The age of Noah, peace be upon him, was one thousand and fifty years. He was sent at the age of forty, and he remained among his people for nine hundred and fifty years. He lived after the flood for sixty years. And from Wahb: he lived for one thousand and four hundred years. If you say: Why was it not said nine hundred and fifty years? I say: What Allah has stated is more precise. For if it had been said as you suggested, it could be imagined that this number refers to more than it, and this assumption is removed with its coming in this manner. It is as if it was said: nine hundred and fifty complete years, except that this is shorter, more pleasant in wording, and fuller in benefit. Mahmoud said: 'He deviated from nine hundred and fifty because it allows for the number to be understood as more than it, unlike its coming with the exception.' Ahmad said: 'Because the exception is a clarification and a return to the statement by reducing it, clarifying the number, so it does not allow for exaggeration because the number cannot be used with it.' And there is another point: the story is narrated to mention what Noah, peace be upon him, was tested with from his people and what he endured from the length of patience, as a consolation for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and to strengthen him. Thus, mentioning the head of the number, which has no head greater than it, is more impactful and reaches the purpose of extending the listener's patience. If you say: Why was the specification first mentioned in years and then in general terms? I say: Because repeating the same word in one speech is worthy of avoidance in eloquence, except when it occurs for a purpose that the speaker aims for, such as magnification or exaggeration. Ahmad said: 'And if the exception were magnified, it would return with some magnification of the excluded from it and its glorification in the listener's eyes, and Allah knows best.' The flood is what surrounds and overwhelms with abundance and dominance, whether from a flood or the darkness of night or similar. Al-Ajjaj said: 'And the flood of darkness overwhelmed.' The flood refers to anything that surrounds and encompasses something with darkness or water or similar. Al-Ath'ab is a type of tree that resembles the fig tree; the singular is Ath'abah. The reference to the pouring today is a metaphorical expression from the category of attributing to time, or on the assumption of specification, meaning: it poured rain, and the darkness was covered by the trees that were in it. The companions of the ship were seventy-eight souls: half of them were males, and half were females, among them the children of Noah, peace be upon him: Sam, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. And from Muhammad ibn Ishaq: they were ten, five men and five women. It has been narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, 'They were eight: Noah, his family, and his three sons.' The pronoun in 'And We made it' refers to the ship or the incident and the story.