His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And it was revealed to Noah that no one of your people will believe except those who have believed already. So do not be distressed by what they are doing.﴾ ﴿And construct the ship under Our observation and Our revelation, and do not address Me concerning those who have wronged; indeed, they are to be drowned.﴾

Abu al-Barhasam read: "And it was revealed" with a fathah on the hamzah, attributing the action to Allah, exalted and majestic is He. "Indeed, he" with a kasrah on the hamzah. It is said that this was to Noah after the disbelief of the generation after generation had prolonged against him. A man would come to him with his son and say: O my son, do not believe this old man, for my father and grandfather have known him to be a liar and a madman. This was narrated by Ubaid ibn Umayr and others. This verse is what caused Noah, peace be upon him, to lose hope in his people. It is narrated that when it was revealed to him, he prayed and said: ﴿My Lord, leave not upon the earth any dweller from among the disbelievers.﴾ [Noah: 26].

And "do not be distressed" is from al-bu's, meaning: do not sadden yourself. From it is the saying of the poet - and he is Labid ibn Rabiah:

In a mourning gathering like sheep, They are distressed by what has befallen us.

Sarat: a place.

(p-571) The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

In the matter of Noah, peace be upon him, there is a contradiction in the apparent meanings of the verses and hadiths, and we should clarify the statement regarding it. The apparent matter is that he, peace be upon him, prayed against the disbelievers in general from all nations and did not specify his people over others. The narrations and the books of tafsir have confirmed that the drowning affected all the people of the earth and that the water encompassed all of it. This was said by Ibn Abbas and others. This necessitates Noah's command to carry pairs of animals, and were it not for the fear of the extinction of their kinds from all the earth, that would not have been. So it is not consistent for us to say that there were no people on earth other than Noah's people at that time, for it must be that Noah was sent to all people. It has been established that this virtue is specific to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, by his saying: "I have been given five things that no one before me was given." Therefore, we must affirm that there were many nations at that time. If that is the case, how did they deserve punishment collectively while Noah was not sent to all of them? We could estimate here that Allah, the Exalted, sent to them messengers before Noah, and they disbelieved in them and continued in their disbelief, were it not that we find the hadith stating that Noah was the first of the messengers to the people of the earth, and it is also not possible for us to say: They were punished without a message, while we find in the Qur'an: ﴿And We would not punish until We had sent a messenger.﴾ [Isra: 15].

The interpretation that relieves from all of this is to say: Indeed, Noah, peace be upon him, is the first messenger sent to the disbelievers among the people of the earth to rectify creation, to be diligent in conveying the message, and to endure the hardship from the people, according to what has been established in the hadith. Then we say: He was sent specifically to his people for conveying the message, calling, and warning. There remained nations on the earth to whom he was not tasked to speak. Thus, the specificity applies to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Then we say: The nations that were not sent to address them, if they were in a state of disbelief and worship of idols, and the evidence for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, was established and presented for contemplation, and they were capable of contemplation from their understanding, and the legislation—by the sending of Noah—was present and established. Therefore, it was obligatory upon them to contemplate, and by abandoning it, they were in a state of one who deserves to be punished. For indeed, this is a messenger sent, even if he was not specifically sent to them. Do you not see that the wording of the verse is: "And We did not punish until We sent a messenger" [Al-Isra: 15], meaning: until we establish him? For the sending of the prophets to specific peoples is indeed in the sense of fighting and severity. As for the aspect of giving advice and accepting those who believe, all people are equal in that regard. Noah, peace be upon him, called to Allah for a thousand years minus fifty years. It is impossible that his prophethood did not reach the near and the far, and the punishment of all came by drowning after the sending of a messenger, which is Noah, blessings and peace be upon him. Nothing in the hadith or the verses contradicts us with these interpretations, and Allah is the one who grants success to what is correct. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And construct the ark" is an addition to His saying: "So do not be grieved." The ark is the ship, and its plural is also 'arks.' It is not merely a term for singular and plural; rather, it is a form that is pluralized as 'foolk' and it is permissible to pluralize 'fa'al' as 'foolk' just as 'asad' is pluralized as 'usud.' Therefore, the apparent wording of the plural in it is like the apparent wording of the singular, and it is not so. The degree of duality between them indicates that you say: 'foolk' and 'foolkan' and 'foolk.' The movement in the plural is analogous to the dammah of the sad when you call out "O Mansur," intending "O Mansur." It was softened according to the language of those who say: "O Haru" with the dammah. For the dammah of the sad is in the wording like the dammah of the original, but it is not so in ruling.

And His saying: ﴿With Our eyes﴾ can mean, in what can be interpreted, that He intends by it to be in sight of Us and under perception. Thus, it would be an expression of perception, care, and preservation. The plural of eyes is for greatness, not for multitude, as He, the Exalted, said: ﴿And how excellent are the capable﴾ [Al-Mursalat: 23]. Therefore, the meaning of eyes in this and in other instances returns to the meaning of eye in His saying: ﴿And make the Ark under Our eyes﴾ [Ta-Ha: 39]. All of this is an expression of perception and encompassing it with the perceived. And He, glorified and exalted is He, is free from senses, likeness, and how; there is no Lord other than Him. It is also possible that His saying: "With Our eyes" means: with Our angels whom We have made as eyes over the places of your preservation and assistance. Thus, the plural in this case is for multitude. Talhah ibn Musarif read "With Our eyes" as merged.

And His saying: "And Our revelation" means: and Our teaching to you the form of the action by revelation. It has been narrated that when Noah, peace be upon him, did not know how to make the Ark, Allah revealed to him: make it according to the shape of the bird's beak, and other than that which Noah learned about its construction. It has also been narrated that it was square in shape, tall in the sky, narrow at the top, and that the purpose of it was preservation, not speed of movement. The narration that includes that it is like the beak of a bird is more correct and its meaning is more evident: for if it were square, it would not be a ship, but merely a container. And Allah, the Exalted, described it as moving in the sea. And in the narration: "The one who steered the Ark of Noah, peace be upon him, was Gabriel, peace be upon him," and the steerer is the one responsible for the operation of the ships. And whoever interpreted His saying: "And Our revelation" as: by Our command to you, that is weak: for His saying: ﴿And make the Ark﴾ suffices for that.

And ﴿Those who wronged﴾ are his people who turned away from guidance until they were engulfed by punishment. Ibn Jurayj said: And this verse, Allah has previously commanded Noah not to intercede for them.