Surah Hud (Hud) 11 : 40

Explanatory Note

A scene of mobilization follows as the awaited moment draws near: “Until, when Our will came to pass and the fountains of the earth gushed forth, We said [to Noah]: ‘Take into it a pair of every species, as well as your family, except those against whom Our word has passed, and all those who have accepted the faith.’ None believed with

The Arabic phrase translated here as ‘the fountains of the earth gushed forth’ could also be literally translated as ‘the oven boiled’. There are varying reports about the meaning of this phrase. To pursue each one in an attempt to determine the precise meaning is to go into a maze without guidance. Hence, we confine ourselves to the limits of the text adding nothing to it. The most that we can say is that this phrase may be a reference to a certain signal from God to Noah. It might, on the other hand, have accompanied the execution of God’s will as water started to gush forth from the earth and rain poured down in torrents.

When this took place, God said to Noah. It appears that the whole process was revealed to Noah step by step at the right moment. He first received orders to build the ark and he did. The sūrah does not tell us at the beginning why the ark was built, nor does it tell us that Noah was informed of the purpose, until “when Our will came to pass and the fountains of the earth gushed forth,” then, he received his instructions for the following stage.

Again the reports we have vary as to the meaning of the expression, ‘a pair of every species.’ We will only say that Noah was ordered to take into the ark a pair of all such living species as he could take.