His followers came to him and complained to him about all...

His followers came to him and complained to him about all they had suffered at the hands of the cruel kings and infidels and requested him to pray so that Allah may relieve them from the persecution. Nuh (a.s.) accepted the request and prayed to the Lord. Jibraeel (a.s.) descended and said that the Almighty has accepted his supplication and commands him to tell his followers to consume date and plant its seeds and to take care of the trees till they bear fruit.

‘When the trees bear fruits We will provide them salvation.’ Hearing this Nuh (a.s.) praised Allah, the Mighty and Sublime and gave glad tidings to his followers. They also became happy and waited till the trees bore fruits. They brought the fruits to Nuh (a.s.) and requested him to fulfill his promise. Nuh (a.s.) prayed to the Almighty and the Almighty said, ‘Tell these people to eat these dates too and sow their seeds.

And when those trees bear fruits I will bestow give them salvation.’ When the people heard this, they thought that the promise has not been fulfilled and two-third of them renounced faith. Only a third of them remained firm on the faith of Nuh (a.s.). They ate the dates and sowed the seeds.

When they bore fruits they came to Nuh (a.s.) and said, ‘Very few of us have remained on religion and if there is a delay in repelling our hardships, all of us might turn away from religion.’ Hearing this Nuh (a.s.) offered his prayers and supplicated fervently, ‘O Lord, very few followers are left and if they do not receive salvation, I fear that they might also perish.’ It was revealed to him that his prayer has been accepted and that he should start building the Ark.

Between the acceptance of his prayers and the Deluge there was a period of fifty years.” 2 - Narrated to us Muhammad bin Ali Majilaway; and Muhammad bin Musa bin Mutawakkil; and Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Yahya al-Attar -may Allah be pleased with them - they said: Narrated to us Muhammad bin Yahya al-Attar, from Husain bin Hasan bin Aban, from Muhammad bin Uramiya from Muhammad bin Sinan from Ismail bin Jabir; and Abdul Karim bin Amr from Abdul Hameed bin Abi Dailam from Abi Abdullah as-Sadiq (a.s.) that he said: “After embarking from the ship, Nuh (a.s.) lived for fifty years.

Then Jibraeel (a.s.) came to him and said, ‘O Nuh (a.s.), your prophethood is ending and your days are now over.