(9–12) “Pharaoh, those before him, and the overturned cities came with the sinful deed. They disobeyed the messenger of their Lord, so He seized them with a surpassing seizure. When the waters overflowed, We carried you aboard the sailing vessel, that We might make it a reminder for you and that an attentive ear might retain it.”
Likewise, besides these two tyrannical nations—ʿĀd and Thamūd—there came other insolent tyrants, such as Pharaoh of Egypt, to whom Allah sent His servant and messenger Moses [son of Imrān]—peace be upon him. He showed them clear signs through which they knew the truth with certainty, yet they rejected and disbelieved out of wrongdoing and arrogance. Before him, other deniers had also come, as had “the overturned cities”—that is, the towns of Lot’s people. All of them came “with the sinful deed,” meaning the flagrantly transgressive deed, which was (1) unbelief, denial, wrongdoing, obstinacy, and the various forms of obscenity (2) and wickedness that accompanied them.
“They disobeyed the messenger of their Lord.” Here, “messenger” is a generic noun: each of those peoples denied (3) the messenger Allah had sent to them. Allah therefore seized them all “with a surpassing seizure”—one exceeding the degree and measure necessary to destroy them.
Among them were the people of Noah. Allah drowned them in the sea when [the waters over the face of] the earth overflowed and rose above its highest places. Allah bestowed His favor upon the generations who came after them, for He had carried them “aboard the sailing vessel”—that is, the ship—within their fathers and mothers, whom Allah saved.
So praise Allah and thank the One who saved you ⦗883⦘ when He destroyed the tyrants, and take heed from His signs, which attest to His oneness. Hence He says, “that We might make it”—meaning the sailing vessel, with the entire class of vessels being intended—“a reminder for you,” reminding you of the first ship ever built, its story, how Allah saved aboard it those who believed in Him and followed His messenger, and how He destroyed all the inhabitants of the earth. Every instance of a kind is a reminder of its origin.
His words, “and that an attentive ear might retain it,” mean that people of understanding comprehend it and recognize its intended lesson and how it constitutes a sign.
This is unlike those who turn away and remain heedless, and those who are dull and lack discernment. They derive no benefit from Allah’s signs because they fail to receive admonition from Allah and to reflect upon His signs (4).