Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:59

• (59) We certainly sent Noah to his people...

Then, He, the Glorified and Exalted, follows this with what confirms and establishes the stories of bygone nations and past centuries, and in this there is also consolation for His Prophet, peace be upon him. He, the Glorified, says: "We certainly sent Noah to his people." This is the answer to an implicit oath, meaning: By Allah, We have indeed sent, and so on. The usage of this lam (lām al-ta’kīd) together with qad in the past tense is consistent, as Al-Zamakhshari stated. It is rare to suffice with the lam alone, as in the poet’s saying: "I swore to her by Allah, the oath of a traitor, to sleep, but there was no discourse nor one to pray."

The secret behind this is that the oath clause is not brought forth except to confirm the clause that is sworn for, which is its answer. Thus, it is a site for the addressee to expect the occurrence of the sworn-upon matter, for the oath indicates importance, making it appropriate to insert qad. It is reported from the grammarians that they said: If the answer to an oath is a past, affirmative, and inflected verb, it is either near to the present time, in which case qad is used, or otherwise it is confirmed by the lam alone. Thus, they permitted both forms based on two considerations.

No conjunction was used here, whereas one was used in [Surah] Hud and [Surah] Al-Mu’minun, according to Al-Kirmani, because Noah was explicitly mentioned in Hud, and implicitly mentioned in Al-Mu’minun, as it was mentioned there before: "And construct the ship under Our observation" (11:37), and he, peace be upon him, was the first to construct it, unlike the case here.

Noah is the son of Lamech (with two fat-has). It is also said: with a fat-ha followed by a sukūn. It is also said: Malik (with an open mim and a sukūn on the lam), and the "Nu" is at the end. It is also said: Lamech, like Hajar. [He is] the son of Methuselah, with a damma on the mim, a fat-ha on the ta, and a sukūn on the shin, on the pattern of maf’ūl, as recorded by more than one. It is also said: with a fat-ha on the mim, a damma on the ta, and a sukūn on the waw and a fat-ha on the lam and a kha (with a dot). [He is] the son of Enoch (Akhnūkh), with an open hamza at the beginning, a sukūn on the kha, a damma on the nūn, a sukūn on the waw, and a kha at the end. Its meaning in that language, as it is said, is "the reader." It is also said "Khunūkh," dropping the hamza; he is Idris, peace be upon him.

Ibn Ishaq and Ibn 'Asakir narrated from Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that he said: Noah, peace be upon him, was sent in the second millennium, and Adam, peace be upon him, did not die until Noah was born to him at the end of the first millennium. They also narrated from Muqatil and Juwaybir that when Adam, peace be upon him, grew old and his bones became brittle, he said: "O Lord, how long shall I labor and strive?" He said: "O Adam, until a circumcised son is born to you." So Noah was born to him ten generations later, and he was at that time 1,000 years old minus sixty years. He was sent, according to what is narrated from Ibn 'Abbas, at the turn of four hundred years. Muqatil said: He was one hundred years old. It is also said: He was fifty years old. It is also said: He was two hundred and fifty years old. He remained calling his people for nine hundred and fifty years, and lived after the flood for two hundred and fifty years, so his life was one thousand four hundred and fifty years. He was sent, as narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn 'Asakir from Qatadah, from Al-Jazirah. He is the first prophet whom Allah, the Exalted, punished his people, and he encountered from them what no other prophet among the prophets, peace be upon them, encountered.

There is a difference of opinion regarding the universality of his mission, peace be upon him, initially, while there is consensus on its universality at the end, as no one remained after the flood except those who were with him in the ship. The claim of universality [for Noah] does not invalidate the fact that this is one of the unique characteristics of our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, because what belongs to his unique characteristics, peace be upon him, is the universality of the mission to all the two weighty ones: the jinn and mankind. This is agreed upon and known as part of the religion by necessity, so he who denies it becomes an infidel. Indeed, even [to] the angels, as a group of verifiers like Al-Subki and those who followed him have deemed most likely, refuting those who differed on this. The explicit nature of the verse: "That he may be a warner to the worlds" (25:1) [supports this], since "the worlds" means everything other than Allah, and the report of Muslim: "I was sent to all creation," supports this. Indeed, Al-Barizi said: He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent even to inanimate objects after they were made to possess perception.

The benefit of sending [the Prophet] to the infallible and the non-accountable is the seeking of their submission due to their honor, and their inclusion under his call and his following [him] as a mark of honor over all other messengers. The mission of Noah, peace be upon him, is not like that, and the difference is as clear as the morning light.

[Noah] is—as Al-Qamus says—a non-Arab name, fully declinable due to its lightness. It came from Ibn 'Abbas, 'Ikrimah, Juwaybir, and Muqatil that he, peace be upon him, was only named Noah (Nūh) because of the amount he lamented (nāha) over himself. There is a difference regarding the reason for that: it is said it is his supplication against his people for destruction; it is said it is his arguing with his Lord regarding his son Canaan; it is said that he passed by a leprous dog and said to it, "Go away, you ugly one," so Allah revealed to him: "Did you insult Me or insult the dog?" It is said it is the insistence of his people on disbelief, so whenever he called them and they turned away, he wept and lamented over them. It is said his name before that was Sakan, for people found comfort (sakana) in him after Adam, peace be upon him. It is also said: 'Abd al-Jabbar. I do not rely on any of these reports, and what I rely on is the apparent fact that it is a name given to him when he was born and is not derived from lamentation; rather, it is as the author of Al-Qamus says.

"He said, 'O my people, worship Allah'"—meaning: Him alone. The abandonment of limiting it is to signal that this is worship in reality; as for worship accompanied by shirk, it is not worship at all. And [this is] due to the indication of His saying, the Glorified and Exalted: "you have no god"—meaning: none worthy of worship—"other than Him." This is a new sentence brought to provide the rationale for the mentioned worship or the command for it. Min (in min ilāh) is extraneous, and ghayruhu (in the nominative, which is the reading of the majority) is an adjective for ilāh or a substitute for it, considering its place, which is the nominative as the subject or the doer.

Al-Kisa'i read it in the genitive, considering its wording. It was also read strangely in the accusative as an exception. The ruling of ghayr—as in Al-Mufassal—is the ruling of the noun occurring after illa, and it is the famous [usage], meaning: You have no god except Him, like your saying: "There is no one in the house except Zayd" or "other than Zayd." And ilāh, if made the subject, then lakum (to you) is the predicate, or the predicate is omitted, and lakum is for specification and clarification, meaning: There is no god for you in existence or in the world other than Allah, the Exalted.

"Indeed, I fear for you"—if you do not worship [Him] as I have been commanded. The implication is: If you do not believe, because His worship, the Glorified and Exalted, necessitates belief in Him, and it is the most important of its types. He, peace be upon him, said: "I fear" and did not speak decisively, out of compassion for them and to draw their interest with gentleness.

"the punishment of a tremendous day." This is the Day of Resurrection or the Day of the Flood, because he was more certain of its occurrence if they did not comply. The sentence, as the Shaykh al-Islam said, is a rationale for the worship by clarifying the deterrent against abandoning it, following its rationale by clarifying the incentive toward it. The description of the day as "tremendous" is to show the magnitude of what will occur on it, and to complete the warning.