The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 133
PT. 12 HŪD CH. 11 under Our eyes and as وَاصْعِ الْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا And build thou the Ark. 38 وَلَا تُخَاطِبْنِي فِي الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا. commanded by Our revelation إِنَّهُمْ مُّغْرَقُونَ And address not Me concerning the wrongdoers. They are surely going to be drowned. '1419 "23:28. from among his people would believe in him. All those who deserved to be rightly guided and who sincerely sought after Divine guidance had already been converted. Hence the prayer of Noah was no more than a submission to God's decree. For, when God Himself had decided to destroy his wicked people, it was meaningless on Noah's part to pray for their destruction. So all that Noah's prayer meant was that God might carry out His decree about the destruction of his people, for he was now reconciled to it. It often happens that a Prophet even after he has come to know of God's decision to destroy a people, continues to pray for them, hoping that God may alter His decree and the people may yet believe and be saved. Noah also continued to pray for his people until he saw that further postponement of the punishment was prejudicial to the best interests of Faith. He then prayed that God might carry out His decree against his people. Even if it be admitted that Noah did not merely ask God to carry out His decree but actually prayed for the destruction of his people, such a prayer cannot be held be to inconsistent with the dignity of a Prophet, for a prayer offered under Divine command can in no case be said to be derogatory to his dignity. When the All-Knowing God Himself discloses to a Prophet the perversity of his people and their inevitable doom, then a prayer on his part that such people should remain deprived of Divine guidance is no more than a simple statement of an existing fact. 1419. Important Words: is the اعين under Our eyes) بأعيننا plural of which has a large variety of meanings. Among other things it means: (1) the eye; (2) look or view, as the Quran says, i. e. that thou mightest be reared in my view; (3) the people or inmates of a house or dwelling, as they say hi. e. there is no one in it (the house); (4) brothers from the same father and mother; (5) one's protection and honour, as the Arabs say hi. e. thou art entitled to be honoured and protected by me (Lane). 1341 Commentary: In view of one of the meanings of the word the expression la may mean "with the help of the people of Our house. " The people of Noah's house have been spoken of as "the