Qotadah says that only eight persons were in the ark: namely, Nûh—u. w. b., etc.—with his wife; Yâfuth, Sâm, and Hâm, with their wives. Agmush records that there were only seven individuals—that is to say, Nûh, with his three sons and daughters. Muhammad Bin Eshaq states that besides the females there were ten men—i.e. Nuh, his three sons, and six warriors from among the inhabitants of Yemen. Muqâtl states that there were seventy people besides Nûh, his sons, and their wives; so that their total amounted to seventy-seven. Ebn A’bbâs relates that the whole number amounted to eighty souls, and this is the most correct opinion.
It is said that impurities and excrementitious matter so molested the company that they complained to Nûh, who in his turn besought the Most Gracious Benefactor to remedy the evil, whereon he was by divine command ordered to touch the back of the elephant; and after he had done so, the elephant gave birth to a hog, which immediately began to swallow the impurities, and thus cleansed the ship. It is related that Eblis touched with his hand the back of the hog, and a mouse came forth from its nostrils, which injured the ark much, and almost perforated it; but by the blessing of the Almighty—w. n. b. e. —Nûh was commanded to pass his hand over the face of the lion, who immediately sneezed, and a cat came out from his nostrils, which removed the nuisance of the mice.