Al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets)

76. “And (remember) Noah, when he called (his Lord) before, then We answered him, and delivered him and his family from the great calamity.”

77. “And We helped him against the people who rejected Our signs; verily they were an evil people, so We drowned them all together.”

In this holy verse, after mentioning a part of the story of Abraham and Lut, the Qur’an refers to some explanations of the life of another great prophet, i.e., Noah (as). It says:

“And (remember) Noah, when he called (his Lord) before…”

Noah asked Him to deliver him from the grips of those deluded disbelievers.

This call of Noah is apparently a hint to the curse which has been stated in Surah Noah, No. 71, verses 26 and 27 where the Qur’an declares:

“And Noah said: ‘My Lord! Leave not upon the land any dweller from among the unbelievers’;” “For verily if You leave them they will lead astray Your servants, and will not beget any but immoral, ungrateful (children)’.”

Then, the verse continues saying:

“…Then We answered him, and delivered him and his family from the great calamity.”

The Qur’anic word /’ahl/ has a vast meaning here which envelops both Noah’s believing relatives and his special true friends.

And, in the next verse, the Qur’an also adds:

“And We helped him against the people who rejected Our signs; verily they were an evil people, so We drowned them all together.”

This very last sentence is another emphasis on this fact that the Divine punishments are never done to be taken vengeance, but they are on the basis of choosing the better. In another sense, the right of life and using its blessings is for those who are on the line of development and journey to Allah (s.w.t.), or if one day they went astray, they would repent and improve themselves later.