And when it was that perhaps there occurred a delusion of amazement at the existence of Pharaoh and those after him from the news of the taking of those before him, according to the reading of the majority, while 'min' [من -] is one of the forms of generality, he indicated [that he destroyed -] all the opposers and saved all the supporters. He said in response to that question, confirming for the sake of those who are obstinate, and because that was something that astonished him and he delighted in mentioning it: 'Indeed, we' (p-350) 'upon Our power, greatness, and encompassing knowledge, when the water overflowed' meaning it increased beyond the limit until it rose above the highest mountain on earth to the extent that it drowned those who were upon it when the people of Noah, peace be upon him, drowned [by it -]. They could not withstand it nor oppose it in any way, nor did they succeed in boarding the ship. Thus, its departure from the norm was a refutation to the people of nature.

And when existence is a blessing, the saving of their forefathers from drowning was, therefore, a cause for their existence, a punishment upon them. Allah, the Exalted, said: 'We carried you' meaning upon the backs of your forefathers by Our greatness and will and power 'in the vessel' meaning the ship which We made by Our wisdom a vessel in the flow, until it was as if there was no vessel other than it upon the surface of the water, which We made as a matter of it to cause drowning. This is an expression by the description of the described. And Noah, peace be upon him, was the first to make the ship, and he made it by the revelation of Allah, the Exalted, and by His protection for him from making a mistake in its construction. He said: 'Make it like the shape of a bird's chest so that what flows in the water is similar to what flows in the air.' And We drowned all except those in the ship from all the people of the earth, whether human or otherwise.