Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:46
He said, "O Noah, indeed he is not of your family; indeed, he is [one whose] work was other than righteous, so ask Me not for that about which you have no knowledge. Indeed, I advise you, lest you be among the ignorant."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exposition of the interpretation of the words of Allah the Exalted: قَالَ يَا نُوحُ إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ فَلا تَسْأَلْنِ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ إِنِّي أَعِظُكَ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ (46)
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah the Exalted says: Allah said: O Nūḥ, the one who drowned and perished, of whom you say that he belongs to your household, does not belong to your household.
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of His word لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ .
Some said: the meaning is: he is not of your children, he descends from another. They said: that was because of adultery.
Mention of those who said that:
18208 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan, concerning the word إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ : "he was not his son."
18209 — Abū Kurayb and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, they said: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, concerning the word وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ : "the son of his wife."
18210 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of the companions of Ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan, who said: "no, by Allah, he was not his son."
18211 — [...] he said: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, concerning the word وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ : "this is in the dialect of Ṭayy — he was not his son, he was the son of his wife."
18212 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf and Manṣūr, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan, concerning the word إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ : "he was not his son." And he read it as إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ .
18213 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: "I was with Al-Ḥasan; he said: 'Nūḥ called his son' — by Allah's life, he is not his son! I said: O Abū Saʿīd, it states وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ and you say: it is not his son? He said: Do you then not see His word: (he does not belong to your household)? I said: it means: he does not belong to your household which I had promised you to save with you — and the People of the Book agree that he was his son. He said: the People of the Book lie."
18214 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: "I heard Al-Ḥasan reciting this verse: (he does not belong to your household; he is a deed that is not righteous); he then said: by Allah, he was not his son. Then he recited this verse: فَخَانَتَاهُمَا (Sūrat Al-Taḥrīm 66:10)." Saʿīd said: I mentioned that to Qatāda; he said: "it was not fitting for him to swear an oath."
18215 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word فَلا تَسْأَلْنِ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ : "Allah made clear to Nūḥ that he was not his son."
18216 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibil related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: فَلا تَسْأَلْنِ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ — "Allah made clear to Nūḥ that he was not his son."
18217 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect.
18218 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect. Ibn Jurayj said concerning the word وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ : "he called him while he thought that he was his son, for he had been born upon his marriage bed."
18219 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Thuwayr, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar: إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ — "had he belonged to his household, he would have been saved."
18220 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, who heard ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr saying: "we are of the view that the ruling of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ 'the child belongs to the marriage bed' came about because of the son of Nūḥ."
18221 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan, who said: "no, by Allah, he was not his son."
Others said: the meaning of لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ is: he does not belong to your household which I had promised you to save.
Mention of those who said that:
18222 — Abū Kurayb and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, they said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū ʿĀmir, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the word وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ : "he was his son."
18223 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, who said: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "he was his son; the wife of a prophet has never committed fornication (zinā)."
18224 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Abū ʿĀmir al-Hamdānī, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "the wife of a prophet has never committed fornication." And he said: His word إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ means: he does not belong to those whom I had promised you to save with you.
18225 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda and others, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "he was his son; but he diverged from him in deed and intention." ʿIkrima said: in some readings it states إِنَّهُ عَمِلَ عَمَلاً غَيْرَ صَالِحٍ — and the betrayal may have more than one meaning.
18226 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: "ʿIkrima used to say: he was his son, but he diverged from him in intention and deed; therefore it was said to him: إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ ."
18227 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Al-Thawrī and Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Qatta, who said: "I heard Ibn ʿAbbās being asked, while he was sitting beside the Kaʿba, about the word of Allah the Exalted فَخَانَتَاهُمَا (Sūrat Al-Taḥrīm 66:10); he said: it was certainly not fornication (zinā), but the one told the people that he was insane, and the other directed guests to the way to him. Then he recited: (he is a deed that is not righteous)." Ibn ʿUyayna said: ʿAmmār al-Duhnī informed me that he asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about that, and he said: "he was the son of Nūḥ — Allah does not lie! He said: وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ ." He said: "some scholars said: the wife of a prophet has never committed fornication."
18228 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmmār al-Duhnī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: "Allah said — and He is the Truthful —: وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ — he was his son."
18229 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Shaddād, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "the wife of a prophet has never committed fornication."
18230 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, who said: I asked Abū Bishr about the word إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ ; he said: "he does not belong to your household of religion, and he does not belong to those whom I had promised you to save." Yaʿqūb said: Hushaym said: "most of what Abū Bishr related to us was on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr."
18231 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb ibn Qays, who said: "a man came to Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and said: O Abū ʿAbdallāh, the son of Nūḥ whom Allah mentions in His Book — is he his son? He said: yes, by Allah; the prophet of Allah commanded him to go with him in the ship but he refused and said: سَآوِي إِلَى جَبَلٍ يَعْصِمُنِي مِنَ الْمَاءِ . Allah said: (O Nūḥ, he does not belong to your household; he is a deed that is not righteous) — because of his disobedience to the prophet of Allah."
18232 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Abū Ṣakhr informed me, on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya al-Bajalī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "a man came to him and asked him: tell me, the son of Nūḥ — is he his son? He performed a long tasbīḥ and said: there is no god but Allah; Allah tells Muḥammad: وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ — and you say that he is not of him? But he diverged from him in deed; and whoever does not believe does not belong to him."
18233 — Yaʿqūb and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, they said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Hārūn al-Ghanawī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the word وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ : "I testify that he was his son — Allah said: وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ ."
18234 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid and ʿIkrima, who both said: "he was his son."
18235 — Faḍāla ibn al-Faḍl al-Kūfī related to me, saying: Buzayʿ said: "a man asked Al-Ḍaḥḥāk about the son of Nūḥ; he said: how do you wonder at this fool! He asks me about the son of Nūḥ — he is the son of Nūḥ as Allah said: Nūḥ said to his son."
18236 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who read وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ and concerning the word لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ said: "he is not of your household of your protection, nor does he belong to those whom I had promised you to save from your household"; إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ — he said: "his deed was in polytheism (shirk)."
18237 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Juwaybar, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: "he was, by Allah, his own son."
18238 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Juwaybar, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning the word لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ : "he does not belong to your household of religion, nor to those whom I had promised you to save; he was his own son."
18239 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the word قَالَ يَا نُوحُ إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ : "that is to say: he does not belong to those whom We had promised to save."
18240 — It was related to me on the authority of Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying, he said: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard Al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning the word إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ : "he does not belong to your household of your protection, nor to those whom I had promised you to save from your household"; إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ : "his deed was in polytheism."
18241 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Khālid ibn Ḥayyān related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Burqān, on the authority of Maymūn and Thābit ibn al-Ḥajjāj, who both said: "he was his son, born upon his marriage bed."
Abū Jaʿfar says: The most correct of the two opinions is the opinion of him who said: the interpretation of لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ is: he does not belong to your household which I had promised you to save, for he was hostile to your religion and did not believe in Me. And he was indeed his son, for Allah the Exalted had informed His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ that he was his son through His word وَنَادَى نُوحٌ ابْنَهُ ; and it is not permissible that He should indicate that he is his son while the reality is other than what He has reported. There is in His word إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ no indication that he was not his son, for His word لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ bears the meaning which we have mentioned — namely that he does not belong to the household of religion, and then "religion" is omitted and one says إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ — just as it is said: وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ الَّتِي كُنَّا فِيهَا (Sūrat Yūsuf 12:82).
As for His word إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ : the reciters differed concerning its reading.
Most of the reciters of the great cities read إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ — with tanwīn upon "ʿamal" and the nominative upon "ghayr".
The exegetes who read it thus then differed over its interpretation.
Some said: the meaning is: your request to Me is a deed that is not righteous.
Mention of those who said that:
18242 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ — "your request to Me is a deed that is not righteous."
18243 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ — that is to say: evil; فَلا تَسْأَلْنِ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ .
18244 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the word إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ : "your asking about that of which you have no knowledge."
18245 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ḥamza al-Zayyāt, on the authority of Al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word إِنَّهُ عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ : "your asking of Me is a deed that is not righteous" — فَلا تَسْأَلْنِ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ .
Others said: the meaning is: the one whom you name as your son and for whom you asked Me to save him, is a deed that is not righteous — that is to say: he is of unlawful birth. They said: the pronoun in إِنَّهُ refers to "the son."
Mention of those who said that:
18246 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Numayr related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan, who read عَمَلٌ غَيْرُ صَالِحٍ and said: "by Allah, he was not his son."
It has been transmitted on the authority of a group of the early Muslims that they read it as إِنَّهُ عَمِلَ غَيْرَ صَالِحٍ — as a report about a past deed, with "ghayr" in the accusative. Among those from whom it is transmitted that they read it thus is Ibn ʿAbbās.
18247 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Qatta, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he read: عَمِلَ غَيْرَ صَالِحٍ .
And they explained its interpretation as:
18248 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ghundar related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: إِنَّهُ عَمِلَ غَيْرَ صَالِحٍ — "he diverged in intention and deed."
Abū Jaʿfar says: We do not know that any of the reciters of the great cities used this reading, except some of the later generation; they relied for that upon a report which is transmitted on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he read it thus — but its chain of transmission is not reliable. It is a report transmitted on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab — once with "from Umm Salama" and once with "from Asmāʾ bint Yazīd"; and we do not know which of the two he intends. We also do not know whether for Shahr a reliable hearing from Umm Salama is demonstrable.
Abū Jaʿfar says: The correct reading in our view is the reading which the reciters of the great cities maintain: the nominative of عَمَلٌ with tanwīn, and the nominative of غَيْرُ — with the meaning: your asking of Me concerning your son — who is hostile to your religion and was inclined to the people of polytheism against Me — to save him from destruction, while My answer to your supplication: لا تَذَرْ عَلَى الأَرْضِ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ دَيَّارًا had already passed without exception for any one of them, is a deed that is not righteous. For it is a request from you to Me not to do what I had already pronounced that I shall do, in My granting of your request to Me to do this. That is the deed that is not righteous.
فَلا تَسْأَلْنِ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ — this is a prohibition from Allah the Exalted to His prophet Nūḥ against asking Him about the reasons of His actions which He has kept hidden from him and from other people. The Exalted says to him: O Nūḥ, I have already informed you concerning your asking about the reason for My putting your son to death; do not ask Me thereafter about what I have kept hidden from you of the reasons of My actions, of which you have no knowledge. "I admonish you lest you be among the ignorant" in your asking of Me about that.
Ibn Zayd used to say concerning His word إِنِّي أَعِظُكَ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ :
18249 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word إِنِّي أَعِظُكَ أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ : "that ignorance should carry you so far that you think I do not fulfill My promise to you, until you ask Me about what you have no knowledge of — وَإِلا تَغْفِرْ لِي وَتَرْحَمْنِي أَكُنْ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ ."
The reciters differed over the reading of the word فَلا تَسْأَلْنِ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ . Most of the reciters of the great cities read فَلا تَسْأَلْنِ — with a kasra-bearing and light nūn, the kasra pointing to the "yāʾ" that represents the pronoun of Allah in: "do not ask Me". Some reciters of Mecca and some of the Levant read فَلا تَسْأَلَنَّ — with a shadda-bearing and fatḥa-bearing nūn, with the meaning: "do not ask, O Nūḥ, about what you have no knowledge of."
Abū Jaʿfar says: The correct reading in our view is the light and kasra-bearing nūn, for that is the most eloquent in Arabic usage.
