“Then, when you and those with you are settled aboard the Ark, say: ‘All praise is due to Allah, who has saved us from the wrongdoing people.’ (28) And say: ‘My Lord, grant me a blessed place to alight, for You are the best of those who grant lodging.’ (29) Indeed, in that are signs, and We surely test. (30) Then, after them, We brought forth another generation. (31) And We sent among them a messenger from their own people: ‘Worship Allah; you have no god other than Him. Will you not then fear Him?’ (32)
“So We revealed to him: ‘Build the Ark under Our watch and according to Our revelation. Then, when Our command comes and the oven overflows, put into it...” That is, bring into it. In Arabic, both forms are used: salaktuhu fi kadha and aslagtuhu fihi, meaning, “I inserted it into such-and-such.” “...a pair of every kind, along with your family—except those among them against whom the decree has already been passed”: that is, those against whom the judgement of destruction had already been decreed.
“And do not plead with Me concerning those who have wronged; they are surely to be drowned.” “Then, when you and those with you are settled aboard the Ark, say: ‘All praise is due to Allah, who has saved us from the wrongdoing people’”—that is, the disbelievers. “And say: ‘My Lord, grant me a blessed place to alight.’” Abu Bakr, transmitting from Asim, recited it as manzilan, with the mim vowelled with fatha and the zay with kasra, meaning the place of alighting. It was said that this refers to the Ark after boarding it, and it was also said that it refers to the land after disembarking. It is possible that he meant the Ark, and it is also possible that he meant after leaving it.
The remaining reciters read it as munzalan, with the mim vowelled with damma and the zay with fatha, meaning a bringing down or granting of lodging. Thus, the blessing in the Ark was salvation, while the blessing in alighting after leaving it was the abundance of offspring descended from his three sons. “For You are the best of those who grant lodging.”
“Indeed, in that”—that is, in what I have mentioned concerning Noah, the Ark, and the destruction of Allah’s enemies—“are signs”: proofs of His power. “And We surely test”: that is, We had indeed been testing. It was also said: We were only testing them—that is, testing them by sending Noah, his exhortation, and his reminder 31/b, so that We might see what they would do before the punishment descended upon them.
“Then, after them”—after their destruction—“We brought forth another generation. And We sent among them a messenger from their own people”: namely, Hud and his people. It was also said: Salih and his people, though the first view is more apparent. “Worship Allah; you have no god other than Him. Will you not then fear Him?”