The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 141
PT. 12 HŪD arrived, so the time for prayer had passed. CH. 11 was possible, nay it was most probable, that if he had been saved, the cause of religion would have materially suffered through him. If the word "ask" be taken in the sense of "inquire," the verse would mean that Noah was not to inquire about a matter which was beyond his power to comprehend or the disclosure of which was not considered proper. The words Secondly, the clause may refer to Noah's son. In that case, the word Jac (lit. deed) would be taken as meaning Jac (the doer of a deed). This usage of the word is quite in harmony with Arabic idiom, according to which the infinitive is sometimes used in place of the active participle to impart emphasis. An Arab poet describing the restlessness of a she-camel who do not, in this case, mean "that of had lost her young ones says:, which thou hast no knowledge," for man always inquires about matters which he does not know. The words would therefore mean "that which thou canst not know," either because they are beyond thy comprehension or because they cannot be disclosed to thee. bi. e. "She is so restless that she has become the very act of moving forward and backward," meaning the embodiment thereof. According to this meaning of the word as the clause would mean that the reason why his son was not considered as belonging to his family was that he was a man of unrighteous conduct. The words, ask not of Me, may mean either asking for a favour in prayer or simply inquiring. Taking the words in the former sense, the verse would mean that one should not pray for a matter of whose benefit one is not certain, for in such a case a man cannot know whether what he is praying for will prove a blessing or a curse. In such cases one should pray to God only generally to grant what is good in His sight. There are, however, certain matters about the goodness of which there can be no doubt, e. g. the pleasure of God or the welfare of the life to come. For such matters one can pray without qualification. The prayer of Noah for his son belonged to the former category. He did not know how his son would behave if he were saved. It به God's reply to Noah given in the words, he is indeed a man of shows that unrighteous conduct, Noah was not aware of the misdeeds of his son, and the reason why Noah was advised to abstain from asking questions about his son was that such questions were calculated to expose the latter's misdeeds, which was inconsistent with the God's attribute of mercy as well as with His attribute of covering up or screening the faults of His creatures. Extraordinary are the ways of God! On the one hand He decreed that Noah's son should be drowned, and on the other His mercy drew a veil over his misdeeds. 1349 The clause, I advise thee lest thou become one of the ignorant, refers to Noah's prayer to God to save his son, who was a member of his family and was apparently included among those whom God had promised to save, and