The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 332
CHAPTER 71 NŪḤ (Revealed before Hijrah) Title, Context, and Date of Revelation As the Surah records the spiritual experiences of the Prophet Noah, it has been named after him. Wherry gives the date of its revelation as the 7th year of the Call, while Nöldeke places it in the 5th year but according to other authorities it was revealed in the first Meccan period, about the time when some of the immediately preceding Surahs were revealed. Towards the end of the preceding Surah it was stated that wicked people invariably reject the Divine Message; they oppose and persecute God's Messengers till the hour of their punishment arrives, and they meet their deserved end. The present Surah gives a brief account of the missionary activities of one of the great Prophets of antiquity-Noah who was so bitterly and stubbornly opposed that he prayed to God: "Let not a single disbeliever remain alive in the land". A very destructive flood engulfed the whole country, bringing in its wake utter ruin and devastation. Summary of Subject Matter Noah's account appears at several places in the Quran with some detail in Sūrah Hūd (vv. 26-50). In the present Sūrah, however, he pours out the agony of his heart before his Lord and Creator, in words full of extreme pathos. He preached to his people day and night, he says, and spoke to them in public and in private. He reminded them of the great favours and gifts that God had bestowed upon them. He warned them of the evil consequences of rejection of the Divine Message. But all his preaching and warning, his sympathy with and solicitude for, their well-being was only met with ridicule, opposition and abuse; and instead of following one whose heart was full of love for them, they chose to follow those leaders who led them to destruction. When Noah's exhortations and preachings of a whole lifetime proved a voice in the wilderness, he prayed to God to ruin and destroy the enemies of truth. The Surah closes with this prayer of Noah. 3228