" Commentary ...

" Commentary : At any rate, this unruly and obstinate group must be punished with the kind of punishment that would remove their polluting existence from the entire world, thus liberating the faithful believers from their yoke. At first, the Qur'an implies that Allah commanded Noah to build an Ark according to His order and in His presence.

The verse says: " And make you the Ark under Our eyes, and as We reveal; ..." Towards the end of the verse, Noah is warned against any form of mediation on behalf of the oppressors. Saying to him that he should not ask for any amnesty or clemency for they are certainly condemned to chastisement and to be drowned as soon as they are convicted. The verse says: "... and address Me not about those who are unjust; verily they shall be drowned.

" One can very easily infer from this sentence that taking up the act of mediation requires certain preconditions which, when they are lacking in someone, even Allah's prophet is not rightful to mediate on his behalf.

Instead of taking Noah's call seriously for a moment, and allowing some room for accepting the probability of the truth of his repeated calls which might have had their origins in Divine Providence and that the subject of punishment through storms might be serious, Noah's people went on mocking and ridiculing as is the case with all arrogant and vainglorious people, however he went on building the Ark.

Whenever some of his people passed by him they would watch Noah and his companions struggle to prepare the timber, nails and other ship- building instruments, and they would laugh and ridicule them. The verse says: " And he began making the Ark; and whenever the chiefs of his people passed by him they scoffed at him.

..." However, Noah pursued his goal with an extraordinary persistence whose origins lay in his faith, and paying no attention to what they said, he made rapid progress in his efforts. Day after day, the structure of the ship came closer and closer to completion.