And when the situation was one of astonishment and disruption, the listener was deserving of not being patient but rather hastening to ask, saying: What did he say? It was said: He said the words of one who has no intellect, following the will of Allah: "I will take refuge on a mountain that will protect me." That is: by its height, "from the water," meaning: so I do not drown. It was said: Noah, peace be upon him, said: "There is no protector today," meaning: no barrier from a mountain or anything else exists, "from the command of Allah," meaning: the Greatest King, whose command, power, and knowledge encompass all things, and His decree is drowning for every living being [that does not live in water] "except whom Allah has mercy on," meaning: except for a place of Allah's mercy, for indeed it is a barrier from that, which is the ship. Or, whoever Allah has mercy on, then Allah will protect him.

And when Noah and those whom Allah commanded him to take aboard had boarded, and there was no longer any need for the gradual rise of the water, it rose and surged and prevailed and became overwhelming. The matter was astonishing and exceeded the limit and measure. [Allah, the Exalted, said, adding to what He decreed: So the son did not hear that from him, but he disobeyed his father as he disobeyed Allah, and he took refuge on the mountain he desired, and the water rose above him, and he could not thereafter catch up with his father or reach him]: "And a wave intervened between them," meaning: between the son and the mountain or between him and his father, "the wave," mentioned in His saying: "In waves like mountains" [Hud: 42]. "So he was," meaning: [the son] in the least of matters, "among the drowned," and they are all who did not board with Noah, peace be upon him, from all the people of the earth; Abu Hayyan said: It was said: They were exchanging words, but the conversation did not complete until a great wave came, and he was riding a horse that had become arrogant and was impressed with itself, so it swallowed him and his horse, and a barrier was placed between him and Noah, peace be upon him, and he drowned - this has ended.

And riding is: being elevated on the back of something; he rode the beast, the ship, the land, and the sea; and running is: a swift passage; it is said: This ailment runs in its rulings, meaning: it passes without hindrance, and the wave is the plural of wave - for a great mass of much water that rises above its carrier, and the greatest of that occurs when the wind intensifies; and the mountain is: a large, thick body that is prominent from the earth, it is like a peg for it; and protection is: prevention from calamity.