Surah 29

Surah 29:15

"But We rescued him and (his) companions on the ship, and made it a miracle for all peoples."
Nuh and His People Verses 29:14-15
Show Full Scripture Context (29:14-15) — 2 Verses
Verse 14

وَلَقَدۡ أَرۡسَلۡنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوۡمِهِۦ فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمۡ أَلۡفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمۡسِينَ عَامٗا فَأَخَذَهُمُ ٱلطُّوفَانُ وَهُمۡ ظَٰلِمُونَ

Certainly We sent Noah to his people, and he stayed among them a thousand years, minus fifty years, and then the flood seized them while they were doing evil.

Verse 15

فَأَنجَيۡنَٰهُ وَأَصۡحَٰبَ ٱلسَّفِينَةِ وَجَعَلۡنَٰهَآ ءَايَةٗ لِّلۡعَٰلَمِينَ

But We rescued him and (his) companions on the ship, and made it a miracle for all peoples.

mission when he was forty years old, and he stayed among his people for a thousand years less fifty; after the Flood he lived for sixty years until people had increased and spread.

Quoted Scripture
"Then We saved him and the Companions of the Boat,"

means, those who believed in Nuh, peace be upon him. We have already discussed this in detail in Surah Hud, and there is no need to repeat it here.

Quoted Scripture
"and made it (the ship) an Ayah for all people."

means. We caused that ship to remain,' whether in itself, as Qatadah said, that it remained until the beginning of Islam, on Mount Judi, or whether the concept of sailing in ships was left as a reminder to mankind of how Allah had saved them from the Flood. This is like the Ayat

{And an Ayah for them is that We bore their offspring in the laden ship. And We have created for them of the like thereunto, on which they ride} until:

{and as an enjoyment for a while} (36:41-44).

{Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits. We carried you in the ship. That We might make it an admonition for you and that it might be retained by the retaining ears.} (69:11-12)

And Allah says here:

Quoted Scripture
"Then We saved him and the Companions of the Boat, and made it an Ayah for all people."

This is a shift from referring to one specific ship to speaking...

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.