Tafsir of Hud 11:38

This is a narrative of a past state, employed to evoke its remarkable image. It is said that the implication is: "He took to building" or "He began building the Ark." According to what has been narrated from Qatadah, Ikrimah, and al-Kalbi, it was made of teak wood, which he planted himself. He did not cut it until it reached a height of four hundred cubits—the cubit being to the elbow—over the course of forty years, as narrated from Sulayman al-Farasi. It is also said he left it for twenty years, or that he spent one hundred years planting, cutting, and drying it. Amr ibn al-Harith stated that he did not plant it, but rather cut it from Mount Lebanon.

From Ibn Abbas, it is narrated that it was of boxwood, cut from Mount Lebanon. It is said that it is mentioned in the Torah that it was of pine. It is narrated that Sam, Ham, and Japheth carved with him, and in another report, that there were also people he had hired to carve. It is mentioned that its length was three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits into the sky. Ibn Jarir and others recorded from al-Hassan that its length was 1,200 cubits and its width 600 cubits, and that he made a door in its middle. He completed its construction in three years, as narrated from Mujahid.

According to Ka’b al-Ahbar, it took forty years; others say sixty, one hundred, or four hundred years. There is disagreement regarding the location where he built it: it is said to have been in Kufah, in India, in the land of al-Jazirah, or in the land of Sham (the Levant). As I see it, the "ark of reports" regarding the investigation of this matter is not fit for boarding, for it is not free from flaws. It is more appropriate for one who does not incline toward trivialities to believe that he, peace be upon him, built the Ark just as God Almighty recounted in His Book, and not to delve into its dimensions of length, width, and height, nor the type of wood used, nor the time taken to complete it—along with other details that the Book has not explained and the authentic Sunnah has not clarified.

This is regarding the expression "he was building" (yasna’u). It is said to indicate continuity, which is understood from the sentence that functions as a state (hal) for his pronoun—namely, the words of the Almighty: And whenever a gathering of his people passed by him, they mocked him. That is, they ridiculed him for building the ship. This was either because they did not know what it was or how to use it, and thus they marveled at it and mocked him. What is narrated from Ibn Abbas supports their ignorance: when God Almighty said to him, "Build the Ark," he asked, "O Lord, what is the Ark?" He replied, "A house of wood that runs on the face of the water." He asked, "O Lord, where is the water?" He replied, "I am able over what I wish."

Alternatively, they mocked him because he was building it in a wilderness far from any water. They would laugh and say, "O Noah, you have become a carpenter after having been a prophet!" This is based on the premise that the ship was known to them. This is supported by what Ibn Jarir and al-Hakim recorded—and al-Hakim authenticated it, though al-Dhahabi weakened it—from Aisha, who said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "Noah remained among his people for a thousand years less fifty years, calling them, until at the end of his time, he planted a tree. It grew and spread in every direction, then he cut it down and began making it into a ship. They would see him and ask, and he would say, 'I am making it a ship.' They would mock him and say, 'You are making a ship on dry land? How will it sail?' He would reply, 'You will know.'..." The majority, as Ibn Atiyyah stated, hold that they had never seen a ship before, nor did one exist at that time. It is mentioned in books of "Firsts" that Noah, peace be upon him, was the first to build a ship. The truth is that there is no certainty in that.

Kullama (whenever) is منصوب (accusative) as an adverb of time, and ma is a particle forming a masdar (infinitive) for timing, meaning "at every time of passing." The word that governs it is its response: they mocked. The words of the Almighty, He said: "If you mock us, then we surely mock you," is an explanatory opening, as if a questioner asked: "What did Noah, peace be upon him, do when they reached this extent with him?" It is said: He replied, "If you mock us" for this work and for undertaking the means of salvation from the punishment, "then we mock you" for what you are in—of turning away from seeking deliverance through faith and obedience, and of persisting in disbelief and disobedience, and exposing yourselves to the causes of God’s wrath, among which is your mockery and ridicule of us. Attributing "mockery" to them is literal, while to him, peace be upon him, it is for the sake of parity (mushakala), as it is not fitting for the prophets, peace be upon them. Some interpreted it as "treating as ignorant," which is a metaphor, as it is a cause for mockery, so the term "mockery" was used while intending its cause.

It is also said that when the mockery came from him, peace be upon him, it was a recompense for their actions of the same kind, so it is not reprehensible; therefore, there is no need to commit to a non-literal interpretation. The plural pronoun in minna (us) is either because their mockery of him, peace be upon him, was also a mockery of the believers, or because they were mocking them as well, but it sufficed to mention their mockery of him. Thus, all were subjected to requital in his words, "we mock you," so the discourse was balanced from both sides.

The comparison in the words of the Almighty, as you mock, is either merely regarding the occurrence and realization of the act, or regarding its renewal and repetition as it proceeded from group after group. It is said there is no barrier to intending the literal meaning, and there is no harm in that due to the principle of requital. Hence, some have said that the verse contains evidence for the permissibility of meeting the like of an ignorant or foolish person with the likes of his deed. This is supported by the words of the Almighty: Whoever transgresses against you, then transgress against him in the same way he transgressed against you; The recompense for an evil deed is an evil one like it; and If you punish, then punish with the same with which you were punished. The apparent meaning is that both actions occur in the present.

Ibn Jurayj said: The meaning is "If you mock us" in this world, "then we mock you" in the Hereafter. It is said: In this world during the drowning, and in the Hereafter during the burning. al-Tabarsi said: The meaning of "we mock you" here is "we recompense you for your mockery" or "we gloat over you during your drowning and burning." In this, there is some obscurity.

It is permissible for the governor of kullama to be he said—which is the response—and the sentence they mocked to be an adjective for "a gathering" or a substitute for "passing" (an explanatory substitution), because their passing was for the sake of mockery; so it is not harmful that mockery is not identical to passing or a type of it. Abu Hayyan considered this as making the substitution far-fetched, but it is not necessarily so. This view necessitates the continuity of this statement from him, peace be upon him, which is apparent. According to the grammatical analysis, it is said there is no continuity; rather, he answered them in this way on some occasions. This is preferred, for the intention is to demonstrate the extremity of their harm toward him and his endurance of their persecution—not that he was hasty to respond whenever they committed an act of harm in speech. It may be said that this indicates that after he despaired of their faith, he did not care about angering them. And for that reason...