_And he uttered an imprecation upon them, saying_, O my Lord, leave not upon the earth any one of the unbelievers; for if Thou leave them, they will lead Thy servants into error, and will not beget [any] but a wicked, ungrateful [offspring]. O my Lord, forgive me and my parents (_for they were believers_), and whomsoever entereth my house (_my abode, or my place of worship_), being a believer, and the believing men, and the believing women, (_to the day of resurrection_), and add not to the offenders [aught] save destruction. (lxxi. 27-29.) _And God answered his prayer, and said_, Construct the ark in our sight and according to our revelation, and speak not unto Me concerning those who have offended, _to beg Me not to destroy them_; for they [shall be] drowned. And he constructed the ark; and whenever a company of his people passed by him, they derided him. He said, If ye deride us, we will deride you, like as ye deride, _when we are saved and ye are drowned_, and ye shall know on whom shall come a punishment which shall render him vile, and whom shall befall a lasting punishment. [Thus he was employed] until when Our decree _for their destruction_ came to pass, and the _baker’s_ oven overflowed _with water_[198] (_for this was a signal unto Noah_), We said, Carry into it (_that is, into the ark_) of every pair, _male and female, of each of these descriptions_, two (_and it is related that God assembled for Noah the wild beasts and the birds and other creatures, and he proceeded to put his hands upon each kind, and his right hand fell always upon the male, and his left upon the female, and he carried them into the ark_), and thy family (excepting him upon whom the sentence _of destruction_ hath already been pronounced, _namely, Noah’s wife, and his son Canaan: but Shem and Ham and Japheth and their three wives he took_), and those who have believed; but there believed not with him save a few: _they were six men and their wives: and it is said that all who were in the ark were eighty, half of whom were men and half women_. And _Noah_ said, Embark ye therein. In the name of God [be] its course and its mooring.[199] Verily my Lord is very forgiving [and] merciful.—And it moved along with them amid waves like mountains; and Noah called unto his son, _Canaan_, who was apart _from the ark_, O my child, embark with us, and be not with the unbelievers! He replied, I will betake me to a mountain which will secure me from the water. [Noah] said, There is nought that will secure to-day from the decree of God [any] but him on whom He hath mercy. And the waves intervened between them; so he became [one] of the drowned. And it was said, O earth, swallow up thy water (_whereupon it drank it up, except what had descended from heaven, which became rivers and seas_), and, O heaven, cease _from raining_;—and the water abated, and the decree was fulfilled, and it (_namely, the ark_) rested on El-Joodee (_a mountain of El-Jezeereh,