Surah Ankabut ayat 14 Tafsir Quran 29:14

﴿وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمْسِينَ عَامًا فَأَخَذَهُمُ الطُّوفَانُ وَهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ﴾
[ العنكبوت: 14]

29:14 And We certainly sent Noah to his people, and he remained among them a thousand years minus fifty years, and the flood seized them while they were wrongdoers.

And verily We sent Noah to his people when he was forty years of age or older and he remained among them a thousand-less-fifty years calling them to affirm God’s Oneness but they denied him; so the Flood engulfed them a deluge of water drifted against them rising above them and drowning them for they were wrongdoers idolaters.

We sent Nuh to his people among whom he sojourned for one thousand years less fifty and they were inundated and swept away by the flood, for they were steeped in wrongful actions

Nuh and His People Here Allah consoles His servant and Messenger Muhammad ﷺ by telling him that Nuh, peace be upon him, stayed among his people for this long period of time, calling them night and day, in secret and openly, but in spite of all that they still persisted in their aversion to the truth, turning away from it and disbelieving in him.
Only a few of them believed with him.
Allah says: فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلاَّ خَمْسِينَ عَاماً فَأَخَذَهُمُ الطُّوفَانُ وَهُمْ ظَـلِمُونَ ( and he stayed among them a thousand years less fifty years; and the Deluge overtook them while they were wrongdoers. ) meaning, `after this long period of time, when the Message and the warning had been of no avail, so, O Muhammad, do not feel sorry because of those among your people who disbelieve in you, and do not grieve for them, for Allah guides whomsoever He wills and leaves astray whomsoever He wills.
The matter rests with Him and all things will return to Him.' إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ ( Truly, those, against whom the Word of your Lord has been justified, will not believe.
Even if every sign should come to them ) ( 10:96-97 ).
Know that Allah will help you and support you and cause you to prevail, and He will defeat and humiliate your enemies, and make them the lowest of the low.
It was recorded that Ibn `Abbas said: "Nuh received his mission when he was forty years old, and he stayed among his people for a thousand years less fifty; after the Flood he lived for sixty years until people had increased and spread." فأَنْجَيْنـهُ وأَصْحَـبَ السَّفِينَةِ ( Then We saved him and the Companions of the Boat, ) means, those who believed in Nuh, peace be upon him.
We have already discussed this in detail in Surah Hud, and there is no need to repeat it here. وَجَعَلْنَـهَآ ءَايَةً لِّلْعَـلَمِينَ ( and made it (the ship ) an Ayah for all people.) means, `We caused that ship to remain,' whether in itself, as Qatadah said, that it remained until the beginning of Islam, on Mount Judi, or whether the concept of sailing in ships was left as a reminder to mankind of how Allah had saved them from the Flood.
This is like the Ayat: s وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمْ أَنَّا حَمَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ فِى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ - وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ ( And an Ayah for them is that We bore their offspring in the laden ship.
And We have created for them of the like thereunto, on which they ride ) until: وَمَتَاعاً إِلَى حِينٍ ( and as an enjoyment for a while ) 36:41-44. إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَا الْمَآءُ حَمَلْنَـكُمْ فِى الْجَارِيَةِ - لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً وَتَعِيَهَآ أُذُنٌ وَعِيَةٌ ( Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits, We carried you in the ship.
That We might make it an admonition for you and that it might be retained by the retaining ears. ) ( 69:11-12 ) And Allah says here: فأَنْجَيْنـهُ وأَصْحَـبَ السَّفِينَةِ وَجَعَلْنَـهَآ ءَايَةً لِّلْعَـلَمِينَ ( Then We saved him and the Companions of the Boat, and made it an Ayah for all people. ) This is a shift from referring to one specific ship to speaking about ships in general.
A similar shift from specific to general is to be seen in the Ayat: وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَآءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَـبِيحَ وَجَعَلْنَـهَا رُجُوماً لِّلشَّيَـطِينِ ( And indeed We have adorned the nearest heaven with lamps, and We have made such lamps missiles to drive away the Shayatin (devils )) ( 67:5 ).
meaning, `We have made these lamps missiles, but the lamps which are used as missiles are not the same lamps as are used to adorn the heaven.' And Allah says: وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإِنْسَـنَ مِن سُلَـلَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ - ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَـهُ نُطْفَةً فِى قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ ( And indeed We created man out of an extract of clay.
Thereafter We made him a Nutfah in a safe lodging. ) ( 23:12-13 ).
There are many other similar examples.

(29:14) We did indeed send Noah to his people *21 and he lived among them a thousand years save fifty. *22 Eventually the Flood overtook them while they were engaged in wrongdoing. *23

And We certainly sent Noah to his meaning

*21) For comparison, see AI-i-`Imran: 33-34, An-Nisa': 163, AI-An`am: 84, AI-A'raf: 59-64, Yuuns: 71-73, Hud: 25-48, AI-Anbiyaa: 76-77, AlMu'minun: 23-30, AI-Furqan: 37, Ash-Shu araa: 105-123, As-Saffat: 75-82, AIQamar: .9-15, AI-Haaqqah: 11-12, Nuh ( the whole of it ).
One should keep the initial verses of the Surah in view in order to understand the relevancy of these stories in this context.
There, on the one hand, it has been said to the believers, " We have put to the test all those believers who have passed before you ", and, on the other, the wicked disbelievers have been warned to the effect: " You should not have the misunderstanding that you will outstrip Us and escape Our grasp. " It is to impress these two things that these historical events are being related here .

*22) This does not mean that the Prophet Noah lived for 950 years, but it means that after his appointment to Prophethood till the coming of the Flood, he went on making efforts for 950 years for the reformation of his wicked people, and he did not lose heart even though he suffered persecutions for such a long time.
The same is the aim of the discourse here.
The believers are being told: " You have been suffering persecutions and experiencing stubbornness of your wicked opponents hardly for six years or so.
Just imagine the patience and resolution and firmness of Our servant who braved such afflictions and hardships continuously for nine and a half centuries. " The Qur'an and the Bible differ about the age of the Prophet Noah.
The Bible says that he lived for 950 years.
He was 600 years old when the Flood came, and lived for another 350 years after the Flood.
( Gen.
7: 6 and 9: 28-29 ).
But according to the Qur'an, he must have lived for at least a thousand years, because 950 years is the time that he spent in preaching his mission after his appointment to Prophethood till the coming of the Flood.
Evidently, he must have been appointed to Prophethood after he had attained his maturity, and must have lived some life after the Flood also.
For some people such a long life is inconceivable.
But in this world of God strange happenings are not rare.
Wherever one may look one will see extraordinary manifestations of His power.
The occurrence of certain events and things in a usual form and manner is no proof that the event or thing cannot happen in an unusual and extraordinary way.
To break these assumptions there exists a long list of unusual events and things that have taken place in every kind of creation in every part of the universe.
In particular, the person who has a clear concept of God's being AII-Powerful, cannot be involved in the misunderstanding that it is not possible for God, Who is the Creator of life and death, to grant a life of a thousand years or so to any man.
The fact is that man of his own will and wish cannot live even for a moment, but if Allah wills, He can make him live for as long as He pleases.

*23) That is, the Flood came when they still persisted in their wickedness.
Had they desisted from it before the coming of the Flood Allah would not have sent this torment on them.

 

Nuh and His People Here Allah consoles His servant and Messenger Muhammad ﷺ by telling him that Nuh, peace be upon him, stayed among his people for this long period of time, calling them night and day, in secret and openly, but in spite of all that they still persisted in their aversion to the truth, turning away from it and disbelieving in him.
Only a few of them believed with him.
Allah says: فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلاَّ خَمْسِينَ عَاماً فَأَخَذَهُمُ الطُّوفَانُ وَهُمْ ظَـلِمُونَ ( and he stayed among them a thousand years less fifty years; and the Deluge overtook them while they were wrongdoers. ) meaning, `after this long period of time, when the Message and the warning had been of no avail, so, O Muhammad, do not feel sorry because of those among your people who disbelieve in you, and do not grieve for them, for Allah guides whomsoever He wills and leaves astray whomsoever He wills.
The matter rests with Him and all things will return to Him.' إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ ( Truly, those, against whom the Word of your Lord has been justified, will not believe.
Even if every sign should come to them ) ( 10:96-97 ).
Know that Allah will help you and support you and cause you to prevail, and He will defeat and humiliate your enemies, and make them the lowest of the low.
It was recorded that Ibn `Abbas said: "Nuh received his mission when he was forty years old, and he stayed among his people for a thousand years less fifty; after the Flood he lived for sixty years until people had increased and spread." فأَنْجَيْنـهُ وأَصْحَـبَ السَّفِينَةِ ( Then We saved him and the Companions of the Boat, ) means, those who believed in Nuh, peace be upon him.
We have already discussed this in detail in Surah Hud, and there is no need to repeat it here. وَجَعَلْنَـهَآ ءَايَةً لِّلْعَـلَمِينَ ( and made it (the ship ) an Ayah for all people.) means, `We caused that ship to remain,' whether in itself, as Qatadah said, that it remained until the beginning of Islam, on Mount Judi, or whether the concept of sailing in ships was left as a reminder to mankind of how Allah had saved them from the Flood.
This is like the Ayat: s وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمْ أَنَّا حَمَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ فِى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ - وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ ( And an Ayah for them is that We bore their offspring in the laden ship.
And We have created for them of the like thereunto, on which they ride ) until: وَمَتَاعاً إِلَى حِينٍ ( and as an enjoyment for a while ) 36:41-44. إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَا الْمَآءُ حَمَلْنَـكُمْ فِى الْجَارِيَةِ - لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً وَتَعِيَهَآ أُذُنٌ وَعِيَةٌ ( Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits, We carried you in the ship.
That We might make it an admonition for you and that it might be retained by the retaining ears. ) ( 69:11-12 ) And Allah says here: فأَنْجَيْنـهُ وأَصْحَـبَ السَّفِينَةِ وَجَعَلْنَـهَآ ءَايَةً لِّلْعَـلَمِينَ ( Then We saved him and the Companions of the Boat, and made it an Ayah for all people. ) This is a shift from referring to one specific ship to speaking about ships in general.
A similar shift from specific to general is to be seen in the Ayat: وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَآءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَـبِيحَ وَجَعَلْنَـهَا رُجُوماً لِّلشَّيَـطِينِ ( And indeed We have adorned the nearest heaven with lamps, and We have made such lamps missiles to drive away the Shayatin (devils )) ( 67:5 ).
meaning, `We have made these lamps missiles, but the lamps which are used as missiles are not the same lamps as are used to adorn the heaven.' And Allah says: وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإِنْسَـنَ مِن سُلَـلَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ - ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَـهُ نُطْفَةً فِى قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ ( And indeed We created man out of an extract of clay.
Thereafter We made him a Nutfah in a safe lodging. ) ( 23:12-13 ).
There are many other similar examples.

( And verily We sent Noah (as Our messenger ) unto his folk, and he continued with them for a thousand years save fifty years) calling them to profess Allah’s divine Oneness but they did not respond to him; ( and the flood engulfed them ) and Allah destroyed them by the flood, ( for they were wrong-doers ) they were disbelievers.

And indeed We sent Nuh (Noah) to his people, and he stayed among them a thousand years less fifty years [inviting them to believe in the Oneness of Allah (Monotheism), and discard the false gods and other deities], and the Deluge overtook them while they were Zalimun (wrong-doers, polytheists, disbelievers, etc.).

Page 397 English transliteration