PROPHET NOAH

Allah tells us the following in the Holy Qur'an:

We have surely sent Noah to his people, so he said: 0 people! WorshipAllah; you have no god other than Him; surely I fear for you thechastisement of a grievous Day. The chiefs of his people said: Most surelywe see you in clear error. He said: 0 people! There is no error in me, butI am an apostle from the Lord of the worlds. I deliver to you the messagesof my Lord, and I offer you good advice, and I know from Allah what you,do not know. What?! Do you wonder that a reminder has come to youfrom your Lord through a man from among you so that he may warn you,and so that you may guard (yourselves against evil), and so that mercy maybe shown to you?! But they called him a liar, so We delivered him andthose with him in the ark, and We drowned those who rejected Ourcommunications; surely they were blind people. (Qur'an, 7:59-64)

His full name is Noah son of Lamuch son of Methulach (or Enoch,prophet Idris) son of Yared son of Mahalalel son of Kenan son ofAnoosh son of Sheth (Seth) son of Adam, father of mankind. He wasborn one hundred and twenty-six years after Adam's death accordingto Jarir al-Tabari and others.' How many sons did Noah have? Theywere Ham, Sam (or Shem), Japheth (Yafith), Yam (who is called bythe People of the Book Canan and must not be confused with Canaan(Ken'an) the Arab whose descendants constituted a majority inPalestine/ by the year 1177 B.C after the outbreak of the Ma'rab

'al-Majlisi, Bihiir al-Anwiir, Vol. 11, p. 287.

2When the Greeks invaded Palestine in 449 B.C, they gave theseCananite Arabs who dwelt along the Mediterranean coast of Syria anew name: "Phoenicians" which means "people who work in theTyrean purple," a dye extracted from trees and used then to paintships. Phoenicians' Arab Semitic ancestors, as we are told on p. 25 ofVol. 1 of the sixth edition of Civilization: Past & Present (New York:Harper Collins Publishers, 1987 [1407 AH.]), had migrated fromArabia early in the third millenium B.C

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Dam of Yemen),' and Abir. Which of these was the one who preferredto seek refuge on top of a mountain rather than respond to his father'scall to join them in the ark? He was, according to most accounts, Yam.This means that Yam, or Canaan, did not leave any descendants becausehe drowned. Did Noah hav= any daughters at all? No names are providedfor us by anthropologists and historians for Noah's daughters, conceding,however, that all the four daughters-in-law of Noah, including Yam'swidow, were on board the ark.

If you trace the life-span of each of his ancestors, you will have anidea about the time in history during which he lived. A chronology of hisancestors is available in Volume One of Tabari's Tiirikh, The chronologyprovided in the Book of Matthew (of the Old Testament) is, in our view,quite inaccurate. For example, it suggests that Noah lived for ninehundred and fifty years, whereas the Holy Qur'an tells us that that wasonly the period during which Noah was preaching to his people. It neitherincludes the years he lived before inviting his people to mend their waysnor those he lived after the flood.

In Arabic, Noah's name means: he wails, laments, bemoans, mourns,weeps over others. Noah wept over his people's sins for the entire periodduring which he was admonishing them to renounce their evil ways,abandon idol worship, and accept Allah as their Lord, a period of ninehundred and fifty years as the Holy Qur'an tells us in verse 14 of Suratal-"Ankabut:

And certainly We sent Noah to his people, so he remained among thema thousand years save fifty years. And the deluge overtook them whilethey were unjust. (Qur'an, 29:14)

lMarab came later in history to be the city capital of the Second Kingdomof Saba' (Sheba) which lasted from 650 to 115 B.C. The First Kingdom of Shebaruled about one thousand years before the birth of Christ. Balqees, or Bilqis, theQueen of Sheba, came to be the wife of prophet Solomon the Wise who,according to scholars of the Bible, ruled from 970 - 935 B.C. Balqees was anArab, a descendant of Saba' son of Ka'b son of Zayd son of Himyar son ofYashjub son of Ya'rub son of Joktan (or Jochtan, as Qahtan, one of the fathersof the Arab nation, is called by Western scolars). Balqees is most often referredto as "Himyari," a descendant of Himyar. A large percentage of today'sYemenites are descendants of Himyar.

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Another meaning of his name is: one who nahha, isolated,dissociated, or cleared himself from certain people; Noah clearedhimself and his small band of believers from the rest of his peoplewho disbelieved in his message. "Noah" is not his name but hisattribute; it is an adjective, not a noun. What was, then, Noah's realname? A man from Syria once asked the Commander of the FaithfulImam "Ali about Noah's name. The Imam told the inquirer thatNoah's name was al-Sakan, and that he was called Noah because hewept over his people for nine hundred and fifty years. 1 Imam Ja'feral-Sadiq was asked the same question, whereupon he said, "Noah's(real) name was Abd al-Ghaffar; he was called Noah because hemourned himself. "2The same Imam was asked the same question ona different occasion, as Sa'Id ibn Janah, one of his companions,narrated. The Imam said, "Noah's name was Abd al-Malik; he wascalled Noah because he wept for five hundred years.'? On yet anotheroccasion, the Imam was asked the same question, and it was then thathe gave Noah's name as "Abd al-A'Ia", Why did the Imam thus givemore than one name for Noah? Shaikh al-Saduq answers thisquestion by saying, "Narrations with regard to Noah's name agree, notdisagree, with one another, and they all convey that his name meant:a servant of Allah; so, he is the servant of al-Ghaffar (the oft-Forgiving One), of al-Malik (the King), of al-A'Ia (the most High).II4

According to Wahab, al-Saduq has indicated that Noah was acarpenter; his tanned face was thin and long, his eyes were large, hislegs were thin but his thighs were huge, and so was his body ingeneral. He is described by al-Saduq as having been quite tall with alarge belly, a long beard, and broad shoulders. He was very forcefulwhen angry or when rebuking his people. When Allah chose him toconvey His message to the people, he was eight hundred and fiftyyears old. After the flood, he continued to live for seven hundredyears; hence, he lived a total of two thousand and five hundred years.

IThis is recorded on p. 435, Vol. 4, of al-Tibrisi's exegesis Mujma'al-Bayiin fi Tafsir al-Qur'an.

2Refer to p. 21 of cflal al-Shariii',

3lbid., p. 21.

4lbid.

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"Ali ibn Ahmed quotes al-Asadi quoting Sahl quoting Abd al-Azeemal-Hasani saying, as we are told by Shaikh al-Saduq, "I heard (Irnam)"Ali ibn Muhammed aVAskari saying that Noah lived for twothousand and five hundred years."

For three hundred years, during which Noah was admonishing hispeople, the latter used to bring their young sons to show them Noahand to warn them against listening to him. A father would say to hisson: "Son! If you survive me, do not obey this madman."

Where did Noah Live?One thousand years, according to p. 122, Vol. 1, of Tabari's Tarikh,separate the time between our father Adam and prophet Noah, aperiod during which all people followed one and the same creed, andall were on the right track of Islam by the token of the Our'anic versesaying,

(All) people used to be a single nation; so Allah raised prophets asbearers of glad tidings and as warners, and He revealed with them theBook with the truth, so that it might judge between people in that inwhich they differed. (Qur'an, 2:213)

Ibn 'Abbas is quoted in the same reference cited above saying,"Between Noah and Adam, peace be upon them, there was a timeperiod of ten generations during which people followed the rightcreed. Then they differed among themselves, so Allah sent Hisprophets to them to bring them glad tidings and to warn them." Hethen continued to say that this is the meaning of the verse saying,"(All) people used to be a single nation ..." cited above. Noah's longlife-span should not surprise anybody. Abu Abdullah Imam Ja'fer al-Sadiq is quoted by reporters of traditions and biographers as havingsaid, "Noah's people used to live (at least) three hundred years each."!

Noah was the first of Ulul-fAzm prophets, and the first to warnpeople against a sure calamity. During his time, people werecommitting many different types of immoralities the like of which hadnever been seen before. These included wine drinking, distraction

lThis statement and the chain of its narrators are recorded on p. 289 ofKamdl al-Deen wa Itmam al-Ni'ma, and it is quoted on p. 289, Vol. 11, ofBihar al-Anwiir,

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--from worshipping Allah, debauchery, and idol worship.

Noah and Idol WorshipThe names of the most renown idols worshipped by Noah's peopleare listed in the Holy Qur'an in verses such as these:

Noah said: Lord! Surely they have disobeyed me and followed onewhose wealth and children have increased only his loss. And they haveplanned a great plan. And they say: By no mans should you leave yourgods, nor should you leave Wudd, nor Suwa, nor Yaghuth, nor Yauq,nor Nasr. (Qur'an, 71:21-23)

In these verses, Noah complains to the Almighty against his peoplewho preferred to disobey him and, instead, obeyed the wealthy amongthem. According to al-Qummi's Tafsir, a number of pious and popularbelievers before the time of Noah died, so people grieved for thema great deal. Assuming a human form, Eblis brought them images ofthose popular and righteous individuals which they happily took todecorate their places of public meetings with. When winter came, theybrought those images indoors. Another generation came and Ebliscame again to say to them, "These are gods which your fathers usedto worship," so they worshipped them, and a great number of themstrayed, hence Noah's supplication to the Almighty to drown them.

Idol worship, then, dates back as far as the time of Noah, apractice which continued throughout Arabia till the advent of Islamin the sixth century A.D. According to the author of AI-Du" al-Manthoor, who is quoted by al-Bukhari and is referred to by al-Tabatabai in his Tafsir al-Mizan.' Ibn "Abbas said, "The idols andstatues which. the people of Noah used to worship came to beworshipped by the Arabs thereafter." Wudd, one of those idols, cameto be worshipped by Banu Kalb who were residing at Dawmat al-Jandal; Suwa" became the god of Banu Huthayl; Yaghuth became thegod of Banu Murad then of Banu Ghateef who lived near Saba'(Sheba, Yemen). Banu Hamadan came to worship Ya'ooq, while Nasrwas the god of Himyar (ancestors of Queen Balqees who marriedprophet Solomon). These idols were drowned in the flood, and theseArab tribes carved new ones modelled after them depending on their

'Refer to pp. 38-39, Vol. 20, of Tafsir al-Mizan.

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knowledge of such idols, the knowledge which was orally transmittedfrom one generation to another since the time of the flood and fromthose who survived it.

Noah's ArkScholars differ with regard to the number of those who accompaniedNoah in the ark. Ibn "Abbas says that they, including their women,were eighty in number. Imarn al-Sadiq, Abu Abdullah Ja'fer ibnMuhammed, is quoted in Rawdat al-Kiifi as having said, "Noah builthis ark by hand at the place where Kufa's mosque now stands. Hehad to bring wood from a distance till he finished it." Then the Imamturned to his left, pointed to Ibn al-Hakeem's house and added, "TheEuphrates used to flow there." Having said so, he turned to one of hiscompanions, al-Mufaddal, and said, "0 Mufaddal! It was there thatthe idols of Noah's people were placed: Yaghuth, Ya'ooq, and Nasr."lThis means that Noah lived in the southern part of today's Iraq. Atestimony to this fact exists in the famous Sumerian epic of Gil-gamesh, an ancient Babylonian version of the story of the floodwritten in Akkadian, the language then used in northern Babylonia.This epic was unearthed by Western archaeologists excavating atNineveh in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal who ruledfrom 668 to 627 B.C. Five short poems written in Sumeriarr' (thelanguage used in southern Babylonia) making reference to this epicwere rendered by some anthropologists to the second millenniumBvC. lames Trager, author of The People's Chronology, however,places the Gilgamesh epic in the third, not the second, millennium.Gilgamesh was king of Erech (Uruk), today's town of al-Warka'. Inthis epic, reference is made to one man who survived the flood. Hisname in Sumerian is Utnapishtim. In the Cultural Atlas of Mesopota-mia and the Ancient Near East, we read the following:

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A later tradition made Ubar-tutu the father of Ziusudra (or Ut-

lIbid., p. 39.

urbe Sumerians developed a cuneiform script alphabet of 600 simplifiedsigns. Earlier, they had developed a written language using thousands ofpicture signs, or ideograms. The Gilgamesh legend and the new Sumerianalphabet are both based on those ideograms.

napishtim), the Babylonian Noah. Ut-napishtim, according to theEpic of Gilgamesh, built a boat on the advice of the god Enki andthus survived the deluge that had been sent by the gods to destroyhumankind.'

Two conclusions concern us from researching the BabylonianGilgamesh epic; they are: 1) the time of the flood must have takenplace at least shortly before the third millennium B.C, that is to say,probably 3200 or 3500 B.C, although in the chronological tableprovided in Cradle of Civilization by Samuel Noah Kramer and theeditors of Time-Life Books, the earliest settlements by farmers inBabylon are dated 5000 B.C whereas the Gilgamesh epic is given theapproximate date of 2600 B.C; 2) Utnapishtim could be the Sumerianequivalent of the hero of our story: prophet Noah. Babylonianlanguages, according to the New Webster's Dictionary.' are Semitic'.The Babylonians were descendants of Sam son of Noah. Cradle ofCivilizations tells us that

From the land of Akkad came the name Akkadian given to theSemitic language that came into common use in Mesopotamia.'

What Language Did Noah Speak?The answer to this question poses a very serious challenge to anyresearcher. One is tempted to believe that Noah spoke some type ofArabic simply because his name or, rather, characteristic, is derivedfrom nawh or niyiih which means in Arabic: crying or mourning. Ourfather's name Adam is derived from the Arabic adeem al-ard, that is,an earthly composite. Yet if you carefully study the traditions quoted

'Michael Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East(Oxford, England: Musterlin House, 1990 [1410 A.H.]), p. 84.

urhe edition consulted is the large Deluxe Encyclopedic Editionpublished in 1984 (1404 AH.) by the Delar Publishing Company, Inc.

3Louis al-Ma'Iuf, the Lebanese Jesuit author of the Arabic-Arabicdictionary Al-Munjid (published in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1973 (1393 AH.) byDar el-Mashriq), however, classifies them as non-Semitic.

"Samuel Noah Kramer and The Editors of Time-Life Books, Cradle ofCivilization (New York: Time, Inc.), pp. 38-39.

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in al-Majlisi's encyclopedia titled Bihiir al-Anwdr, you will come acrossreferences to Noah speaking Syriac (eastern Aramaic). But Syriacneither existed in the fourth nor in the third millennium beforeChrist, nor was it spoken by the Babylonians; rather, it was thelanguage developed by their offspring the Chaldeans (or Caldeans),also known as the neo-Babylonians. They inhabited Chaldea,'southern Babylonia. In the fifth century B.c., they controlled all ofBabylonia, establishing the Chaldean or neo- Babylonian empire. Theirmost famous king, Nebuchadnezzar, who took control in 604 B.c.,conquered Jerusalem after having defeated the Egyptians in Syria. Hedestroyed Jerusalem in 586 BiC. and carried several thousand Je}Vscaptive to Babylonia. One of the descendants of those captives wasthe hero of next Chapter's story: Abraham.' It was from Chaldea thatboth Arabic and Hebrew languages descended. Chaldean regions suchas Bit-Yakin (Bayt al-Yaqin) never changed their Arabic names eversince. Merodach-baladan (as he is called in the Bible) or Marduk-apla-iddina Il, as he was called in Chaldean, was chief of Bit-Yakinand came to be the ruler of Babylon.' The language spoken by Noahcould not have been Syriac. Aramaic, one of the Syriac dialects, wasthe language spoken by Jesus Christ, a language which still exists andis spoken even today by a small number of Syrian Christians.

Noah's Character and ConductNo other prophet was named as such after him, and he was namedso because of the extent of his grieving; he was the first of theprophets who have brought the Shari'a; he was the first caller sent by

'This name is derived from settlers known as the Kaldu tribes. AncientGreek and Hebrew use the name Chaldea to designate Babylonia.

~is should not mislead the reader into thinking that Abraham, peacebe upon him, was a Jew. The descendants of Ya'qub, Jacob, who is alsocalled Israel, are called "Israelites," and these are classified by non-Muslimsas "Jews." In Islam, all prophets of God, from Adam (as) tc Muhammed (P).including. of course, Abraham (as), are considered as Muslims. Verse 67 ofSurat Ali "Imran (Ch. 3, Family of "Imran) reads: "Abraham was neither aJew nor a Christian but an upright man, a Muslim, and he was not one ofthe polytheists."

3Michael Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia, p. 182.

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Allah Almighty; he was the first to warn against polytheism; he wasthe first to be persecuted by his nation because of rejecting his call;he caused all the inhabitants of the earth to perish because of hissupplication. It is said that Allah Almighty inspired him after theflood, "1have created My creation and ordered them to obey Me, butthey opted to go against My will, so My Wrath descended upon them,and 1caused even those who did not disobey me to be tormented justas those who did, and I have caused all My creation to suffer becauseof the sins of the descendants of Adam. I have sworn by My Own Selfthat I shall never torment anyone among My creation in this sameway [by flood], but I shall grant authority to various nations fromamong My servants, then I shall reward them according to their deedswhen they are assembled to Me." Noah lived longer than any otherprophet. He is referred to as the eldest among the prophets and thewise man among the messengers. His miracle is in his own selfbecause he lived very long without losing a tooth or his strengthweakening. No other messenger exerted as much effort in deliveringthe message as he had. He used to call upon his people night andday, openly and secretly, and no other prophet received from hispeople as much beating, chiding, and all types of harm and rudenessas he did. For these reasons, the Almighty has said, "And the peopleof Noah before; surely they were a transgressing people" (Qur'an,51:46). He is also considered next only to the Chosen OneMuhammed, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, withregard to the covenant and the inspiration; Allah Almighty has said,"And We took from the prophets their covenant, and from you, andfrom Noah" (Qur'an, 33:7). The Almighty has also said, "Surely Wehave revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and to the prophetsafter him" (Qur'an, 4:163).

In as far as resurrection is concerned, Noah is the first person forwhom the earth shall open up on the Day of Judgment, only afterMuhammed, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and hisprogeny. The Almighty had given him the ark and taught him how tomake it; He protected it and its cargo and permitted him to sail overthe water, and He even called him a grateful servant of His: "... theoffspring of those whom We carried with Noah; surely he was agrateful servant" (Qur'an, 17:3). The Almighty honoured him withsecurity and bliss, saying, "0 Noah! Descend with peace from Us andblessings on you and on the people from among those with you"

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(Qur'an, 11:48).Muhammed ibn Ka'b al-Qarzi has said, "Every believing man and

woman had entered into that peace and remained therein till the Dayof Judgment. Noah made his offspring the only survivors; therefore,he is the first of humans and the origin of the human race." Al-Hasanhas quoted Samrah ibn Jandab saying that the Messenger of Allahhas said, "Three sons were born for Noah: Sam, Ham and Yafith(Japeth). Sam is the father of all Arabs, Persians, and Romans. Hamis the father of all the Black people. Yafith is the father of all theTurks, Gag and Magog."

When Noah and his offspring descended from the ark, he dividedthe earth among his three sons. He gave to Sam the center of theearth, where Jerusalem, the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates, Sehonand Jehon are, which is the area between Qaysoon up to the east ofthe Nile, and between the flow of the south up to the flow of thenorth. To Ham he gave the area west of the Nile and the landsbetween the flow of the southern wind and beyond it up to Sehon tothe flow of the west wind. To Yafithhe gave the area from Qaysoonand beyond it up to the foothills of Saba'. This is the explanation ofthe verse saying, "And We made his offspring the survivors, and Weperpetuated to him (praise) among the later generations. Peace andsalutation to Noah among the nations. Thus do We surely reward thedoers of good. Surely he was of Our believing servants" (Qur'an,37:77-81).

Noah in the Holy Qur'anIn addition to the verses cited above, the Holy Qur'an records thefollowing supplications of Noah:

Lord! I seek refuge in You against asking You for that of which I have noknowledge, and if You do not forgive me and have mercy on me, I willsurely be among the losers. (Qur'an, 11:47)

And certainly We sent Noah to his people, and he said: 0 my people!Worship Alliih; you have no god other than Him; will you not then guard(yourselves against evil)? And the chiefs of those who disbelieved fromamong his people said: He is nothing but a mortal like yourselves whodesires to have superiority over you, and had Alliih pleased, He couldcertainly have sent down angels. We have not heard of this among ourfathers of yore: he is only a madman; so bear with him for some time. He

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said: 0 Lord! Help me against their calling me a liar. So We revealed tohim, saying: Make the ark before Our eyes and (according to) Ourrevelation, and when Our command is given and the valley overflows, takeinto it of every kind a pair, two, and your followers, except those amongthem against whom the word has already gone forth, and do not speak toMe in respect of the unjust; surely they shall be drowned. And when you arefirmly seated, you and those with you, in the ark, say: All praise is due toAlliih Who delivered us from the unjust people. And say: 0 Lord! Causeme to disembark a blessed disembarking, and You are the best to cause adisembarking. Most surely there are signs in this, and most surely We areever trying (men). (Qur'an, 23:23-30)

And Noah said: Lord! Do not leave upon the earth any dweller fromamong the unbelievers, for if You leave them, they will surely lead Yourservants astray and will not beget any but immoral, ungrateful (offspring);Lord! Forgive me and my parents and whoever enters my house believing,and the believing men and women, and do not increase the unjust in aughtbut destruction! (Qur'an, 71:26-28)

He said: Lord! Surely my people charge me of telling a lie! Therefore judgebetween me and them with a ljust) judgment, and deliver me and thebelievers with me. So We delivered him and those with him in the ladenark, then We drowned the rest afterwards. Most surely there is a sign in this,but most of them do not believe. And most sureLyyour Lord is the Mighty,the Merciful. (Qur'an, 26:117-122)

What is "al-Tannoor"?Reference to al-tannoor exists in 11:40 which states: "When Ourcommand came and water came forth from the tannoor, We said:Carry in it two of all things, a pair, and your own family, except thoseagainst whom' the word has already gone forth, and those whobelieve." According to most people, al-tannoor means the earth'ssurface; so, the meaning would be: "and the earth gushed out from allits parts, so much so that even the tannoor, the surface of the earth,gushed forth with water." Ibn Atheer, on p. 95 of his book Qasas al-Anbiyii', quotes Imam "Aliibn Abu Talib saying, "The meaning of al-tannor is daybreak and the light-bringing dawn, that is, its aurora andlight."The verse in question will then mean: It is then that you shouldcarry in it two pairs of everything."

The story of Noah should teach everyone that no matter how longit takes, the end of those who do not worship the Almighty will be

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•truly tragic. Those who attribute a son to Him, those who rememberHim maybe once a week or only on certain occasions, and those whoshun Him altogether..., will all sooner or later come to realize thatthere is a price for being on earth, a purpose, a mission to fulfill, andthat their God did not create them then forget about them. He willhold them responsible for each and every word they uttered, for eachand every deed they did. And His reckoning will not be easy at all ...

• INVOCATION BY NOAH

These invocations are cited from the Holy Qur'an:

Lord! I seek refuge in You against asking You for that of whjch I haveno knowledge; and if You do not forgive me and have mercy on me,I will surely be among the losers. (Qur'an, 11:47)

And certainly We sent Noah to his people, and he said: 0 my people!Worship Allah; you have no god other than Him; will you not thenguard (yourselves against evil)? And the chiefs of those who disbelievedfrom among his people said: He is nothing but a mortal like yourselveswho desires that he may have superiority over you, and had Allahpleased, He could certainly have sent down angels. We have not heardof this among our father of yore: he is only a madman; so bear withhim for some time. He said: 0 my Lord! Help me against their callingme a liar. So We revealed to him, saying: Make the ark before Our eyesand (according to) Our revelation, and when Our command is givenand the valley overflows, take into it of every kind a pair, two, and yourfollowers, except those among them against whom the word has goneforth, and do not speak to Me in respect of those who are unjust; surelythey shall be drowned. And when you are firmly seated, you and thosewith you, in the ark, say: All praise is due to Allah Who delivered usfrom the unjust people. And say: 0 Lord! Cause me to disembark ablessed disembarking, and You are the best to cause a disembarking.Most surely there are signs in this, and most surely We are ever trying(men). (Qur'an, 23:23-30)

And Noah said: Lord! Do not leave upon the earth any dweller fromamong the unbelievers, for if You leave them, they will surely lead Yourservants astray and will not beget any but immoral, ungrateful

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(offspring); Lord! Forgive me and my parents and whoever enters myhouse believing, and the believing men and women, and do notincrease the unjust in aught but destruction! (Qur'an, 71:26-28)

He said: Lord! Surely my people charge me of telling a lie! Thereforejudge between me and them with a (just) judgment, and deliver me andthose who are with me of the believers. So We delivered him and thosewith him in the laden ark, then We drowned the rest afterwards. Mostsurely there is a sign in this, but most of them do not believe. And mostsurely your Lord is the Mighty, the Merciful. (Qur'an, 26:117-122)

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