Ayah
Word by Word
قَالَ
He said
يَٰنُوحُ
O Nuh!
إِنَّهُۥ
Indeed he
لَيۡسَ
(is) not
مِنۡ
of
أَهۡلِكَۖ
your family
إِنَّهُۥ
indeed [he]
عَمَلٌ
(his) deed
غَيۡرُ
(is) other than
صَٰلِحٖۖ
righteous
فَلَا
so (do) not
تَسۡـَٔلۡنِ
ask Me
مَا
(about) what
لَيۡسَ
not
لَكَ
you have
بِهِۦ
of it
عِلۡمٌۖ
any knowledge
إِنِّيٓ
Indeed I
أَعِظُكَ
admonish you
أَن
lest
تَكُونَ
you be
مِنَ
among
ٱلۡجَٰهِلِينَ
the ignorant
قَالَ
He said
يَٰنُوحُ
O Nuh!
إِنَّهُۥ
Indeed he
لَيۡسَ
(is) not
مِنۡ
of
أَهۡلِكَۖ
your family
إِنَّهُۥ
indeed [he]
عَمَلٌ
(his) deed
غَيۡرُ
(is) other than
صَٰلِحٖۖ
righteous
فَلَا
so (do) not
تَسۡـَٔلۡنِ
ask Me
مَا
(about) what
لَيۡسَ
not
لَكَ
you have
بِهِۦ
of it
عِلۡمٌۖ
any knowledge
إِنِّيٓ
Indeed I
أَعِظُكَ
admonish you
أَن
lest
تَكُونَ
you be
مِنَ
among
ٱلۡجَٰهِلِينَ
the ignorant
Translation
He said: "O Noah! He is not of thy family: For his conduct is unrighteous. So ask not of Me that of which thou hast no knowledge! I give thee counsel, lest thou act like the ignorant!"
Tafsir
He, [God] exalted be He, said: 'O Noah, lo! he is not of your family, of those [who will be] saved, or of the followers of your religion; lo! it, that is, your asking me to save him, is not a righteous deed, for he is a disbeliever and there is no deliverance for disbelievers ('aamalun ghayru saalihin, 'it is not a righteous deed': a variant reading has 'aamila, the verb, with ghayra in the accusative, in which case the person governing [the verb 'amila] is his son). So do not ask of Me (read either fa-laa tas'alanni, or fa-laa tas'alni) that whereof you have no knowledge, in respect to saving your son. I admonish you lest you be among the ignorant', when you ask about what you do not know.
"
A Return to the Story of the Son of Nuh and mentioning what transpired between Nuh and Allah concerning Him
Allah tells:
وَنَادَى نُوحٌ رَّبَّهُ
And Nuh called upon his Lord,
This was a request for information and an inquiry from Nuh concerning the circumstances of his son's drowning.
فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنَّ ابُنِي مِنۡ أَهۡلِي
and said, ""O my Lord! Verily, my son is of my family!""
This means, ""Verily, You promised to save my family and Your promise is the truth that does not fail. Therefore, how can he (my son) be drowned and You are the Most Just of the judges!""
وَإِنَّ وَعۡدَكَ الۡحَقُّ وَأَنتَ أَحۡكَمُ الۡحَاكِمِينَ
And certainly, Your promise is true, and You are the Most Just of the judges.""
قَالَ يَا نُوحُ إِنَّهُ لَيۡسَ مِنۡ أَهۡلِكَ
He (Allah) said:""O Nuh! Surely, he is not of your family...""
This means, ""He (your son) is not of those whom I promised to save. I only promised you that I would save those of your family who believe.""
For this reason Allah said,
وَأَهۡلَكَ إِلاَّ مَن سَبَقَ عَلَيۡهِ الۡقَوۡلُ مِنۡهُمۡ
and your family except him against whom the Word has already gone forth. (11:40)
إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيۡرُ صَالِحٍ
verily, his work is unrighteous,
فَلَ تَسۡأَلۡنِ مَا لَيۡسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلۡمٌ
إِنِّي أَعِظُكَ أَن تَكُونَ مِنَ الۡجَاهِلِينَ
so ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you should be one of the ignorant.""
Thus, for his son, it had already been decreed that he would be drowned due to his disbelief and his opposition to his father, the Prophet of Allah, Nuh peace be upon him.
Concerning Allah's statement,
إِنَّهُ لَيۡسَ مِنۡ أَهۡلِكَ
(Surely, he is not of your family),
meaning that he (Nuh's son) was not among those whom Allah promised to save.
Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Ibn Abbas said,
""He was the son of Nuh, but he opposed him in deeds and intention.""
Ikrimah said in some of the modes of recitation it said here,
إِنَّهُ عَمَلَ عَمَلً
غَيۡرَ صَالِحٍ
""Verily, he (Nuh's son) worked deeds that were not righteous.""
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ أَنۡ أَسۡأَلَكَ مَا لَيۡسَ لِي بِهِ عِلۡمٌ
وَإِلاَّ تَغۡفِرۡ لِي وَتَرۡحَمۡنِي أَكُن مِّنَ الۡخَاسِرِينَ
Nuh said:""O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from asking You that of which I have no knowledge. And unless You forgive me and have mercy on me, I would indeed be one of the losers."
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