Surah Hud (11) — Ayah 37

(Ayah 37) ➊ {وَ اصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ بِاَعْيُنِنَا وَ وَحْيِنَا :} The prayer of Noah (peace be upon him) was accepted, and Allah Almighty, along with the promise of punishment upon the disbelievers, emphasized two things to Noah (peace be upon him). The first is that, to be saved from the flood of water, build a sea vessel under Our eyes and according to Our revelation. Note that the word {’’ الْفُلْكَ ‘‘} is used for a large ship (sea vessel), and the same word is used for both singular and plural, masculine and feminine. The ship built under the supervision and guidance of Allah Almighty—its grandeur cannot be imagined. Some people have described its length, width, and height, but there is no solid evidence for any of these things. The second thing is that since you yourself prayed, "O Allah! Do not leave upon the earth a single disbeliever living," now, when the punishment comes, do not speak to Me (intercede) regarding the wrongdoers (polytheists), because the decision has already been made for them to be drowned.

➋ { بِاَعْيُنِنَا وَ وَحْيِنَا :} It is understood that the word "eyes" can be used for Allah Almighty, and among His attributes are His eyes. Elsewhere, regarding Moses (peace be upon him), it is said: «{ وَ لِتُصْنَعَ عَلٰى عَيْنِيْ }» [ طٰہٰ : ۳۹ ] "And so that you may be brought up under My eyes." Some people deny that Allah Almighty has eyes, thinking that affirming eyes for Allah necessitates resemblance to the creation, i.e., He becomes like us, because we also have eyes, whereas nothing is like Allah Almighty. These people, on this pretext, have denied countless attributes of Allah Almighty and have interpreted many, such as His face, hands, shin, ears, and eyes, His descending, ascending, hearing, speaking, seeing, being pleased, and being angry, or they have stated some other meaning from themselves, or said that we do not know what it means. These poor souls did not consider that when you use the word {’’عَيْنٌ‘‘} for Allah Almighty in the Quran, then what problem do you have in saying "eyes" in Urdu? Some have translated it as "Build the ship under Our supervision." Well, this is also correct, but there is no need to deny the eyes for this, rather that supervision was also with the eyes. If you translate {’’ بِاَعْيُنِنَا ‘‘} as "supervision," even then the objection of resemblance does not end, because humans also supervise, and this too would be resemblance. They should have believed in whatever Allah Almighty has said, and accepted the solution to this difficulty that Allah Almighty Himself has stated. Thus, Allah Almighty Himself has said: «{ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهٖ شَيْءٌ وَ هُوَ السَّمِيْعُ الْبَصِيْرُ }» [ الشوریٰ : ۱۱ ] "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." Despite "There is nothing like unto Him," He hears and sees, possesses hearing and sight, but His hearing, seeing, laughing, being angry, descending, ascending, speaking, His ears, eyes, and shin—despite having all these, nothing is like the creation. If we go so far as to say that no word used for the creation can be used for Allah Almighty, then we would lose our Allah altogether. Because we are living, existing, possess knowledge—now, if you deny this for Allah Almighty, the result will be that Allah does not exist at all. Allah's refuge from such a vile belief. Surely, we are living and existing, and Allah Almighty is also living and existing, but our life and existence bear no resemblance to Allah Almighty's life and existence. His life and existence are befitting His majesty, which are eternal, everlasting, and unlimited. He is in need of none, while our existence and life are perishable, limited, and dependent on Allah.

These people say strange things; sometimes they say Allah Almighty is neither above nor below, neither on the Throne nor descends to the lowest heaven, nor will He come on the Day of Judgment—then where is He? They say, it is forbidden to ask this; He is neither in a place nor outside of place. Then sometimes they say, He is everywhere; sometimes they say, He is nowhere. O servants of Allah! Whatever introduction Allah Almighty has given of Himself, accept it in every way, but say that His eyes, ears, face, descending, ascending, etc., all exist but are not like any of the creation, rather they are as befits His majesty. In reality, these people have been deprived of faith in Allah's attributes because they considered His face, eyes, hands, hearing, seeing, etc., to be like their own, so they denied them. If they had understood this reality and believed that whatever words Allah Almighty has spoken about Himself are all true, but not like any of the creation, then they would not have lost faith.

➌ By {وَ لَا تُخَاطِبْنِيْ فِي الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا … : ’’ الَّذِيْنَ ظَلَمُوْا ‘‘} is meant the polytheists, because there is no greater injustice than shirk. The wife and one son of Noah (peace be upon him) were polytheists. Allah Almighty had already forbidden him from speaking in any way on their behalf, because there is no way for the salvation of a polytheist.

37. 1. That is, "before Our eyes" and "under Our care." In this verse, the attribute 'Ayn' is affirmed for Allah, which it is necessary to believe in, and "by Our revelation" means: build it in the manner of its length, width, etc., as We have informed you. At this point, some commentators have detailed the length and width of the ark, its levels, what kind of wood and other materials were used in it, which, obviously, is not based on any authentic source. The complete and authentic knowledge of its details is only with Allah.

37. 2. Some have taken this to refer to the son and wife of Prophet Nuh (Noah) who were not believers and were among those who drowned. Others have taken it to mean the entire nation that drowned, and the meaning is: do not seek respite for them, for now the time of their destruction has come; or it means: do not hasten for their destruction, at the appointed time all of them will be drowned (Fath al-Qadeer).

37. And build the Ark under Our eyes and according to Our command, and do not plead with Me concerning those who have done wrong [44]; surely, they are to be drowned.

[44] When this situation arose, Allah Almighty commanded Nuh ؑ through revelation to now begin constructing a very large ship according to Our instructions. And see, all those who have not believed until now, I am going to drown them all, so do not feel pity for any of them such that you begin to plead with Me for their salvation. According to the explicit statement of the Torah, the length of this ship was three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. It had three decks or levels, and it contained skylights, doors, windows, and cabins, and pitch was applied inside and outside. In other words, even by today’s standards, it was a medium-sized sea vessel, which, in the history of mankind, was probably built for the first time by Sayyiduna Nuh ؑ, and the method of its construction was taught directly by Allah Almighty through revelation.