So he obeyed his Lord’s command and began building the Ark. “Whenever a group of chiefs from his people passed by him” and saw what he was doing, “they mocked him. He said, ‘If you mock us’” now, “‘then we shall mock you just as you mock us. * You will soon know upon whom a humiliating punishment will come and upon whom an enduring punishment will descend’”—whether upon us or upon you. They learned the answer when the punishment overtook them.

“Then, when Our command came”—that is, Our decree fixing the time when the punishment would descend upon them—“and the oven gushed forth,” Allah caused the sky to pour down torrents of water and made springs burst from the entire earth. Even the ovens, which are ordinarily places of fire and the places furthest removed from water, burst forth. Thus the waters met in accordance with a decree already ordained.

“We said” to Noah: “Load aboard it two of every kind, a pair”—that is, one male and one female from every kind of creature, so that every species might continue. As for other individuals beyond the pair, the Ark could not bear their load—“and your family, except those against whom the decree has already been passed,” namely the disbelievers among them, such as his son who drowned.

“And whoever had believed.” “And”—indicating the circumstance—“none had believed with him except a few.”

“Noah said” to those whom Allah had commanded him to take aboard: “Board it! In the name of Allah shall be its course and its anchoring.” That is, it sails in Allah’s name and comes to anchor in Allah’s name; it sails by His direction and command.

“Surely my Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful,” for He forgave us, showed us mercy, and saved us from the wrongdoing people.

Allah then described its passage as though we could see it: “It sailed with them”—Noah and those aboard—“amid waves like mountains,” while Allah protected the Ark and those aboard it. “Noah called out to his son” after he had boarded, wanting his son to board with him. “He”—Noah’s son—“was apart” from them when they boarded; that is, he remained at a distance. Noah wanted him to draw near and board, so he said: “My dear son, board with us and do not remain with the disbelievers,” lest what befell them also befall you.

His son then replied, denying his father’s assertion that no one would be saved except those who boarded the Ark with him:

“I will seek refuge on a mountain that will protect me from the water.” That is, I shall climb a mountain and thereby shelter myself from the water. Noah “said, ‘Today there is no protector from Allah’s decree except for whomever He has mercy upon.’” Thus neither a mountain nor anything else could protect anyone. Even if a person resorted to every conceivable means, he would not be saved unless Allah saved him. “The waves came between them, and he”—the son—“was among those who were drowned.”

When Allah had drowned them and saved Noah and those with him, “it was said, ‘O earth, swallow your water’”—both the water that had issued from you and the water that had descended upon you; that is, swallow the water upon your surface—“and, O sky, withhold your rain!” Both obeyed Allah’s command: the earth swallowed its water, the sky ceased pouring, and the water subsided from the earth. “The matter was settled” through the destruction of the deniers and the salvation of the believers.

“And it”—the Ark—“came to rest upon al-Jūdī,” meaning that it anchored upon that well-known mountain in the region of Mosul.

“And it was said, ‘Away with the wrongdoing people!’” That is, after their destruction they were pursued by a curse, banishment, and perdition that would never leave them.

“Noah called upon his Lord and said, ‘My Lord, surely my son is of my family, and surely Your promise is true.’” That is, You said to me: “Load aboard it two of every kind, a pair, and your family,” and You never fail to fulfill what You have promised me.

Perhaps he—may blessings and peace be upon him—was moved by compassion. Since Allah had promised to save his family, he thought that the promise encompassed them all, both those who believed and those who did not. He therefore called upon his Lord with that plea. Even so, he entrusted the matter to Allah’s consummate wisdom.