Tafsir of Al-Qamar 54:13

"And We carried him"—meaning Nuh (peace be upon him)—"on that which had planks"—meaning wide wooden boards—"and nails" (dusur).

The term dusur refers to nails, as stated by the majority of scholars and reported from Ibn ‘Abbas in a narration by Ibn Jarir and Ibn al-Mundhir. It is the plural of disar, similar to kitab and kutub. It is also said to be dusur, like saqf and suquf. The root meaning of dasr is to push or thrust with intense force and subdual; thus, a nail is called by this name because it is driven in and pushes through with intensity.

Others say it refers to ropes made of palm fiber with which ships are bound. Al-Layth said it refers to threads with which the planks of the ship are fastened.

‘Abd ibn Humayd recorded from ‘Ikrimah and al-Hasan that they are the front parts of the ship, its prow, which strikes the waves and pushes them away. A similar view is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas. Mujahid narrated that they are the crossbeams of the ship—the timbers that are laid across its center—and in another narration from him, they are the ribs of the ship.

Regardless of which is intended, the statement of Allah, "that which had planks and nails," consists of attributes standing in place of the described subject by way of metonymy (kinayah). This is like the saying, "a living being, erect of stature, wide of fingernail," used as a metonym for a human being; it is eloquent and original speech.

An example parallel to this verse is the saying of the poet: “I am one who saddles the back of a horse, but my ‘shirt’ is woven of iron.” He intended by "my shirt" a coat of mail.

Another example, describing the emaciation of camels, is: “The skeleton appears to the eye of the onlooker, even if it is in the eyes of the Naziyat (leapers) with [their] lower legs.” He intended "the eyes of the locusts," because leaping with lower legs is a specific characteristic of them.

As for the view that it is an omission of the described noun due to the attribute indicating it—as found in al-Mufassal and elsewhere—this is a grammatical discussion.