Surah Al-A'raf, Ayah 60

The Story of Nuh and His People

After Allah mentioned the story of Adam in the beginning of this Surah, He started mentioning the stories of the Prophets, the first then the latter of them. Allah mentioned the story of Nuh, because he was the first Messenger Allah sent to the people of the earth after Adam. His name was Nuh bin Lamak bin Matushalakh bin Khanukh. And Khanukh was, as they claim, the Prophet Idris. And Idris was the first person to write letters using pen, and he was the son of Barad bin Mahlil, bin Qanin bin Yanish bin Shith bin Adam, upon them all be peace. This lineage is mentioned by Muhammad bin Ishaq and other Imams who document lineage. `Abdullah bin `Abbas and several other scholars of Tafsir said that the first idol worship began when some righteous people died and their people built places of worship over their graves. They made images of them so that they could remember their righteousness and devotion, and thus, imitate them. When time passed, they made statues of them and later on worshipped these idols, naming them after the righteous people: Wadd, Suwa`, Yaghuth, Ya`uq and Nasr. After this practice became popular, Allah sent Nuh as a Messenger, all thanks are due to Him. Nuh commanded his people to worship Allah alone without partners, saying,

In reply, his people said: إِنَّا لَنَرَ‌اكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ ("Indeed we see you in an obvious error" ). The word: مَلَاء (mala' ) is used for chiefs, headmen and empowered elders of a community or group. The sense of what his people said in response to his call was to tell him that he was actually trying to wean them away from their ancestral faith and that all these ideas of rising on some last day and being rewarded or punished were nothing but superstition.

God has made the world in such a way that its material occurrences symbolize its spiritual aspects. When rain falls anywhere, the water reaches every part of that place. But in respect of its use, conditions in different lands vary. When one region gets water, lush green fields emerge from it. There may be another region which, even after getting rain, remains unaffected, and nothing but wild bushes will grow there. The same is the position of that spiritual rainfall which comes down on behalf of God in the shape of His guidance. The message of this guidance reaches the ears of every man but its benefits accrue to everybody according to his receptivity. One who is receptive to accepting the Truth, derives full advantage from it; he gets a new lease of life from it; his nature is suddenly activated. His contact with his Almighty Lord is established. His parched soul blooms with divine inspiration. Just the opposite is the condition of the person who has lost his natural receptivity. The rainfall of guidance, in spite of its immense possibilities, does not benefit him at all; he remains as dry as he was earlier. If at all there is any crop, it is only a scanty growth of wild bushes. The rainfall of guidance breeds in him jealousy, haughtiness, a tendency to employ meaningless sophistry, and opposition to the truth. Thus he fails to accept the truth and support it. In order to absorb the rainwater, the land must necessarily be dry. If the land is not dry, the rain water will simply pass over it, and will not be absorbed in it. In the same way, the guidance of God becomes rooted only in that man who is desirous of it; one who has emptied his soul of the dross of this world. Unlike him, one who is careless of God’s guidance and whose heart is engrossed in other interests and other glories may encounter God’s guidance, but it will not permeate him. It will not become the nutrition of his soul; it will not water the land of his soul and help to grow the garden of God in it.