Chroniclers differ about the name of Nûh’s father. Some call him Malak, and others Malakan, and Lâmak,*
and Lâlay also. Nûh was born one hundred and twenty-six years after the decease of Adam, when Leo was in the ascendant. Various opinions are current concerning the reason of his being called Nûh. According to some, Satan paid a visit to Nûh after the deluge had subsided, and said: ‘O prophet of Allah, thou hast done me good service, and accomplished a matter impossible to me and to my assistants after the toil of many years.’ Nûh asked: ‘What is that, O enemy of Allah?’ Eblis rejoined: ‘Thou hast prayed to God to destroy all infidels at once, and to send them to hell.’ Nûh repented of that prayer, and said: ‘Would to God I had not done so!’ After that he began to lament and to mourn; therefore he was called Nûh.* The learned have thus explained it in their books. Whilst writing this a doubt has occurred to the author, and he lays it before the reader as follows: Etymologists agree that Nûh is a foreign word, but that Nuha is Arabic; but as the latter is derived from the former, it must likewise be an Arabic, and not a foreign word. Allah— w. n. b. e.—knows best. Some call this blessed name Sâkun, and others Sâkub and Sakub; but according to current opinion Nûh is the first Uvlu-l-a’zm,* which means a prophet whose law superseded a former law. After Nûh had been sent he supplanted the commands of the book of Adam by his own. It is reported that after the ascension of Edris wickedness and crime began to prevail in this corruptible world, and its inhabitants rebelled. In order to ameliorate and to arrange the condition of mankind, Nûh—u. w. b., etc.—was sent as a prophet after the expiration of two hundred and fifty years of his own life. Some historians have augmented or diminished this number, as will, if it pleaseth Allah—u. w. b. e.—appear from the appendix to the present narrative. It is certain that the sending of prophets and the establishing of laws are for the good of mankind, and for the purpose of saving them from the punishment and remorse certain to overtake them on the day of judgment; but nevertheless,
Distich: If all creatures were to become infidels
It would not in the least injure His magnificence.
In short, according to the history of Tabari, Nûh is said to have been sent by the Almighty—w. n. b. p.—to Zohâk and to his followers, who were idolaters. In the ‘Nizâm-ut-tavârikh’ it is recorded that Ebrahim had been sent to Zohâk; but the best opinions are nearest to the truth, since according to the most correct accounts Kaiumorth was the grandson of Nûh, and after several generations Zohâk attacked Jamshid, who was a descendant of Kaiumorth. It is recorded in some books that after all sorts of wicked and base acts had been committed by the children of Qabil, the Most High and Glorious God had sent Nûh to them. It is said that he was the first prophet who frightened people on account of their infidelity, and the first messenger at whose request a nation was destroyed, and the first person who will in the second creation raise his head from the earth after his lordship [Muhammad] the refuge of prophecy—u. w. b., etc.—will be he. No prophet was living contemporaneously with him. When the stature of Nûh’s ability had been invested with the robe of prophecy, and the Almighty had despatched him to preach to the inhabitants of the world, he was engaged in guiding and directing them during nine hundred and fifty years.* A small company believed his words; though he suffered much persecution from the infidelity of those who went astray, he was patient and long-suffering in all his trials, and besought the Lord, saying: ‘My God, direct the people, for they know not;’ but the more he prayed for the amelioration of that race, the more their infidelity increased day by day, and no one minded his preaching or advice. They attributed his eloquence to sorcery and madness, and vied with each other in persecuting and deriding him; they pointed him out to their children, and attributed to him improper acts, enjoining them not to follow his law or religion. Thus once when he was preaching, a prominent individual of the people, whose name was Baqssi, went with his son Jarud to Nûh, and, taking the hand of the boy, commenced to admonish him, saying: ‘My son! know that this fellow is a magician and a liar. Take care not to abandon the faith of thy ancestors, nor to be decoyed by his enticing words; endeavour rather to distress him as much as possible, for this is the command of our forefathers.’ During this insulting speech that ill-fated boy took up a handful of earth and threw it into Nûh’s face. His lordship complained thereof at the palace of the Most Gracious God, and received this reply: ‘The keys of the hearts of our servants are in the treasury of our power, and no created being can accomplish any matter whatever without the aid of our grace previously vouchsafed. Do not be sad; for after all this long time nobody will believe except this company, which consists of the fewest of the few, and which has been ennobled by the honour of monotheism.’ Nûh asked: ‘O Lord, will none of the progeny of this nation believe?’ Then the announcement came: ‘The pen of the divine will has thus decreed that none of the descendants of these black-hearted ones should profess the unity of Allah according to the blessed verse, “And it was revealed unto Nûh: no one of thy people will believe except he who has already believed.”’ After despairing concerning the faith of the people, Nûh prayed for them, and one of his requests was this: ‘Lord, do not sow or multiply infidels upon the earth.’* The prayer of his lordship reached the target of response, and the announcement arrived: ‘Begin to construct the ship, for we shall destroy this miserable and foolish people by the rebellion of the water, which has hitherto been to them an occasion of life, and shall send them to the fire of hell.’
At the request of Nûh the people were afflicted with scarcity and dearth before the deluge arrived. In consequence of his prayers the custom of generation and parturition also ceased for several years among them. It is related that Jebrâil, having brought an ebony-tree, told Nûh to plant it, which he did. After twenty, and according to others, after forty years, when the wood of it had become large and strong, he felled and dried it; then he began, with his three sons and one other man, to build the ark in the desert near Kufah, under the instruction of Jebrâil. It is asserted by some that when he had despaired of converting the people, he desisted from preaching to them. The infidels likewise ceased gradually to distress him, but nevertheless occasionally grieved the mind of his lordship by way of derision. While he was engaged in cutting the planks for the ark the chiefs of the people looked on and railed at him, saying: ‘O Nûh, after the dignity of a prophet thou hast attained that of a carpenter.’ They also said to each other: ‘See this fool who is with all diligence and solicitude preparing a ship, whereas there is no water anywhere!’ Nûh retorted: ‘Ye are unobservant of the reward of your works, and careless of the punishment to come; but after being in this world afflicted with drowning, and in the next subject to the punishment of burning, then sarcasm and pity will fall upon you for your own lot.’
When Nûh had completed [the building of] the ark, and had, after placing the beams and arranging the stories, coloured them with pitch and tar inside and out, the command arrived to him to construct a sarcophagus of box-wood wherein to preserve Adam’s body, so that his august stature might not be injured when the floods were let loose, and the waters of the rains, springs, and seas began to superabound. The wind was likewise ordered to assemble the different kinds of wild animals, birds, and all sorts of animate beings, a pair of each species of which, for the preservation of their genus, Nûh was to put on board the ark till the waters subsided; others say that Jebrâil collected them, and Nûh acted according to the instructions he had received.
Meanwhile the command was issued from the Residence of Glory to the seven planets to hasten their motions; but according to another opinion they were ordered to assemble in one degree, yea, in one minute of the sign Cancer, which is the mansion of water and the horoscope of the world,* and to hasten to manifest the properties inherent in, and resulting from their congregation. Accordingly, the seven planets moved into the sign Cancer, and a short time after they had met there the waters began, in consequence of the prediction, to flow when the twenty-first degree was in the ascendant. On that occasion one of the believers in the unity of God went to Safardûs, the king of that nation, and, informing him of the state of the case, began to frighten him about the danger of drowning, and to advise him to fly. The king immediately mounted his horse, and, going to Nûh, asked him about this calamity. Nûh replied: ‘Alas! my king, the command of thy Lord has arrived.’ Safardûs became frightened, and fled from that place. Nûh, however, and his followers, amounting to eighty souls, entered the ark, wherein they remained sound and safe from the catastrophe of the deluge.
Hemistich: What fear has he of the sea whose pilot is Nûh?
It is on record that Nûh’s wife, Vaa’la by name, who was of a different religion, perished in the waves; and likewise his son Kana’an, according to some traditions called Avrayam and Râya, abstained from entering the ark, although Nûh admonished him, saying: ‘O my son, embark with us.’ But the latter replied: ‘I shall repair to the mountain, and it will protect me from the water.’* At that very moment a wave snatched him off from before his father, who became greatly distressed, and, opening his lips in prayer, said: ‘O Almighty Nourisher, my son is of my own family, which Thou hast promised to save.’ Immediately the allocution reached him: ‘He does not belong to thy family, because improper acts and unrighteous deeds were committed by him.’ It is well known to the discerning and cultivated minds of well-educated persons that noble descent is not esteemed by the intelligent if it be unadorned by the accomplishments of knowledge, and the decorations of prudence and laudable acts. In short, the waters of springs and fountains exundated beyond measure during forty days and nights; at the same time the rains poured down in such a manner that the whole became one vast ocean, covering the highest mountains by more than forty cubits.
Hemistich: What is one spear length or a hundred if the head
be surpassed?
The majority of historiographers narrate that, despite of this altitude of water, it covered only the knee-joints of A’vuj Bin A’nak, who was in the prime of youth.
Hemistich: If the world be changed to a sea, it reaches only a
duckling’s breast.
It is said that A’vuj Bin A’nak was saved from the deluge in spite of his idolatry, because he had assisted Nûh— u. w. b., etc.—in building the ark, which is said to have begun to move from Kufah, and on arriving at the honoured city of Mekkah it revolved seven times around the temple; then it passed over the whole world, and finally stopped, after five months, on the top of Mount Jûdi,* which is situated in Arabian Mesopotamia; and there it stopped one month more. During the time of the deluge night could not be distinguished from day on account of the clouds, the rain, and the black vapours arising from the surface of the water. Ebn Abbâs is said to have related that the Almighty—w. n. b. e.—fixed two luminous discs, one like the sun and the other like the moon, on the wall of the ark, and by their means the time of the day or night, as well as the times appointed for prayers, were ascertained. When the rains abated the earth began to absorb the waters, and when Nûh beheld the rainbow he knew that the time for leaving the ark was near, and let out a raven for the purpose of learning the state and quantity of the waters; but that ill-fated bird met a corpse and returned not, whereon Nûh cursed it, and prayed that its nourishment might at all times consist of carcases. Afterwards he let fly a dove,* which returned, after a short time, with an olive-sprig in its beak. From this circumstance he concluded that the tops of trees must have appeared above the waters; and, on account of the pigeon’s obedience and information, he blessed it, and prayed that it may always enjoy the favour of man. Nûh then continued to send out the dove until it returned with some of the loam of the sea sticking to its feet, and on that day, which was the tenth of the month Muharram, all the people came out from the ark.
Hemistich: What shall I say for joy how they came!
They built a village at the foot of the mountain, which, as the company amounted to eighty persons, was called Sauk-ut-thamaneen [Forum of eighty]. After the village had been completed, all the inhabitants died from plague and pestilence except Nûh, his three sons Sâm, Hâm, Yâfuth and their wives, who were spared from the calamity. It is related that the Almighty—whose magnificence be glorified—sent a revelation to Nûh to the effect that his people had been destroyed for their ingratitude, and that the Almighty swore by His own magnificence and glory never again to punish His servants with a deluge.* Nûh was rejoiced at this news, and divided the entire habitable earth into three parts, which he thus distributed among his three sons: To Sâm [Shem] he gave Syria, Mesopotamia, Erâq, Persia and Khorâsân, because he was the most intelligent of his children. To Hâm he granted Africa, Ethiopia, Abyssinia, India, Sind and the country of the blacks. Upon Yâfuth [Japheth] he bestowed China, the Slavonian countries and Turkestân. Accordingly, the inhabitants of the whole of Persia, Arabia and Greece, which countries are the centre of the civilized world, are the descendants of Sâm. The Turks, Slavonians, and the nations around the Caspian Sea, who are noble and brave, are the children of Yâfuth; and all the blacks of India, Sind, Zanzibar, Abyssinia and the negro land are the offspring of Hâm.
It is related that when Nûh—u. w. b., etc.—had one day fallen asleep, his pudenda happened to be uncovered, on seeing which Hâm began to laugh, and instead of covering them informed his brothers of the circumstance. They reproved him, and veiled the nudity of their father. When Nûh awoke he became aware of what had taken place, reproached Hâm angrily, and prayed to the Almighty to make his children the slaves of the descendants of Sâm and Yâfuth; in consequence whereof the progeny of the two latter became honoured, but that of the former afflicted with misery and servitude.* It is said that after Nûh’s prayer the wife of Hâm gave birth to twins, one male and the other female, both of whom were black, at the sight of whom Hâm became melancholy and despondent, and informed his brethren of the event. Sâm and Yâfuth said that this untoward accident happened in consequence of their father’s prayer. Therefore Hâm abstained from intercourse with his spouse, but after some time again resumed it, whereon she became pregnant, and was again delivered of black twins exactly as before. Then Hâm was convinced that nothing could stop or hinder the execution of God’s decree and order.
It is related, according to Wuhub Bin Muniah, that when the waters of the deluge had disappeared, and the trees had begun to wear a blooming and joyous aspect on the banks of rivers, and when people established themselves permanently on the face of the earth, Eblis waited upon Nûh, and said: ‘Thou hast conferred a great benefit upon me, for which I am very thankful. Ask now anything thou chooseth, and I shall practise no fraud towards thee.’ Nûh—u. w. b., etc.—was suspicious of these words, but the divine command having been issued to him to converse with and to interrogate the Evil One, because it had been decreed that this time words of truth should flow from his lips, Nûh put the following question to Satan: ‘Which of the characteristics of men are of the greatest assistance to thee for their perdition?’ Eblis replied: ‘Envy and covetousness, malevolence and precipitation in the transactions of life.’ Nûh continued: ‘O enemy of Allah! wherein lies the good I have done to thee?’ Satan rejoined: ‘Thou hast prayed against the inhabitants of this world, and hast sent them to hell in one hour; otherwise I would have been obliged to machinate against them for a long time.’ Nûh then repented of his prayer. Some of this conversation has, however, already been narrated above.
After the deluge Nûh continued to live for a long time, but at last, in his dying hour, when Jebrâil arrived with A’zrayil, and asked, ‘O prophet, whose life was the longest, what thinkest thou of life after so long a duration?’ Nûh replied, ‘I have learnt that this world is like a house with two doors, by one of which I entered, and, after staying therein a little while, I left it by the other.’
Verses: This ornamental garden has two portals,
Keys and locks removed from both;
Enter the garden by one portal and look round,
Then issue from the garden by the other.
When he departed this life, and his precious soul went to the propinquity of the Most Merciful, his noble children committed his august body to the earth in Jerusalem.*