Tafsir of Hud 11:43

(He said, "I will take refuge") meaning: I will betake myself (to a mountain) that will protect me (from the water) meaning: it will preserve me by its height, so that it shall not reach me. He said this out of a delusion that this was like other waters in the times of common floods, from which one might perhaps be protected by ascending to a height, and in his ignorance that this was strictly for the destruction of the disbelievers; thus, it must overtake them even if they were upon the peaks of the mountains.

He said, clarifying to him the truth of the situation and turning him away from that impossible thought: (There is no protector today from the decree of Allah). This is a negation of the genus "protector," encompassing the negation of all its individuals, both in essence and attribute, to emphasize the negation of the mountain being a protector. He added (today) to signal that it is not like other days when usual incidents occur and common calamities befall, from which one might perhaps find salvation by resorting to some customary causes.

He expressed the "water" in the place of its pronoun with "the decree of Allah"—meaning His punishment, which was indicated at the beginning by His saying, the Exalted: (Until when Our command came)—to magnify its state, to inspire awe of its nature, to alert his son to his error in calling it "water" and his delusion that it was like other waters from which one might find salvation by fleeing to some known escape, and to provide the reason for the aforementioned negation. For the command of Allah, the Exalted, cannot be overcome, and His punishment cannot be repelled. This serves as a preface to restricting protection to the Presence of Allah, the Exalted—mighty is His sanctuary—by way of exception, as if it were said: There is no protector from the decree of Allah, the Exalted, except Him.

It was said: (Except for whom He has mercy upon) to magnify His majestic state—may His majesty be exalted—and to signify the causality of His mercy by virtue of it preceding His wrath. All of this is due to the perfection of the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him [Nuh] in his diligence to realize what he intended for the salvation of his son, by explaining the nature of the calamity, severing his empty ambitions, turning his reins away from offering excuses that would not avail him anything, and guiding him to seek refuge in the True Refuge—mighty is His protection. For this reason, he turned away from what the literal response would have required, such as: "The mountain will not protect you from it." This is how some of the investigators mentioned it, and it is one of the positions on the verse, and the strongest of them.

The second position is that "protector" (‘āṣim) is a form of attribution (nisba), and the intended meaning of the relative pronoun is the one who is shown mercy; i.e., "There is no possessor of protection"—that is, protected—"except whom Allah has shown mercy." This is supported by the fact that it has been recited as (illā man ruḥima)—in the passive voice. This was objected to in al-Kashshaf on the grounds that a fā‘il form meaning attribution is rare. It was answered that he meant its rarity in itself, which is denied, or if it refers to the description, then it does no harm.

The third is that ‘āṣim is on its literal meaning, and (whom He has mercy upon) means the one who is shown mercy, and the exception is disjointed (munqaṭi‘), not connected as in the first two positions; i.e., "There is no protector from the decree of Allah, but whom Allah has shown mercy, he is protected." It was argued against this that such a disjointed exception is rare, because it is, in reality, a disjointed sentence that contradicts the first not only in negation and affirmation, but also in nominality and verbality. The most frequent form of this is like: "The people did not come to me, except for a donkey."

The fourth is that ‘āṣim carries the meaning of ma‘ṣūm (protected), like dāfiq (spouting/poured forth) meaning madfūq (poured), and fātin (tempting/bewitching) meaning maftūn (bewitched) in the saying: "Slow of movement, gentle of speech; my heart has become bewitched (fātin) by him." And (whom He has mercy upon) means the one who shows mercy, and the exception is also disjointed; i.e., "There is no one protected except the One who shows mercy," in the sense that the One who shows mercy protects whom He wills.

The fifth is that the speech contains an elliptical place, and the exception is connected; i.e., "There is no protector except the place of whom Allah has shown mercy," from among the believers, which is the Ark. It is said: This is a sound position, for it contains a correspondence to his saying: (It will protect me), and it is the most preferred after the first. The protector, in this view, is a reality, but its attribution to the "place" is metaphorical. It is also said that it is a majaz mursal (synecdoche) for the place of seeking protection; the meaning is: There is no place of protection except the place of whom Allah has shown mercy. It was claimed that this is the most preferred of all because it came as a response to his saying (I will take refuge to a mountain), etc., but this is not conceded.

The sixth is what the author of al-Kashshaf suggested, which is that the meaning is: "There is no protected one except the place of whom Allah has shown mercy," intending by it the protection of those who are within it, by way of metonymy; for if the Ark is protected, then those within it are protected.

The seventh is that the exception is mufarragh (vacuous); the meaning is: "There is no protector today for anyone, or for anyone, except whom Allah has shown mercy, or for whom Allah has shown mercy." Some considered this the closest. I do not think you would prefer any position over the first, and it is the one chosen.

The apparent view, according to what Abu Hayyan said, is that the predicate of "no" (lā) is omitted because it is known; i.e., "no protector" (exists). Omission in such cases is more frequent among the Hijazis, while the Banu Tamim insist on the omission there. "Today" (al-yawm) would be in the accusative case by the omission of a verb indicated by (‘āṣim); i.e., "No protector" protects today. The prepositional phrase is connected to that verb. It forbade the possibility that "today" is in the accusative as the noun of "no" and that the prepositional phrase is connected to it, because it would then necessitate that it be declined and nunated due to the length.

Al-Hawfi permitted that "today" be connected to an omitted element that acts as the predicate of "no," and the prepositional phrase is also connected to that omitted element, or that it is connected to an omitted element that is the predicate, while "today" is in the position of an adjective for "protector." Abu al-Baqa rejected the "today" being a predicate on the grounds that it is a temporal adverb, and it cannot be a predicate for a concrete entity (juththa). He insisted that it be an object of "the decree of Allah" and that the predicate is the prepositional phrase. Abu Hayyan rejected the possibility of it being an adjective on the grounds that a temporal adverb cannot be an adjective for concrete entities, just as it cannot be a predicate for them.

(And the wave came between them) meaning: between Nuh (peace be upon him) and his son, so the conversation between them was cut off. It is said: They were exchanging words, and the exchange was not completed before a great wave came. He was riding a horse, having become insolent and pleased with himself, so it swallowed him and his horse. There is nothing in this verse here except the confirmation of the intervention. As for his (peace be upon him) knowledge of his drowning, it did not occur until afterwards. Al-Farra said: "Between them" means between the son of Nuh (peace be upon him) and the mountain. Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu al-Shaykh recorded this from al-Qasim ibn Abi Bazza. The eminent scholar Abu al-Su’ud critiqued this, stating that the Almighty's saying: (He was among the drowned) is only a consequence of the wave intervening between him (peace be upon him) and his son, not between him and the mountain, because it [the mountain] is far removed from being a protector, even if no wave intervened between him and what he sought refuge in. It was answered that the consequence does not negate that, because the intended meaning is: "he became [so] without delay," or it is based on his assumption that the water would not reach him. In the verse, there is an indication of the drowning of the rest of the disbelievers in the most eloquent manner, as if that were a decreed occurrence in no need of clarification. The inclusion of "was" (kāna) instead of "became" (ṣāra) is an emphasis on his being among them.