(9–17) “Before them, the people of Noah denied. They rejected Our servant and said, ‘A madman!’ and he was rebuked. So he called upon his Lord, ‘I have been overpowered, so grant me victory.’ We then opened the gates of heaven with pouring water, and caused the earth to burst forth with springs, so the waters met in fulfillment of a decree already ordained. We carried him upon a vessel of planks and nails, sailing under Our watchful eyes—a reward for the one who had been rejected. We certainly left it as a sign; is there anyone who will take heed? How, then, were My punishment and warnings? We have certainly made the Quran easy for remembrance; is there anyone who will take heed?”
After Allah, Exalted is He, had described the condition of those who denied His Messenger, explaining that the signs would neither benefit them nor avail them in any way, He warned and frightened them with the punishments that befell the earlier nations who denied their messengers—how Allah destroyed them and brought His punishment upon them.
He mentioned the people of Noah, the first messenger whom Allah sent to a people who worshipped idols. He called them to affirm Allah’s oneness and to worship Him alone, without partner, but they refused to abandon polytheism and said: “Do not ever abandon your gods. Do not abandon Wadd, Suwā, Yaghūth, Yaūq, or Nasr.”
Noah continued calling them to Allah by night and day, privately and publicly, but this only increased them in obstinacy and transgression, and in maligning their prophet. Hence He says here: “They rejected Our servant and said, ‘A madman!’” They claimed that the polytheism and error followed by them and their forefathers was what reason dictated, whereas what Noah, peace be upon him, brought was ignorance and error that could proceed only from madmen. In this they lied and inverted realities firmly established by revelation and reason. What he brought was the established truth, which guides enlightened, sound minds to guidance, light, and right conduct, whereas what they followed was manifest ignorance and error. [As for His words,] “and he was rebuked,” they mean that his people rebuked and treated him harshly when he called them to Allah, Exalted is He. It was not enough for them—may Allah disgrace them—to refuse to believe him and to reject him; they went so far as to inflict upon him all the harm they could. Such is the conduct of all the enemies of the messengers toward their prophets.
At that point, Noah called upon his Lord, [saying,] “I have been overpowered”: I have no power to prevail over them, for only a rare few of his people had believed, and they had no power to resist their people. “So grant me victory”—O Allah, grant me victory over them. In another verse he said: “My Lord, do not leave upon the earth a single disbeliever dwelling there,” and the verses that follow.
Allah answered his prayer and granted him victory over his people. He, Exalted is He, says: “We then opened the gates of heaven with pouring water”; that is, water of tremendous abundance, falling continuously.
“And caused the earth to burst forth with springs”: an extraordinary quantity of water began descending from the sky, while the entire earth burst forth with water—even the oven, where water was not ordinarily found, let alone expected to gush forth, since it was a place for fire.
“So the waters met”—the waters of the sky and the earth—“in fulfillment of a decree” from Allah that they should do so, “already ordained”; that is, Allah had written and decreed it in pre-eternity as punishment for those oppressive transgressors.
“We carried him upon a vessel of planks and nails”; that is, We saved Our servant Noah aboard the ship made of planks and nails—the nails with which its planks had been fastened and its structure firmly bound (1).
“Sailing under Our watchful eyes”; that is, it sailed carrying Noah, those who believed with him, and the various kinds of creatures he had taken aboard, under Allah’s care, through preservation [from Him] against drowning, [His watchful gaze], and His protection. He, Exalted is He, is the best Preserver and Trustee. “A reward for the one who had been rejected”; that is, We saved Noah from the universal flood as a reward for him. His people had rejected him and disbelieved in him, but he patiently continued calling them, steadfastly obeying Allah’s command. No one could deter him from it, nor could anyone turn him away from it (2). As Allah [Exalted is He] says of him in another verse: “It was said, ‘O Noah, disembark in peace from Us, with blessings upon you and upon communities descended from those with you,’” to the end of the verse.
It may also mean: We destroyed Noah’s people and subjected them to punishment and disgrace as recompense for their disbelief and obstinacy. This interpretation accords with the reading of those who read it with an a-vowel on the kāf.
“We certainly left it as a sign; is there anyone who will take heed?” That is, We left the account of Noah and his people as a sign from which those who reflect may learn that Allah destroys with a severe, all-encompassing punishment anyone who disobeys and stubbornly opposes the messengers. Alternatively, the pronoun may refer to the ship and vessels of its kind: the original craft of building it was taught by Allah to His servant (3) Noah, peace be upon him. Allah, Exalted is He, then preserved this craft and type of vessel among people, thereby demonstrating His mercy toward His creation, His care for them, the perfection of His power, and the marvelous nature of His workmanship. “Is there anyone who will take heed?” That is, is there anyone who will take heed (4) of the signs and direct his mind and thought toward those that come to him? They are, indeed, supremely clear and easy to understand.
“How, then, were My punishment and warnings?” That is: How do you, the one being addressed, regard Allah’s painful punishment and His warning, which leaves no one with any argument against Him?
“We have certainly made the Quran easy for remembrance; is there anyone who will take heed?” That is, We have made this ⦗826⦘ Noble Quran easy: its wording is easy to memorize and recite, and its meanings are easy to understand and know. This is because it is the finest speech in wording, the truest in meaning, and the clearest in exposition. Whoever turns to it will find that Allah makes what he seeks exceedingly easy and facilitates it for him.
Remembrance encompasses everything from which those who act may take heed: matters of the lawful and unlawful, rulings concerning commands and prohibitions, teachings concerning reward and punishment, admonitions and lessons, beneficial beliefs, and truthful accounts. Thus, knowledge of the Quran—both its memorization and its interpretation—is the easiest and noblest of all branches of knowledge. It is beneficial knowledge, and when a servant seeks it, he is helped to attain it. One of the early Muslims said regarding this verse: “Is there any seeker of knowledge, that he may be assisted [in acquiring it]?” Therefore, Allah calls His servants to turn to it and take heed through His words: “Is there anyone who will take heed?”