7-59 Certainly We sent Noah to his people, so he said: O my people, serve Allah, you have no god other than Him. Indeed I fear for you the chastisement of a grievous day.a
لَقَد أَرسَلنا نوحًا إِلىٰ قَومِهِ فَقالَ يا قَومِ اعبُدُوا اللَّهَ ما لَكُم مِن إِلٰهٍ غَيرُهُ إِنّي أَخافُ عَلَيكُم عَذابَ يَومٍ عَظيمٍ (۵۹)
7-59a: نوحً – It is the name of a prophet, and its meaning is to lament or mourn over the dead (R).
The need for mentioning the prophets: After informing the Quraish and the opponents of Islam about the dangerous consequences of belying the Divine revelation, now some examples are presented from history to show what befell previous nations that were inimical to prophets and tried to destroy them. It should be remembered that the mention of previous prophets in the Quran is not in the form of a narrative and hence all the details are not given but only those affairs are mentioned that are necessary to warn the opponents of Islam. For example, if the subject under discussion is the teachings of prophets, the basic principles that are common to the teachings of all the prophets are taken, that is that there is one God, He should be worshipped, shun evil, do good to others. How the prophets were treated by their nations is generally left out. If the discussion is about how the prophets were received, the commonalities are they were called liars, efforts were made to destroy them, and the people rose to oppose them, and it is these aspects that are described. In the end it is explained that the opponents were destroyed, and the truth prevailed. Most commonly these themes are found in the Makkan chapters which were revealed at a time when no one could imagine that the Holy Prophet would succeed, and the opponents would be destroyed. The mention of these prophets is in reality a prophecy that just as the opponents of previous prophets were destroyed, the opponents of the Holy Prophet will also meet the same fate.
The prophets mentioned here are in chronological order and only a few well-known prophets are mentioned. Adam has already been mentioned in the discussion about the need for revelation. Now the first prophet mentioned is Noah. One way of understanding this is that out of all the prophets that arose around Arabia who have not been mentioned so far, Noah is the most ancient prophet. Hence, he is mentioned first. Apart from here, Noah is mentioned in the following places in the Quran 3:33, 6:84, 10:71-73, 11:25-48, 14:9, 17:3, 21:76-77, 23:23-29, 25:37, 26:105-122, 29:14-15, 37:75-82, 51:46, 53:52, 54:9-16, 66:10, 29:11-12 and Surah Noah.
7-60 The chiefs of his people said: Surely we see thee in clear error.
قالَ المَلَأُ مِن قَومِهِ إِنّا لَنَراكَ في ضَلالٍ مُبينٍ (۶۰)
7-61 He said: O my people, there is no error in me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds.
قالَ يا قَومِ لَيسَ بي ضَلالَةٌ وَلٰكِنّي رَسولٌ مِن رَبِّ العالَمينَ (۶۱)
7-61a: It is stated that a prophet can never digress from the right path. This testimony of the Quran is sufficient about the sinlessness of prophets.
7-62 I deliver to you the messages of my Lord, and I offer you good advice, and I know from Allah what you know not.a
أُبَلِّغُكُم رِسالاتِ رَبّي وَأَنصَحُ لَكُم وَأَعلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ ما لا تَعلَمونَ (۶۲)
7-62a: أَنصَحُ – نُصۡح is a word or act whose purpose is to benefit another. ناصِح is derived from it, and the meaning of نَصَح is to purify and from it is تَوبَةً نَصوحًا (sincere repentance).
7-63 Do you wonder that a reminder has come to you from your Lord through a man from among you, that he may warn you and that you may guard against evil, and that mercy may be shown to you?
أَوَعَجِبتُم أَن جاءَكُم ذِكرٌ مِن رَبِّكُم عَلىٰ رَجُلٍ مِنكُم لِيُنذِرَكُم وَلِتَتَّقوا وَلَعَلَّكُم تُرحَمونَ (۶۳)
7-64 But they called him a liar, so We delivered him and those with him in the ark, and We drowned those who rejected Our messages. Surely they were a blind people!a
فَكَذَّبوهُ فَأَنجَيناهُ وَالَّذينَ مَعَهُ فِي الفُلكِ وَأَغرَقنَا الَّذينَ كَذَّبوا بِآياتِنا ۚ إِنَّهُم كانوا قَومًا عَمينَ (۶۴)
7-64a: Deluge of Noah: Details of the deluge will come later but the words of the Quran: وَأَغرَقنَا الَّذينَ كَذَّبوا بِآياتِنا (We drowned those who rejected Our messages) shows clearly that only those people were drowned to whom Noah brought the message and who rejected the message and opposed Noah. As is clear from verse 7:59 Noah’s message was only for his nation and not for the whole world. This negates a worldwide deluge.
Bayan-ul-Quran 