anfwered, I will get on a mountain, which will fecure me from the ware
N oah replied, There is no fecurity this day from the decree of G o d exrrnr
for him on whom he lhall have mercy. And a wave palled between them
and he became one of thofe who were drowned. And it was faid O earth’
fwallow up thy waters, and thou, O heaven, withhold thy rain. And imm
diately the water abated, and the decree was fulfilled, and the ark relied on
the mountain A l J u d i *; and it was faid, Away with the ungodly p e o D l e i
And Noah called upon his L o r d , and laid, O L o r d , verily my fon is o f
my family ; and thy promife is true6: for thou art the moll juft of thofe w h o
exercifejudgment, G od anfwered, O N o a h , verily he is not of thy family«,
this intercept on o f thine fo r him, is not a righteous workd. Aik not of m e
therefore that wherein thou haft no knowledge : I admonilh thee that t h o u
become not one of the ignorant. N oah faid, O L o r d , I have recourfe u n t o
th to. f o r the affiftance o f thy grace, that I alk not of thee that wherein I have
no knowledge : and unlefs thou forgive me, and be merciful unto me, L f f i a l l
b e
a And tie ark rejlei tm the mountain al Judi;]
This mountain is one of thofe which divide Armenia,
on the foutfi, from Mefopotamia, and that
part of AJfyria, which is inhabited by the Curds,
from whom the mountains took the name olCar-
du, or Garda, by the Greeks turned into Gordyari,
and other names1. Mount d l Ju d i, (which
name feems to be a corruption, tho* it be con-
ftantly fo written by the Arabs, for Jordi or
Giordi) is alfo called Thamanin *, probably from
a town at the foot of it 3, fo named from the
number o f perfons faved in the ark, the word
thamanin fignifying eighty, and overlooks the
country of Diydr Rabiah, near the cities of
Mawjel, Forda, and Jaztrat Ebn Omar, which
lafr place one affirms to be but four miles from
the place of the ark, and fays that a Mohammedan
temple was built there with the remains of that
veffel, by the K ha lif Omar Ebn Abdalaziz,
whom he by miftake calls Omar Ebn al Kbat-
tab*.
The tradition which affirms the ark to have
relied on thefe mountains mull have been very
ancient, fince it is the tradition of the Chaldeans
themfelves 5 : the Chaldee paraphralts confent to
their opinion 6, which obtained very much formerly,
efpecially among the eafternChriJlians’’ .
T o confirm it, we are told, that the remainders
of the ark were to be feen on the Gordyxan
mountains: Berojus and Abydenus both declare
there was fuch a report in their time s ; the firit
obferving that feveral of the inhabitants there-
abouts fcraped the pitch off the planks as a rari-
ty, and carried it about them for an amulet: and
the latter faying, that they ufed the wood of the
veffel againll many difeafes with wonderful fuc-
cefs. _ The relics of the ark were alfo to be feat
here in the time of Epiphanias, if we may believe
him 9 ; and we are told the emperor 'Heredias
went from the town of Thamanin up to the
mountain at Judi, and faw the place of the arkI0,
There was alfo formerly a famous monaHery,
called the monaftery o f the ark, upon- fome of
thefe mountains, where the Neßorians ufed to
celebrate a feafl day on the fpot where they fnp.
pofed the ark relied: but in the year of Cbriß
that monaftery was deftroyed by lightening,
with the church, and a numerous congregation
in it t «. Since which time it leems the credit
of this tradition hath declined, and given place
to another, which obtains at prefen t, and a?
cording to which the ark relied on mount Maßt
in Armenia, called by the Turks, Aghir dagh, or
the heavy or great mountain, and iituate about
twelve leagues fouth eaft of Erivan11.
b Thy promife is true;] Noah here challenges
G od’s promife, that he would faVe his family.
. c Me is not o f tby family Being cut off from
it on account of his infidelity.
d According to a different reading, this palTage
may be rendred, For he hath ailed unrigbteoufly.
b e one of thofe who perifh. It was laid unto him, O N o a h , come down from
the ark % with peace from us, and blefiings upon thee, and upon a part of
thofe who are with theeb : but as for a, partro/ them*, we will fuffer them to-
e n j o y the provifion o f this world ; and afterwards lhall a grievous punifhment
f r o m us be infiidted on them, in the life to come. This is a fecret hiftory,
which we reveal unto thee : thou didft not know it, neither did thy people,
b e f o r e this. Wherefore perfevere with patience ; for theprofperous iftue lhall
a t t e n d the pious. And unto the tribe o f A d we fen t their brother H u d d J H e -
f a i d , O my people worlhip G o d ; ye have no G o d befides him: ye only^
imagine falfehood, in fetting up idols and intercejfors o f your own making. O'
my people, I alk not of you for this my preachings any recompenle: my
recompenfe do I expert from him only, who hath created me. Will ye not
therefore underftand ? O my people, alk pardon of your L o r d ; and be-
t u r n e d unto him: he will fend the heaven to pour forth rain plentifully upon-
you®, and he willencreafe your ftrength by giving unto you fa r th e r ftrengthf ::
therefore turn not afide, to commit evil. They anfwered, O H u d , thou
haft brought us no proof o f what thou fcvyeft ; therefore we will not leave
our gods for thy faying, neither do we believe thee. We fay no other
than that fome of our gods have afflidled thee with evil s. He replied, Verily
I call G o d to witnefs, and do ye alfo bear witnefs, that I am clear of
that which ye aflbciate with G od , befides him. Do ye all therefore jo in to
devife a plot againftme, and tarry not*, for I put my confidence in G o d ,
my L o r d and your L o r d . There is no beaft, but he holdeth it by its forelock
h: verily my L o r d proceedeth in the right way. But if ye turn back,
I have already declared unto you that with which I was fent unto you-; and:
m y L o r d lhall fubftitute another nation in your ftead 1 and ye lhall not
hurt him at all : for my L o r d is guardian over all things. And when our
fentence came to be put in execution, we delivered H u d , and thofe who
had believed with him || through our mercy ; and we delivered them from a
grievous punifhment. And this tribe o f A d wittingly rejedted the figns of
their L o r d , and were difobedient unto his mefiengers, and they followed the
command of every rebellious perverfe perfon. Wherefore they were followed
in
a Come dozen from the ark, &c.] The Mohanp-
medans fay that Noab went into the ark on the
tenth of Rajeb, and came but of it the tenth of
alMobarram ; which therefore became a faft.
So that the whole time of Noah's being in the
ark, according to them, was fix months 1.
b With peace, and blejjing, on apart o f tbemi]
viz. Such of them as continued in their belief.
c But as for a part o f them ;] That is, fuch
of his pofterity as fhould depart from the true
faith, and fall into idolatry.
d See chap. 7. p. 123.
e He will fend you rain plentifully;] For the
Mites were grievoufly diftreffed by a drought
for three years z.
f And will encreafe your Jlrengthi] By giving
you children; the wombs of their wives being
alfo rendered barren, during the time of the
drought, as well as their lands 3.
8-Have afflifted thee with ev ili\ Or madnefs;
having deprived thee of thy reafon for the indignities
thou haft offered* them*
h There is no beajl but he holdeth it by its forelockj]
That is, he exerciftth an abfolute power
over it. A creature held in this manner being
fuppofed: to be reduced to the loweft fubje&ion.
1 And thofe who believed with him»] Who were
in number four thoufand +.
^/Beidawl See D’H erbel. ubi fup.
»E id aw i. 4 id em «
% See the notes to chap. p- 124. 3 Al