وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمْسِينَ عَامًا فَأَخَذَهُمُ ٱلطُّوفَانُ وَهُمْ ظَٰلِمُونَ
Important Words:
سنة (year) is derived both from سنه and سنو. They say سنه الطعام i.e. the food rotted; or it rotted by the lapse of years. As derived from سنا یسنو this word (سنة) signifies "a simple revolution of the sun," i.e. a simple revolution of the earth round the sun. It is synonymous with عام (and also حول) with this difference that whereas every سنة is an عام every عام is not سنة. It is also said to be longer than the عام which is applied to the twelve Arabian months collectively; but سنة is also applied to twelve revolutions of the moon. According to Imam Raghib سنة is used as denoting a year in which there is difficulty, or drought or barrenness or dearth; and عام as denoting that in which is ampleness of the means or circumstances of life and abundance of herbage or the like. سنة also means, drought or barrenness or vehement or intense drought. أصابتھم السنة means, drought, etc. befell them. سنة سنھاءmeans, a year in which there is no herbage or rain. سنة سنواء means, a hard, rigorous or distressing year (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
In the verse under comment the age of Noah has been mentioned as 950 years. The Bible gives 952 years as his age. But it is difficult to assign a definite date as to when the Prophets of antiquity, such as Noah, Hud, Salih, etc. lived and how long they lived. "None knows them save Allah," says the Quran (14:10). Nine hundred and fifty years does not seem to be the span of Noah’s life but the period of his Dispensation. In fact, the age of a Prophet is the age of his Dispensation and teaching. It is in this sense that we call the Holy Prophet Muhammad the ever-living Prophet and Islam the everlasting religion. It appears from the Quran (37:84) that Abraham was a follower of Noah. This means that Noah’s period continued up to the time of Abraham or even to that of Joseph or of Moses.
Noah’s Dispensation seems to have lasted about 950 years. In describing the limit of Noah’s age two words سنة and عام have been used. Whereas the root meaning of the former word possesses a sense of badness, that of latter has a sense of goodness. It seems that the first fifty years of Noah’s Dispensation were years of all-round spiritual progress and regeneration and after that moral decadence and degeneration set in and his people gradually became degraded morally, till their degeneration became complete in nine hundred years.
Here the age of Noah has been mentioned as 950 years. The Bible places it at 952. It is difficult to assign a definite date as to when the Prophets of antiquity, such as Noah, Hud, Salih and others lived and how long they lived. 'None knows them save Allah,' says the Qur’an (14:10). The period, nine hundred and fifty years, does not seem to be the span of Noah’s personal physical life. It seems to be the period of his Dispensation. Thus it seemed first to extend to Abraham’s ministry because Abraham 'was of his party' (37:84) and then to Joseph’s and then down even to that of Moses. In fact, the age of a Prophet is the age of his Dispensation and teaching. In describing the limit of Noah’s age, two words Sanah and ‘Am have been used. Whereas the root meaning of the former word possesses a sense of badness, that of the latter has a sense of goodness. It seems that the first fifty years of Noah’s Dispensation were years of all round spiritual progress and regeneration and that aft