قِيلَ يَٰنُوحُ ٱهْبِطْ بِسَلَٰمٍ مِّنَّا وَبَرَكَٰتٍ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰٓ أُمَمٍ مِّمَّن مَّعَكَ وَأُمَمٌ سَنُمَتِّعُهُمْ ثُمَّ يَمَسُّهُم مِّنَّا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
qīla yā Nūḥu'hbiṭ bi-salāmin minnā wa barakātin ʿalayka wa ʿalā umamin mimman maʿak, wa umamun sa-numattiʿuhum thumma yamassuhum minnā ʿadhābun alīm
"It was said: 'Noah! Come down with peace from Us, and with blessings upon you and upon the peoples that will come from those with you. And there will be peoples We shall let enjoy life for a while, and then a painful punishment from Us will touch them.'"
As was tabulated in the section on the backbone, not one of Hūd's five closing patterns is struck in full on the Noah narrative. Noah's closing is peculiar to itself and runs to two verses (48-49).
And the difference must be recorded: the other four peoples are sent off with buʿdan; Noah is met with bi-salām.
| Narrative | What stands at the closing |
|---|---|
| Noah | bi-salāmin minnā wa barakāt — peace and blessings |
| Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Shuʿayb | alā buʿdan li-… — distance |
This is the only positive closing among the six narratives of Sūrat Hūd. This is a difference that can be verified from the text.
And the concrete sense of the word is exactly in place here: the ark had come to rest on a height (al-Jūdiyy); the descent is from there.
And it can be compared with the use in al-Baqara, and I record this as an observation: there the same verb reported an expulsion; here it comes together with a greeting of peace. The word carries no value on its own.
The root س-ل-م — soundness, freedom from flaw, completeness — was treated at al-Dhāriyāt 51/25, and it was recorded there: "the greeting of peace is not a wish but a guarantee." I rely on that treatment.
The root ب-ر-ك: continuance, increase, a good that stays. The lexicographers relate the root to birka (a pool): water gathering and remaining in one place.
| Word | Pattern | To where |
|---|---|---|
| salām | Singular | minnā — the source is named |
| barakāt | Plural | ʿalayka wa ʿalā umam — two addressees |
And the construction umamin mimman maʿak must be recorded: the blessing is given not to those on the ark but to the peoples who will come from them. The addressee of the promise, that is, is the future.
The root م-ت-ع occurred in the third verse of the sūra: yumattiʿkum matāʿan ḥasanan ilā ajalin musammā.
| Verse | Expression | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | yumattiʿkum matāʿan ḥasanan | Those who turn back — a promise |
| 48 | sa-numattiʿuhum thumma yamassuhum … ʿadhābun alīm | Later peoples — a warning |
The same root, two different outcomes. And the difference lies in the particle thumma: in the third verse the enjoyment was tied to a term; here what comes after the enjoyment is stated.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the root the two verses share: nowhere does the sūra count enjoyment (matāʿ) as an outcome. And the same thing had been said in the fifteenth verse: nuwaffi ilayhim aʿmālahum fīhā — but laysa lahum fi'l-ākhirati illā'l-nār.