب الذين أسلموا بين المسلمين، وهؤلاء رووها بحسن نية، ولم يزيّفوا اعتمادا على أن ظاهرها البطلان. وقد أشار ابن كثير ﵀ إلى غرابة رواية ابن إسحاق التي سلفت عند البغوي. انظر الإسرائيليات والموضوعات، للشيخ محمد أبي شهبة ص (٣٠١-٣٠٥) ، تفسير ابن كثير: ٢ / ٤٤٥-٤٤٦.