The story of Noah has already ballooned into a book-sized concept, comparing the account in Genesis with the account in the Qur’an, and showing the relevance of both to our everyday lives.
5:28 — Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son.
5:29 — Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”
5:30 — Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters.
5:31 — So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.
5:32 — Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:1 — Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,
6:2 — that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
6:3 — Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
6:4 — The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
6:5 — Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6:6 — The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
6:7 — The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
6:8 — But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
6:9 — These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
6:10 — Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:11 — Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.
6:12 — God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
6:13 — Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
6:14 — “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.
6:15 — “This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
6:16 — “You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
6:17 — “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.
6:18 — “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark–you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
6:19 — “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
6:20 — “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
6:21 — “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”
6:22 — Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
7:1 — Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
7:2 — “You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female;
7:3 — also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
7:4 — “For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”
7:5 — Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.
7:6 — Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.
7:7 — Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.
7:8 — Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground,
7:9 — there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
7:10 — It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth.
7:11 — In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
7:12 — The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
7:13 — On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,
7:14 — they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds.
7:15 — So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
7:16 — Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him.
7:17 — Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
7:18 — The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
7:19 — The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.
7:20 — The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.
7:21 — All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;
7:22 — of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.
7:23 — Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.
7:24 — The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.
8:1 — But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
8:2 — Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;
8:3 — and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.
8:4 — In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.
8:5 — The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
8:6 — Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;
8:7 — and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.
8:8 — Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land;
8:9 — but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself.
8:10 — So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.
8:11 — The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.
8:12 — Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.
8:13 — Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.
8:14 — In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
8:15 — Then God spoke to Noah, saying,
8:16 — “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
8:17 — “Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
8:18 — So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
8:19 — Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.
8:20 — Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
8:21 — The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
8:22 — “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”
9:1 — And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
9:2 — “The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.
9:3 — “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.
9:4 — “Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
9:5 — “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
9:6 — “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
9:7 — “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
9:8 — Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9:9 — “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;
9:10 — And with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.
9:11 — “I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
9:12 — God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;
9:13 — I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
9:14 — “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
9:15 — and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
9:16 — “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
9:17 — And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
9:18 — Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan.
9:19 — These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
9:20 — Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.
9:21 — He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.
9:22 — Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
9:23 — But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
9:24 — When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.
9:25 — So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.”
9:26 — He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.
9:27 — “May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.”
9:28 — Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.
9:29 — So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
The story of Noah is told in this one place in the Bible. In the Qur’an, the story of Noah is told in several places, some more complete than others. Here, in chapter eleven, is the most complete narrative — more complete than in chapter 71, which is entitled Noah:
Qur’an 11:25 – We sent Noah to his people, saying, “I come to you as a clear warner.
Qur’an 11:26 – “You shall not worship except Allah. I fear for you the retribution of a painful day.”
Qur’an 11:27 – The leaders who disbelieved among his people said, “We see that you are no more than a human being like us, and we see that the first people to follow you are the worst among us. We see that you do not possess any advantage over us. Indeed, we think you are liars.”
Qur’an 11:28 – He said, “O my people, what if I have a solid proof from my Lord? What if He has blessed me out of His mercy, though you cannot see it? Are we going to force you to believe therein?
Qur’an 11:29 – “O my people, I do not ask you for any money; my wage comes only from Allah. I am not dismissing those who believed; they will meet their Lord (and He alone will judge them). I see that you are ignorant people.
Qur’an 11:30 – “O my people, who can support me against Allah, if I dismiss them? Would you not take heed?
Qur’an 11:31 – “I do not claim that I possess the treasures of Allah, nor do I know the future, nor do I claim to be an angel. Nor do I say to those despised by your eyes that Allah will not bestow any blessings upon them. Allah knows best what is in their innermost thoughts. (If I did this,) I would be a transgressor.”
Qur’an 11:32 – They said, “O Noah, you have argued with us, and kept on arguing. We challenge you to bring the doom you threaten us with, if you are truthful.”
Qur’an 11:33 – He said, “Allah is the One who brings it to you, if He so wills, then you cannot escape.
Qur’an 11:34 – “Even if I advised you, my advice cannot benefit you if it is Allah’s will to send you astray. He is your Lord, and to Him you will be returned.”
Qur’an 11:35 – If they say, “He made up this story,” then say, “If I made it up, then I am responsible for my crime, and I am innocent of any crime you commit.”
Qur’an 11:36 – Noah was inspired: “No more of your people are going to believe, beyond those who already believe. Do not be saddened by their actions.
Qur’an 11:37 – “Build the ark under our watchful eyes, and with our inspiration, and do not implore Me on behalf of those who have transgressed; they are destined to drown.”
Qur’an 11:38 – While he was building the ark, whenever some of his people passed by him they laughed at him. He said, “You may be laughing at us, but we are laughing at you, just as you are laughing.
Qur’an 11:39 – “You will surely find out who will suffer a shameful retribution, and incur an everlasting punishment.”
Qur’an 11:40 – When our judgment came, and the atmosphere boiled over, we said, “Carry on it a pair of each kind, together with your family, except those who are condemned. Carry with you those who have believed,” and only a few have believed with him.
Qur’an 11:41 – He said, “Come on board. In the name of Allah shall be its sailing, and its mooring. My Lord is Forgiver, Most Merciful.”
Qur’an 11:42 – As it sailed with them in waves like hills, Noah called his son, who was isolated: “O my son, come ride with us; do not be with the disbelievers.”
Qur’an 11:43 – He said, “I will take refuge on top of a hill, to protect me from the water.” He said, “Nothing can protect anyone today from Allah’s judgment; only those worthy of His mercy (will be saved).” The waves separated them, and he was among those who drowned.
Qur’an 11:44 – It was proclaimed: “O earth, swallow your water,” and “O sky, cease.” The water then subsided; the judgment was fulfilled. The ark finally rested on the hills of Judea. It was then proclaimed: “The transgressors have perished.”
Qur’an 11:45 – Noah implored his Lord: “My Lord, my son is a member of my family, and Your promise is the truth. You are the wisest of the wise.”
Qur’an 11:46 – He said, “O Noah, he is not of your family. It is unrighteous to ask Me for something you do not know. I enlighten you, lest you be like the ignorant.”
Qur’an 11:47 – He said, “My Lord, I seek refuge in You, lest I implore You again for something I do not know. Unless You forgive me, and have mercy on me, I will be with the losers.”
Qur’an 11:48 – It was proclaimed: “O Noah, disembark, with peace and blessings upon you, and upon nations who will descend from your companions. As for the other nations descending from you, we will bless them for awhile, then commit them to painful retribution.”
Qur’an 11:49 – This is news from the past that we reveal to you. You had no knowledge about them – neither you, nor your people – before this. Therefore, be patient. The ultimate victory belongs to the righteous.
I am not happy with any translation of the Qur’an, but at least you can get the basics of the story and see the clear differences between the two versions — the Bible version and the Qur’an version.
