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The Prophets

Nūḥ (Noah) — نوح

The grateful servant who built the Ark

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His story

Nūḥ was the first messenger sent to a people who had fallen into idol worship. He called them for nine hundred and fifty years — publicly and privately, by night and by day — with arguments drawn from the rain, the crops, the stars, and their own creation. Only a few believed.

When Allah decreed the flood, Nūḥ built the Ark under revelation while his people mocked him. He carried with him the believers and pairs of every kind. His own son refused to board, trusting a mountain instead of his Lord, and was among the drowned — proof that faith, not lineage, is what saves.

When the water subsided, the earth began again with Nūḥ and those with him. The Qur'an calls him 'a grateful servant' — the summary of a life spent in patient, unrewarded calling.

Mentioned in the Qur'an — with proof

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ فَقَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ

"We sent Nūḥ to his people, and he said, 'O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him.'"

Qur'an, Sūrah al-Aʿrāf 7:59

فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمْسِينَ عَامًا

"And he remained among them a thousand years minus fifty."

Qur'an, Sūrah al-ʿAnkabūt 29:14

يَا بُنَيَّ ارْكَب مَّعَنَا وَلَا تَكُن مَّعَ الْكَافِرِينَ

"'O my son, come aboard with us and be not with the disbelievers.'"

Qur'an, Sūrah Hūd 11:42

إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا

"Indeed, he was a grateful servant."

Qur'an, Sūrah al-Isrāʾ 17:3

Sources & references

  • • Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr — Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ (Stories of the Prophets)
  • • Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
  • • Sūrah Nūḥ (71) — the full account of his call

Full details

The full account — Nūḥ (Noah)

Nine hundred and fifty years of patient calling, the argument of a people who would not listen, the building of the ark under mockery, the flood, and the hardest moment of all — a son who refused to board.

Part 01

The first messenger to a people gone astray

Between Ādam and Nūḥ, people held to the truth. Then the veneration of righteous men slowly hardened into the worship of images bearing their names — Wadd, Suwāʿ, Yaghūth, Yaʿūq, and Nasr are named in the Qur'an itself. Nūḥ was sent to a society that had not invented a new religion so much as let an old sincerity drift.

His message contained no complexity: worship Allah, you have no deity other than Him. It came with a warning and with an offer — seek forgiveness of your Lord, and He will send the sky upon you in showers, increase you in wealth and children, and make for you gardens and rivers. Repentance was presented as a benefit to them, not a favour to him.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Nūḥ 71:1–12

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Nūḥ 71:23

    “And they have said: Forsake not your gods. Forsake not Wadd, nor Suwa', nor Yaghuth and Ya'uq and Nasr.”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah al-Aʿrāf 7:59

    “We sent Noah (of old) unto his people, and he said: O my people! Serve Allah. Ye have no other Allah save Him. Lo! I fear for you the retribution of an Awful Day.”

Part 02

Nine hundred and fifty years

The Qur'an gives the figure precisely: he remained among them a thousand years less fifty. He describes his own method to his Lord — night and day, in public and in private — and describes their response: they put their fingers in their ears, covered themselves with their garments, persisted, and were arrogant with great arrogance.

Their objection was social rather than intellectual. They did not refute his argument; they refused his followers, saying that only the lowest among them had believed. He answered that he would not drive away those who believed, because they would meet their Lord, and because he was not going to measure people by what their trades were worth.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah al-ʿAnkabūt 29:14

    “And verily we sent Noah (as Our messenger) unto his folk, and he continued with them for a thousand years save fifty years; and the flood engulfed them, for they were wrong-doers.”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Nūḥ 71:5–7

    “He said: My Lord! Lo! I have called unto my people night and day But all my calling doth but add to their repugnance; And lo! whenever I call unto them that Thou mayst pardon them they thrust their fingers in their ears and cover themselves with their garments and persist (in their refusal) and magnify themselves in pride.”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Hūd 11:27–31

    “The chieftains of his folk, who disbelieved, said: We see thee but a mortal like us, and we see not that any follow thee save the most abject among us, without reflection. We behold in you no merit above us - nay, we deem you liars. He said: O my people! Bethink you, if I rely on a clear proof from my Lord and there hath come unto me a mercy from His presence, and it hath been made obscure to you, can we compel you to accept it when ye are averse thereto? And O my people! I ask of you no wealth therefor. My reward is the concern only of Allah, and I am not going to thrust away those who believe - Lo! they have to meet their Lord! - but I see you a folk that are ignorant. And, O my people! who would deliver me from Allah if I thrust them away? Will ye not then reflect? I say not unto you: "I have the treasures of Allah" nor "I have knowledge of the Unseen," nor say I: "Lo! I am an angel!" Nor say I unto those whom your eyes scorn that Allah will not give them good - Allah knoweth best what is in their hearts - Lo! then indeed I should be of the wrong-doers.”

Part 03

The ark built under mockery

When it was revealed to him that no more of his people would believe, he was told to build the ship under Allah's eyes and by His revelation, and not to address Him again concerning the wrongdoers. Every time a group of his people passed by, they ridiculed him. His answer was measured: if you ridicule us, we ridicule you as you ridicule — and you are going to know who will receive a punishment that disgraces him.

He was commanded to carry into it a pair of every kind, his family except those against whom the word had preceded, and those who believed — and only a few had believed with him.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Hūd 11:36–40

    “And it was inspired in Noah, (saying): No-one of thy folk will believe save him who hath believed already. Be not distressed because of what they do. Build the ship under Our eyes and by Our inspiration, and speak not unto Me on behalf of those who do wrong. Lo! they will be drowned. And he was building the ship, and every time that chieftains of his people passed him, they made mock of him. He said: Though ye make mock of Us, yet We mock at you even as ye mock; And ye shall know to whom a punishment that will confound him cometh, and upon whom a lasting doom will fall. (Thus it was) till, when Our commandment came to pass and the oven gushed forth water, We said: Load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already, and those who believe. And but a few were they who believed with him.”

Part 04

The flood and the son who refused

The sky poured and the earth burst forth, and the waters met for a matter already decreed. The ark sailed through waves like mountains. In the middle of that scene, the Qur'an narrows to a single human exchange: Nūḥ called to his son, standing apart — O my son, embark with us and be not with the disbelievers. The son answered that he would take refuge on a mountain that would protect him from the water. His father replied that there is no protector today from the decree of Allah except for the one He has mercy upon. The wave came between them.

Afterwards Nūḥ appealed: my son is of my family, and Your promise is true. The answer was the hardest sentence in the sūrah — he is not of your family; his work was other than righteous. Kinship does not transfer faith. Nūḥ immediately turned back: I seek refuge in You from asking of that of which I have no knowledge.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Hūd 11:41–47

    “And he said: Embark therein! In the name of Allah be its course and its mooring. Lo! my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. And it sailed with them amid waves like mountains, and Noah cried unto his son - and he was standing aloof - O my son! Come ride with us, and be not with the disbelievers. He said: I shall betake me to some mountain that will save me from the water. (Noah) said: This day there is none that saveth from the commandment of Allah save him on whom He hath had mercy. And the wave came in between them, so he was among the drowned. And it was said: O earth! Swallow thy water and, O sky! be cleared of clouds! And the water was made to subside. And the commandment was fulfilled. And it (the ship) came to rest upon (the mount) Al-Judi and it was said: A far removal for wrongdoing folk! And Noah cried unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Lo! my son is of my household! Surely Thy promise is the truth and Thou are the Most Just of Judges. He said: O Noah! Lo! he is not of thy household; lo! he is of evil conduct, so ask not of Me that whereof thou hast no knowledge. I admonish thee lest thou be among the ignorant. He said: My Lord! Lo! in Thee do I seek refuge (from the sin) that I should ask of Thee that whereof I have no knowledge. Unless Thou forgive me and have mercy on me I shall be among the lost.”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah al-Qamar 54:11–14

    “Then opened We the gates of heaven with pouring water And caused the earth to gush forth springs, so that the waters met for a predestined purpose. And We carried him upon a thing of planks and nails, That ran (upon the waters) in Our sight, as a reward for him who was rejected.”

Part 05

After the water: a new beginning

The command was given to the earth and to the sky in words of striking economy: swallow your water, and cease. The matter was accomplished and the ark came to rest on al-Jūdī. Nūḥ was told to descend in peace and blessings. He is called by the Qur'an a grateful servant, and later generations were greeted with peace upon Nūḥ among the worlds — the honour left to him because he never negotiated the message down in nine and a half centuries.

Proof

  • Qur'an, Sūrah Hūd 11:44–48

    “And it was said: O earth! Swallow thy water and, O sky! be cleared of clouds! And the water was made to subside. And the commandment was fulfilled. And it (the ship) came to rest upon (the mount) Al-Judi and it was said: A far removal for wrongdoing folk! And Noah cried unto his Lord and said: My Lord! Lo! my son is of my household! Surely Thy promise is the truth and Thou are the Most Just of Judges. He said: O Noah! Lo! he is not of thy household; lo! he is of evil conduct, so ask not of Me that whereof thou hast no knowledge. I admonish thee lest thou be among the ignorant. He said: My Lord! Lo! in Thee do I seek refuge (from the sin) that I should ask of Thee that whereof I have no knowledge. Unless Thou forgive me and have mercy on me I shall be among the lost. It was said (unto him): O Noah! Go thou down (from the mountain) with peace from Us and blessings upon thee and some nations (that will spring) from those with thee. (There will be other) nations unto whom We shall give enjoyment a long while and then a painful doom from Us will overtake them.”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah al-Isrāʾ 17:3

    “(They were) the seed of those whom We carried (in the ship) along with Noah. Lo! he was a grateful slave.”

  • Qur'an, Sūrah aṣ-Ṣāffāt 37:79

    “Peace be unto Noah among the peoples!”

Sources & further reading

  • • Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr — Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ, chapter on Nūḥ
  • • Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī on Sūrah Hūd 11:25–49 and Sūrah Nūḥ
  • • Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4712 (Nūḥ, the first messenger to the people of the earth)

What to learn

Main lessons from the story of Nūḥ (Noah)

  • Calling to truth may require patience across a lifetime; Nūḥ preached for nearly a thousand years amid rejection.
  • Close family ties do not guarantee shared faith — Nūḥ's own son and wife refused to believe.
  • Allah's promise of rescue is fulfilled precisely for those who truly believe, not merely those related by blood.
  • Building the ark before any sign of flood shows that obedience to Allah's command precedes visible proof.
  • Mockery from a rejecting people should not weaken a believer's resolve to keep delivering the message.
  • Complete destruction of a stubborn, arrogant nation shows that Allah's patience has a limit, though His mercy comes first.

Test yourself

A short quiz — Nūḥ (Noah)

Ten questions. Answer them, see your grade, and share it with someone you care about.

Question 1 of 10

Score: 0

Approximately how long did Nūḥ call his people, according to the Qur'an?