His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "He said, 'My Lord, indeed I have called my people night and day. But my calling only increased them in flight. And indeed, every time I called them to You, that You might forgive them, they put their fingers in their ears and covered themselves with their garments and persisted and were arrogant with great arrogance.' Then indeed, I called them publicly. Then indeed, I announced to them and spoke to them in secret. So I said, 'Seek forgiveness from your Lord. Indeed, He is ever Forgiving. He will send the heavens upon you in showers.'"

This statement was made by Noah, peace be upon him, after his long life and when despair was realized regarding his people. His saying, "night and day," is an expression of the continuity of his supplication and that he never ceased in it at all. It is narrated from Qatadah that Noah, peace be upon him, would have a man from his people come to him with his son, and he would say to his son: 'O my son, beware of this man, for my father warned me about him and told me that he is crazy.'

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Amir read, "my calling" with a hamzah and a fatha on the ya. And Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read it with a sukoon on the ya without a hamzah. And Shibl narrated from Ibn Kathir: with a nasb on the ya without a hamzah like "my guidance." And Asim also and Ya'qub and Salam read it with a hamzah and a silent ya.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And indeed, every time I called them to You to forgive them," means: for them to believe, and that would be the cause of forgiveness. And His saying, glorified is He: "They put their fingers in their ears" may be understood literally, and it may be an expression of their aversion and strong rejection of his words and supplication. Likewise, His saying, exalted is He: "and they covered themselves with their garments," means: they made them coverings over their heads. And "persisting" means: remaining steadfast in a certain belief, and it is most commonly used regarding sins.

Then he, blessings and peace be upon him, repeated the description of his supplication for them for clarification and emphasis. And "publicly" means openly in gatherings, and "secretly" refers to his supplication that was between him and them individually, and this is the utmost seriousness. And His saying: "Seek forgiveness from your Lord..." "He will send the heavens" implies that seeking forgiveness is a cause for the rain to descend in every nation. It is narrated from Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, that he sought rain with the people and did not do anything but seek forgiveness for an hour, then he turned away. The people said to him: 'We did not see you asking for rain, O Commander of the Believers.' He said: 'By Allah, I have indeed caused the rain to descend with the keys of the heavens.' Then he recited this verse, may Allah be pleased with him. And a man complained to Al-Hasan about drought, and he said to him: 'Seek forgiveness from Allah.' And another complained to him about poverty, and he said to him: 'Seek forgiveness from Allah, glorified is He.' And another said to him: 'Invoke Allah, exalted is He, to grant me a child.' He said to him: 'Seek forgiveness from Allah, exalted is He.' It was said to him regarding this, and he referred to this verse. And the seeking forgiveness that Al-Hasan referred to is not merely the utterance of seeking forgiveness, but rather sincerity and truthfulness in words and deeds, and likewise was the seeking forgiveness of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him.

It is narrated that the people of Noah, blessings and peace be upon him, were afflicted by drought and hardship. Therefore, he began his promise regarding rain, then he followed it with wealth and children. Qatadah said: This is because they were people who loved the world and esteemed its matters. So Allah, glorified and exalted is He, called them to the Hereafter by the path they loved. And 'midraran' is a form derived from 'darr,' like 'mithkar' and 'miqat.' This structure does not take the feminine 'taa'.