al-Anbiyāʾ 21:76-77

Wa Nūḥan idh nādā min qablu fa'stajabnā lahu fa-najjaynāhu wa ahlahu mina'l-karbi'l-ʿaẓīm · Wa naṣarnāhu mina'l-qawmi'lladhīna kadhdhabū bi-āyātinā innahum kānū qawma sawʾin fa-aghraqnāhum ajmaʿīn

"And Noah, when he called out before: We answered him and delivered him and his household from the great distress. · And We helped him against the people who denied Our signs. They were indeed a bad people, and We drowned them all."

And the first of the series' four calls is here. The content of the call is not given — only the verb and its answer are recorded: nādā → fa'stajabnā lah.

I record this as an observation about the structure: the series' first call is without content. The pattern is set up first and will be filled in the three that follow.

ٱلْكَرْبِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ — karb — root ك-ر-ب. The sense the lexicographers give: a grief that narrows the chest and stops the breath. Kurba — distress; makrūb — overwhelmed with distress. And another derivative of the root is karaba'sh-shams — the sun's drawing near to setting: a thing's drawing near and pressing in.

So the word conveys not a danger at a distance but a distress that has come upon one.

And a point of grammar must be recorded.

The verb naṣara in Arabic normally comes with ʿalā: naṣarahu ʿalā ʿaduwwih — "he supported him against his enemy."

Here min comes: naṣarnāhu mina'l-qawm.

The grammarians' explanation: by way of taḍmīn the verb has taken on the sense of another verb — manaʿa (he protected) or najjā (he delivered). That is, the sentence carries the sense not of "we helped him against them" but of "we delivered him from that people".

I record this as a datum of language. And the context confirms it: the verb najjaynāhu (we delivered) had already occurred in the preceding verse.