Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 13758

Sayyidah Aishah al-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her), the honoured wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "If Allah Almighty were to have mercy on anyone of the people of Sayyiduna Nuh (peace be upon him), He would have had mercy on the mother of the child." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said (in explanation): "Sayyiduna Nuh (peace be upon him) remained among his people for a thousand years less fifty, calling them, until, in the last part of his time, he planted a tree. It grew large, and when it had grown large he cut it down and began making a ship from it. The people would pass by him and ask him, and he would say: 'I am making a ship.' The people would mock him and say: 'You are making a ship on dry land? How will it sail?' Sayyiduna Nuh (peace be upon him) would say: 'You will soon come to know.' When Sayyiduna Nuh (peace be upon him) had finished making it, and water gushed forth from the oven, and the water increased in the streets, the mother of a child feared for him. That woman loved the child intensely. She took him towards the mountain until she reached a third of the way up the mountain. When the water reached there, she set out from there and reached two thirds of the way up the mountain. When the water reached there, she set out with the child until she reached the top of the mountain. When the water reached her neck, she raised the child up with both her hands, until the water swept the two of them away. If Allah Almighty were to have mercy on anyone of those people, He would have had mercy on the mother of that child."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Musa bin Ya'qub al-Zam'i, whom Yahya bin Ma'in and others declared thiqah (trustworthy), while Ibn al-Madini declared him da'if (weak). The remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).