وَٱصْنَعِ ٱلْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا وَلَا تُخَٰطِبْنِى فِى ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُم مُّغْرَقُونَ
And construct the ship under Our observation and Our inspiration and do not address Me concerning those who have wronged; indeed, they are [to be] drowned."
Introduction
This is āyah 37 of Sūrat Hud (Hud), the 52nd sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 12. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 52 of 114
- Surah
- Hud (11)
Make the ship through Our eyes and Our revelation. In keeping with the Shariah and by virtue of the outward decree, a command came, " Build a ship from teak and sit in it so as to be delivered from the storm. " In keeping with the Haqiqah and by virtue of special favor and the attribute of proximity, a call came to his secret core, " You have the ocean of the soul before you. It is a drowning, destructive ocean in which are waiting whirlpools full of danger and spirit-stealing sharks. You must cross it in order to reach the shore of security. Build a ship of self-purification in three levels: one fear, the second hope, and the third approval. Then attach to it the sail of truthfulness and set it toward the east wind of awareness of Me. " This is why He said, " through Our eyes and Our revelation: I Myself will drive it as it should be driven and where it should be driven. " He it is who makes you journey on land and sea [10:22]. And We carried them on land and sea [17:70]. By way of allusion He is saying, " My servant, turn over the governance of your work to Me, entrust yourself totally to Me, and keep your self-determination distant. You are being carried by My gentleness, and 'He who is carried by the generous does not fall. And if he does fall, he will find someone to take his hand.' " This is just what MuṣṬafā said: " You indeed will be threading a bridge of fire. If one of you treads on a spark, the bridge will say, 'Your Lord has said to shelter him!' " This is a great generos- ity and an infinite gentleness that the Exalted Lord will do for the disobedient servant tomorrow when he crosses the Narrow Path. " So, sometimes he will stop, sometime stumble, " falling and getting up. The Exalted Lord knows that the servant has no one to come to his aid but He and no one to take his hand but He. In the reports it is mentioned that God's mercy toward the servant is more than a mother's mercy toward her child. Supposing that a child's foot gets caught in the mud a thousand times, each time the mother will say, " Rise up, O soul of your mother! " Each time she will be even more tender and lovingly kind toward the child.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
No community resources for this verse yet.