إِنّا لَمّا طَغَى الماءُ حَمَلناكُم فِي الجارِيَةِ

Indeed when the flood rose high, We carried you in a floating ark.

EXEGESIS

This verse alludes to the deluge of Prophet Noah (a) whose detailed account is given in 11:36-48. Sūrah Nūḥ (71) as well, in its entirety, relates the story of Prophet Noah (a) and is named after him.

Ṭaghā (rose high) is once again mentioned with the same root as al-ṭāghiyah in verse 5 that was explained as exceeding all limits. Just as the people of Prophet Noah (a) exceeded the limits of God, so did the flood that drowned them. It rose high, exceeding all boundaries, and was unparalleled in how it inundated everything: Then We opened the gates of the sky with pouring waters, and We made the earth burst forth with springs and the waters met for a preordained purpose (54:11-12).

We carried you (ḥamalnākum), in the second person plural, is directed specifically at the Quraysh and the neighbouring tribes of Mecca, to whom the surah was first revealed, and who were descendants of Prophet Noah (a) (7:69). The ark’s story was therefore significant to them. The Children of Israel are also described as descendants of those whom We carried [in the ark] with Noah (17:3).

We carried you in a floating ark means: We carried your forefathers while you were still in their loins,^{‎[1]Jalalayn, p. 570; Qurtubi, 18/263; Razi, 3/623.} just as in the verse: A sign for them is that We carried their progeny in a laden ship (36:41).

An ark is usually called safīnah in Arabic (18:79) but here it is described as jāriyah, meaning that which floats.^{‎[2]And in 54:13 it is called a vessel made of planks and nails.} It comes from jarā which is to flow or stream,^{‎[3]Hans Wehr, j-r-y.} as used in the Arabic expression, ‘it flowed like the flow (majrā) of blood or water’. The Quran also uses al-jāriyah to refer to ships in general: His are the sailing ships (al-jawārī) (sing. al-jāriyah) (55:24).

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. From Imam Ali (a): ‘No drop of water comes down but by a measure at the hands of an angel. But when it was the day of Noah[’s deluge], the water was permitted [to fall] without its keepers so it exceeded all limits over its keepers’ [ability to control], and that is the words of the Exalted: Indeed when the flood rose high …’^{‎[4]Ibn Kathir, 8/226-7; Tabari, 29/34.}

[1] Jalalayn, p. 570; Qurtubi, 18/263; Razi, 3/623.
[2] And in 54:13 it is called a vessel made of planks and nails.
[3] Hans Wehr, j-r-y.
[4] Ibn Kathir, 8/226-7; Tabari, 29/34.