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qāla yā-nūḥu ʾinnahū laysa min ʾahlika ʾinnahū ʿamalun ghayru ṣāliḥin fa-lā tasʾalni mā laysa laka bihī ʿilmun ʾinnī ʾaʿiẓuka ʾan takūna mina l-jāhilīna
Said He, ‘O Noah! Indeed, He is not of your family. Indeed, he is [personification of] unrighteous conduct. So do not ask Me [something] of which you have no knowledge. I advise you lest you should be among the ignorant.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Hud – Verse 46
46. “He (Allah) said: ‘O’ Noah! Verily he is not of your family. Verily he is (of) conduct other than righteous. So do not ask of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you should be among the ignorant.’”
However, the thought provoking answer was provided, recalling a stern reality and the secondary status of the family relationship as separated from religious school of thought. Allah tells Noah that he was not of his kind, on the contrary, he was an evil doer; a man of misdemeanor, whose family relationship was of no value and kinship of no avail owing to the fact that he was cut off from Noah’s school of thought, as such Noah should not make any requests about which he had no knowledge and therefore he should not be among the ignorant.
The verse says:
“He (Allah) said: ‘O’ Noah! Verily he is not of your family. Verily he is (of) conduct other than righteous. So do not ask of Me that of which you have no knowledge! I admonish you, lest you should be among the ignorant.’”
Imam Rida (as) has been quoted as saying that one day he asked his friends: “How do the common folk comment on this verse, which says:
‘…Verily he is (of) conduct other than righteous.’…”
One person from among the audience replied: “Some believe that it means that he who is referred to as Noah’s son, that is, Kan‘an was not his real son.” The Imam (as) said:
“No it is not so, he was his real son, though Allah refused him his kinship when he committed sins and disobeyed, leading himself astray. Those who also belong to our school but refuse to obey Allah should not be considered as of us.”