وَأُوحِىَ إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ أَنَّهُۥ لَن يُؤْمِنَ مِن قَوْمِكَ إِلَّا مَن قَدْ ءَامَنَ فَلَا تَبْتَئِسْ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَفْعَلُونَ · وَٱصْنَعِ ٱلْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا وَلَا تُخَٰطِبْنِى فِى ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوٓا۟ إِنَّهُم مُّغْرَقُونَ
wa ūḥiya ilā Nūḥin annahū lan yuʾmina min qawmika illā man qad āmana fa-lā tabtaʾis bimā kānū yafʿalūn · wa'ṣnaʿi'l-fulka bi-aʿyuninā wa waḥyinā wa lā tukhāṭibnī fi'lladhīna ẓalamū, innahum mughraqūn
"It was revealed to Noah: 'None of your people will believe now except those who have already believed. So do not grieve at what they have been doing. · Build the ark under Our eyes and by Our revelation. And do not address Me about those who have done wrong; they are to be drowned.'"
This verse changes the structure of the narrative: the section of dispute closes here and the section of work begins.
And the sentence that announces the turn is a piece of knowledge: lan yuʾmina … illā man qad āman. The outcome of the call, that is, is announced before the call has ended.
The particle lan reports a categorical negation directed at the future — this was treated at al-Baqara 2/24.
The root ب-أ-س: severity, hardship, difficulty. Baʾs — severity; baʾsāʾ — hardship; bāʾis — sorrowful.
I record this as an observation about the word order, and I tie it to the twelfth verse of the sūra: there it was the Prophet's breast that was straitened (ḍāʾiqun bihī ṣadruk); here Noah is commanded not to grieve. Two messengers, the same state, two separate sections of the sūra.
And the sentences bākhiʿun nafsak at al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/3 and al-Kahf 18/6 are on the same line. I rely on that treatment.
The root ص-ن-ع: to make a thing with skill, to manufacture. The root was treated at al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/129 (maṣāniʿ).
I enter a note per the method (Method): this construction is read within the same limit set for the sentences about the throne. The two postures tabulated at al-Sajda 32/4 (consignment and interpretation) hold here as well, and the shared principle is al-Shūrā 42/11. I do not impose a preference; I build no description of modality.
The same construction is used in the Qurʾān for Moses as well: wa li-tuṣnaʿa ʿalā ʿaynī (Ṭāhā 20/39) — it occurs in Ṭāhā.
| Means | What it gives |
|---|---|
| bi-aʿyuninā | Watch — being present at the work |
| wa waḥyinā | Knowledge — how it is to be made |
I record this as an observation about the word order: the verse does not say that Noah built the ark by his own knowledge; but the one who builds it is Noah. The two things stand together.
And the subject of the prohibition must be recorded: Noah is forbidden to speak about those who have done wrong.
I record this as my own reading, and it is the preparation for the forty-fifth verse: in the forty-fifth verse Noah will speak about his son, and in the forty-sixth he will receive a warning. The prohibition in the thirty-seventh verse, that is, will be tested nine verses later. This is a link that can be verified from the text, and it will be treated in detail in its place.