Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/335

XI, 38-46. do. And make the ark under our eyes, and at our inspiration; and plead not with me for those who have done wrong; verily, they shall be drowned.'

So he made the ark, and every time the chiefs of his people passed by him they jested at him. Said he, 'If ye jest at us, verily, we shall jest at you even as ye are jesting, and ye shall surely know.'

'He to whom a torment comes, it shall shame him, and there shall light upon him lasting torment.'

Until at length when our order came, and the oven boiled, we said, 'Load therein of every kind two, and likewise thy family,—save those on whom the sentence has already been passed—likewise those who believe;' but there believed not with him save a few. And he said, 'Ride ye therein; in the name of God is its course, and its mooring. Verily, my Lord is forgiving and merciful.'

And it floated on with them mid waves like mountains; and Noah cried to his son who had gone aside, 'O my boy! ride with us and be not with the misbelievers.' Said he, 'I will betake me to a mountain that shall save me from the water.' Said he, 'There is none to save to-day from the command of God, except for him on whom He may have mercy.' And the wave came between them, and he was amongst the drowned.

And it was said, 'O earth! swallow down thy

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