Midnight Dua / Stories

The Story of Prophet Nuh

He preached for nine and a half centuries to people who mocked him, then built a ship far from any water. His story is the clearest answer to anyone who measures obedience by results.

Nine hundred and fifty years

The Qur'an gives the figure exactly: he remained among them a thousand years less fifty (Qur'an 29:14). In Surah Nuh he describes what those centuries were like — he called them by night and by day, in public and in private, and every time he called, they put their fingers in their ears and pulled their garments over their heads (Qur'an 71:5-7).

A handful believed. That is the whole harvest of nine and a half centuries of work, and it was accepted.

Building a ship in the desert

Then came the command to build. Not near a coast, not in a season of rain — on dry land, with no water in sight. The Qur'an records that whenever the chiefs of his people passed by him, they ridiculed him (Qur'an 11:38).

Every plank was another day of laughter. He kept building anyway, and he was told in advance not to address Allah about those who had wronged; the matter was settled.

The water came from above and below

When the command came, the sky poured and the earth burst open, and the water met (Qur'an 54:11-12). The ship that had made no sense for years was suddenly the only thing that made sense.

His own son refused to board, saying he would take shelter on a mountain. Nuh called out to him until the wave came between them (Qur'an 11:42-43). Even a prophet was not given the outcome he wanted for everyone he loved.

For tonightResults are not the measure of obedience. Keep building.

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