This dear Quran tells us a lot about the sheikh of the messengers and I mention here some things for you and and I leave for you the notices so you can get whatever we did not or whatever we left for your own care, and the stories of people of doubt are not dependable but only the interpretations that were issued by the Household and people of faith and whatever there is in their traditions and the most trusted folks, are dependable, for what concerns explanations, and no one knows its interpretations except God and who are in deep knowledgement. The chapters that mentioned the story of Noah in the Holy Quran are twenty eight chapters in forty three positions, and the story was told in details in six chapters: Al-A'râf, Hud, Al-Mu'minun, Al-Shu'arâ', Al-Qamar and Nooh, so they had the enough tidings about the conditions of Noah (PUH), and they are all contain the same contents in general even though the words can be different for the purpose of telling the story (and maybe the purpose would be whenever the God's Will is directed) (?) So, some of these Holy phrases give us a special picture of interpretation about the conditions of the sheikh of the messengers and what he did face from his people. When Noah was sent as a messenger to his people and miracles appeared by him and also his virtues, and the light of prophecy had rose and the dawn of the message and its sun began, some of them followed him after the guidance of God to them after they used to worship the idols, and lot of them denied and mocked him and his followers, and they wondered how come that a man from them is sent to them and he is the poorest and less in servants and have no honour among them, and they see that he is not destiniguished by any family or relations nor science or generosity but he is just like them, and even they thought that they have the priority for this task, for they are the leaders and people of fortunes, and they extremely denied that someone from them make fun of their dreams and mock at their idols and gods and they have the powers and men, and thought that following him would be a shame that has a heavy weight on themselves, so how come they deny the worshipping of their and their fathers' gods, and the thing that keeps them far away from him and refusing him is the fellowship of what they don't give any care and they are the weak poor men and the most abject of them, and this is for their pride and power, and they claimed that these followed him without any wisdom or patience.
Then when his virtues occured and his promises came true and they have no proof to deny him for what he showed of miracles they asked him to drive them away (the poor people) so they wouldn't be together on the same way and gathered with the true religion and be equal in one raw and meet each other under his flag and be under his laws and judgements, and this is so hard for them to do. So when they asked him to do that he denied and refused that for his fear of God and he showed them and overtook them by proof that if he drove them out he wouldn't find any one to protect him against the punishment of God, and that he is only calling them for guidance into his religion and not by money nor power nor sword, and he didn't claim that he's a king but only a human being like them chosen by God to call for them and show them the commandments of God and the laws of His sacred creed, and he doesn't have with his followers except what is apparent and now what the chests behold, because all of that is up to God and not to His prophet: But the messenger hath no other charge than to convey (the message) plainly(Al-Nur:54), and his reward is from God and he asks nothing as a reward in exchange, and to the rest of what is mentioned in the chapter of Hud, so God did say in it (the chapter): The chieftains of his folk, who disbelieved, said: We see thee but a mortal like us, and we see not that any follow thee save the most abject among us, without reflection. We behold in you no merit above us - nay, we deem you liars(Hud:27), He said: O my people! Bethink you, if I rely on a clear proof from my Lord and there hath come unto me a mercy from His presence, and it hath been made obscure to you, can we compel you to accept it when ye are averse thereto ?(Hud:28), And O my people! I ask of you no wealth therefor. My reward is the concern only of Allah, and I am not going to thrust away those who believe - Lo! they have to meet their Lord! - but I see you a folk that are ignorant (Hud:29), until the rest of the holy phrases that contain what we pointed to you. Check it out and you might win and in the chapter of Nooh there is the healer interpretation for the hearts of believers from the doubt, and in it there is the fine explanation for the healing of souls of atheists and the revolted tyrants but only if there is no blindness in the hearts and eyes. He (Noah) tried his best in advising them and guiding them so he approached them in various ways and methods and never left a way he didn't use, day and night and in secret and in public promising and threatening, promising them with the goods of life of sons and money and the good of sky and earth, by the bless of earth from its fruit and grains and plants and the bless of the sky from its rains and waters and watering their lands, and the goodness of after-life of forgiveness and hiding faults and being eternal in paradise with faithful slaves of God, and it is the great happiness of the human being if only he understood and knew and believed.
He (Noah) gave them examples and dedicated their thoughts as a notification to the wonders of God's creations and the beauty of His creativity and His creation for them and everyone is founded at any time and in any place, and that God created them in different phases and with different types according to their shapes, minds, understanding, powers, preparation, ages and fortunes, and according to their wisdom, money, ownerships and children and lot of other things, so God did say: What aileth you that ye hope not toward Allah for dignity, When He created you by (divers) stages ?(Nooh:13-14), from drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump then in shape of embryo then to childhood and then as a kid and then to age of youth and maturity and old age, decrepit and health and sickness, wealth and poverity, wisdom and ignorance, might and weakness.
God also said: See ye not how Allah hath created seven heavens in harmony, And hath made the moon a light therein, and made the sun a lamp ?, And Allah hath caused you to grow as a growth from the earth, And afterward He maketh you return thereto, and He will bring you forth again, a (new) forthbringing.(Nooh:15-18), so who created them and made life for them and made for them the senses of listening and viewing, so then the apparent and the hidden senses and these feelings inside and that world of heart are all back to Him, and the mind is the judge among them, and what creation is more wonderous more than him (the Man) if you just meditated and believed?, so whoever created all of this is able to make him (the Man) alive again after his death for judgement where He promised for forgiveness for those who obeyed and punishment for those who denied, and God never break any promise for His slave. There is for you from the previous examples the wisdom, and from the creation of heaven and its shiny sun and moon the thought, and with these efforts from the prophet of God, Noah, he wanted their life and happiness in their life and their after-life, but they were ignorant for him and hurted him, and whenever he works on fixing them and guiding them, they work on revolting and plotting against him and ignoring him. God did say telling what happened with him: He said: My Lord! Lo! I have called unto my people night and day, But all my calling doth but add to their repugnance; And lo! whenever I call unto them that Thou mayst pardon them they thrust their fingers in their ears and cover themselves with their garments and persist (in their refusal) and magnify themselves in pride(Nooh:5-7), to the rest of the Holy phrases that tells what happened with him (PUH), so you have to read them and understand what is their purpose and you may be a winner. So Noah take it for so long and been patient quite much that no one can be as patient as that except those who work for God sincerely and never find a life away from obeying Him and no work except to do the deeds for which He would have mercy for, but they denied and refused and followed the tyrants, from their leaders and idols worshippers.
So when he couldn't help with it and was depressed about guiding them, and they even plotted and agreed to not leave the worshipping of their idols Wadd, nor Suwa', nor Yaghuth and Ya'uq and Nasr, and said to him: O Noah! Thou hast disputed with us and multiplied disputation with us; now bring upon us that wherewith thou threatenest us, if thou art of the truthful(Hud:32), and he answered with what God had told in the chapter of Hud in phrase (33): Only Allah will bring it upon you if He will, and ye can by no means escape, My counsel will not profit you if I were minded to advise you, if Allah's will is to keep you astray. He is your Lord and unto Him ye will be brought back(Hud:33-34). And when Noah got depressed about the faith of his people after a work of nine hundreds and fifty years as mentioned in the Holy Quran, and he used to call them for worshipping God after believing in Him and with the message of Noah and whatever in it, and God told him and He is the One that knows about His creation that there is no use of calling them either for long or short time, by saying: No-one of thy folk will believe save him who hath believed already. Be not distressed because of what they do(Hud:36). Just then Noah directed his calls of destruction for his people towards God, so he said as it is told by God: My Lord! Leave not one of the disbelievers in the land, If Thou shouldst leave them, they will mislead Thy slaves and will beget none save lewd ingrates(Nooh:26-27). And God answered his calls for their destruction, and before that God promised him to destroy them, if they insisted on tyranny, by drowning, and he knew all that by inspiration.
And when God's will judged for their destruction and being under the anger of God for their disbelieve, his God, the Exalted, ordered him to make the Ark by saying as mentioned in the chapter of Hud: Build the ship under Our eyes and by Our inspiration, and speak not unto Me on behalf of those who do wrong. Lo! they will be drowned, And he was building the ship, and every time that chieftains of his people passed him, they made mock of him. He said: Though ye make mock of Us, yet We mock at you even as ye mock, And ye shall know to whom a punishment that will confound him cometh, and upon whom a lasting doom will fall, (Thus it was) till, when Our commandment came to pass and the oven gushed forth water, We said: Load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already, and those who believe. And but a few were they who believed with him, And he said: Embark therein! In the name of Allah be its course and its mooring. Lo! my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful, And it sailed with them amid waves like mountains, and Noah cried unto his son - and he was standing aloof - O my son! Come ride with us, and be not with the disbelievers(Hud:37-42), to the end of the holy phrases from the chapter of Hud.
If you meditate through them (the holy phrases before), and whatever it contained of threatening and warning and frightening, you would surely know that there is no difference between the nation of Noah and the rest of other nations where they do whatever they do of sins and then face whatever comes of shames, for the Almighty and the Exalted, the One of High Pride does not let go a wrong-doing for any wrong-doer and He is in the face of them and every wrong-doer. They did not take caution in the middle of their joy, and suddenly the Flood erased their traces and destroyed their lands and covered their homes and fortunes, so He destroyed them with what they worship and subdued them and every tyrant until the doomsday, so whatever came over them is a warning for others and for every nation that would come after them, for their Lord doesn't want anything for His slaves and creation but the absolute happiness for their life and their after-life if they obeyed Him and followed His messengers and worked with His books and the laws of His religion, and the Quran mentions such stories about the ancient nations to put them in consideration and follow the path of God and His messengers and His books and work by them.
Yes, God ordered His slave and His messenger Noah to make the Ark for the safety of him and of whoever believed in him from his relatives and his followers and God described them by saying: And but a few were they who believed with him(Hud:40), and his people used to mock at him for making the Ark without water, and lot of them knew that he is only making it to save hisself and themselves from the coming punishment, and they denied that because they did not believe such thing could happen since it did not happen for others before them, and this denial is originated by disbelieving in him and in Whoever sent him, and he (PUH) also used to mock at them for their ego and their ignorance for the truth and for not taking awareness and caution for themselves by following him, and he turned to threaten them by that (the punishment) hoping for them to be aware for themselves and stop their wrong-doing, and God told the story of his saying to them: And ye shall know to whom a punishment that will confound him cometh, and upon whom a lasting doom will fall(Hud:39). Yes, the completion of the Ark was by inspiration from God and by His teachings for His slave Noah, for God's saying: Build the ship under Our eyes and by Our inspiration(Hud:37).
As it is reported by Ibn-'Abbâs that Noah did not know how to make the Ark so God inspired to him to make it like the chest of the bird, and so when it was accomplished by the Will of God for what God decided, and the promised had come and the signs appeared like the weather change and the winds blow and earth's shaking and breaking and the waters coming from skies and springs of earth and from the furnace that people make their bread with at homes, God then ordered him to take his family in the Ark and get into it from every animal and bird and beast two pairs and take with him all of who believed in him from his people and carry with him all what they all might need of food for each type and kind.
So when he finished all of that and they all got inside it and took a place in it, it got harder with the waters coming from the sky and earth God did say: Thus it was) till, when Our commandment came to pass and the oven gushed forth water, We said: Load therein two of every kind, a pair (the male and female), and thy household, save him against whom the word hath gone forth already(Hud:40). So then the Ark turned around like a millstone and then got up the surface of the water and went on to where God destined it to go, and that was mentioned before, until everything on the surface of earth was drowned, and it is mentioned that the water level at the time of Noah raised above everything for fifteen cubits.
From Da'awât Al-Râwandi [seems a book's name] that it said: When Noah went abroad he denied to let the scorpion go in with him, so it said to him: Let me go with you and I will make a vow to not sting anyone that says: Peace on Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad and Noah, in this life. We've come to mention that the flood continued for one hundred and fifty days or six months and the Ark with its people over the water until it was placed over Al-Judi and stayed there and all the water dried out and the earth swallowed it by a commandment of God. It is reported that that was on the day of Nayruz [persian name, it is a festival that still takes place in the persian calendar every year] and it is the beginning of spring season, as reported by Al-Sâdiq (PUH) and we've come to mention before its place (the Ark) and where is Al-Judi.
We've pointed before that one of the sons of Noah (PUH) denied to go abroad in the Ark with his father, and he was a disbeliever and disobeyer for his father, and his father called him by: O my son! Come ride with us, and be not with the disbelievers(Hud:42), so then he (his son) answered: I shall betake me to some mountain that will save me from the water(Hud:43), and and so on until the end of what was mentioned by the holy book. Noah then had pitty and the passion of the father for his son so he raised his head calling God for help and to save his son Canaan from being drowned by saying: My Lord! Lo! my son is of my household! Surely Thy promise is the truth and Thou are the Most Just of Judges(Hud:45), for Gos promised Noah to save his family and whoever believed from the people, as mentioned before, so he thought that his son is one of his family because of he is related to him by kinship, and didn't notice his refusal and his sins, and that everyone that did not get abroad in the Ark is an enemy for God and has no dignity and nothing can save him from the punishment, so God warned him for this and blamed him in such a gentle and passionate way saying to him: O Noah! Lo! he is not of thy household; lo! he is of evil conduct, so ask not of Me that whereof thou hast no knowledge. I admonish thee lest thou be among the ignorant(Hud:46).
Noah then apologized saying what was mentioned in the holy book, and you might be aware to the meaning of all of this and if you did that might be one of the greatest sermons for you if you have a complete faith, and that you must not be an enemy for any viceroy for God and never be an ally for any an enemy for Him either it is relative (close) to you or far away, and this is the scale for your truthful faith and for anyone that claims faith, and if you denied from a believer a bad deed then leaving him because of it is in fact leaving the corruption and the bad doings and not leaving the believer and hisself or his faith, where there is no infallibility except for those who God made infallible, and you might even like a character from a disbeliever like justice and generosity, like those of Kisrâ the king of persians [notice that Kisrâ is not a name but it means King of kings in persian, but usually now it is used in common for the persian king who's named Anu Sharwân in Arabic who denied the message of Muhammad and tore the letter of the prophet] and Hâtim Al-Tâ'ee [A man lived before the time of the prophet Muhammad, was famous for his generosity that proverbs for generosity was made about him], who were famous for his generosity, and both of them are disbelievers. There are clues from the Holy Quran and the Muhammedan tales and others from the previous rules and the mind and the wisemen as it is obvious for the most least of meditation [the last line of this paragraph is not translated as it should be for the Arabic version has some words mixing and lost meaning, this is the best I can do here.]
And know that the historians that discussed the story of Noah did differ in weither the flood covered all of earth or not and only specified for the destination that he used to live in with his (Noah) people, and they did not have nor we do have any clue that we can be comfortable with, and the Holy Quran did not mention anything about that, but only that the flood destroyed his people and he survived with whoever was with him in the Ark, and it is apparent from understanding the general meaning of the speech, that it was special for the place he used to live in with his tribes like in Iraq for example or in the Arabian peninsula, and it is likely similar to whatever happened to the nations that came after him for the punishment was directed against the people of those who warn and their lands like the people of Hud, Sâlih, Moses, David and others that came before and after them, so meditate, and that might be what the interpreters understood from the Holy Quran, and it is apparent that there is no special speech reported from the prophet (PUH) and his purified Household concerning this matter except what is apparent from the Holy Quran. It is so far away from mind to think that the people of Noah did cover all the lands completely and earth in all directions and that the flood covered it all, although there is no definite clue that can guide the research about the generality of the flood or its specification.
Yes, what appears from the Holy Book that there were no living thing that was left on earth after the flood except what was in the Ark, and from this angle (point of view) the difference occur about the matter and about considering it as a general or a specific case and God only knows.
This is the last thing we would like to mention about the conditions of the sheikh of messengers (PUH), and prayers may be upon the last of prophets, Muhammad and his purified Household, and thanks goes to God the Lord of all.