[2550] Although he was surely Noah’s son, he was not counted among Noah’s family members that were promised Divine deliverance because he was a Denier (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr).
[2551] That is, his deeds were not righteous (cf. al-Qurṭubī, al-Shawkānī, al-Qāsimī, Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar). Other exegetes, basing their opinion on the referent of the pronoun with which inna-hu ends (which could refer to either a person or an action), have it that the deed which is not righteous is Noah’s intervention on behalf of his son (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, al-Wajīz, al-Saʿdī).
[2552] Noah (عليه السلام) is being told not to ask God (سبحانه وتعالى) about the reasons behind His Deeds of which he has no knowledge and not to ask about the permissibility of that which he has no knowledge and over which he does not know for sure whether its taking place is wise and favourable (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, al-Wasīṭ, Abū al-Suʿūd, al-Saʿdī).
[2553] That is, the nations that will form from the offspring of the Believers who were aboard the ship (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, al-Khāzin, Ibn ʿĀshūr): “O descendants of those We carried ˹in the ship˺ with Noah. Indeed, he was a grateful servant!” (17: 3).
[2554] Granted that even the Deniers will also be provided for by God in this life, theirs is only a transitory enjoyment which, no matter how great it might seem, is dwarfed by comparison to the everlasting provision and reward for Believers in Paradise (cf. 31: 23-24, 47: 12; al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī).
[2555] Many other nations, who will come, will Deny God so that they too will be punished (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Shawkānī, al-Saʿdī, al-Tafsīr al-Mukhtaṣar).
[2556] God Almighty wants to hearten the Believers and remind them of the Divine canon that no one nation remains dominant indefinitely: “Those are the days We rotate them between people!” (3: 140); “Mūsā said to his people: “Seek help in Allah and be steadfast. Indeed the land is for Allah, He bequeaths it to whom He wills among His servants; the final round is for the Mindful”” (7: 128).
[2557] Their claim to worship other deities alongside God Almighty was a groundless lie (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, al-Saʿdī).
[2558] Guidance is the priciest gift that any human can be presented with, yet it is vehemently rejected. People had to be reminded of the paradoxical nature of this situation. In Sura al-Shuʿarā’, Prophets Noah, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Lot and Shuʿayb all pointed this out to their people: “I do not ask you for a payment for it. Indeed my reward is with the Lord of all beings!” Other instances also highlight the same, for example, “Then from the farthest end of the city a man came, rushing. He said: “My people! Follow the Messengers. *Follow those who ask not of you any payment and who are guided”” (36: 20-21).
[2559] This implies God’s most unique ability of creation; a quality their so-called gods are especially dispossessed of: “O mankind! A parable is set forth, so hearken to it! Truly those upon whom you call apart from God will never create a fly, even if they gathered together to do so; if the fly should rob them of aught, they could not rescue it from it. Feeble are the seeker and the sought!” (22: 73).
[2560] First, he invited them to worship God Almighty and here he invites them to repent from Associating, the gravest of all sins, and to expect the immediate good reward for this pious action (cf. al-Rāzī). God will bless those who devoutly follow the path He charted out with plentiful provisions, rain and all sorts of produce which grows because of it (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, al-Shinqīṭī). This is God’s lasting promise: “Had the people of the towns Believed and become Mindful, We would have opened up for them blessings from Heaven and Earth” (7: 96); “I ˹Noah˺ said, “Ask forgiveness of your Lord: He is Ever-Forgiving. *He will send down abundant rain from the sky for you; *and He will support you with wealth and children, and make for you gardens and rivers” (71: 10-12).