Many generations after Adam, people had gone back to worshipping idols. Allah sent Nuh, peace be upon him, to them. The Quran tells us he lived among his people a thousand years less fifty.
He called them by day and by night, openly and in private. Each time, they put their fingers in their ears, covered themselves with their garments and persisted in their arrogance. He told them:
In all those years only a few believed. The others mocked: Nuh's followers, they said, were the lowest of people.
The ark
At Allah's command Nuh began to build the ark. The chiefs of his people laughed whenever they passed. He told them: you laugh at us today; one day we will see what becomes of you.
Then the day came. The gates of the sky opened with pouring rain and the earth burst with springs. The command came: carry in the ark a pair of every kind, your family — except those against whom the word had already gone forth — and those who believe.
The ark sailed through waves like mountains. Nuh saw one of his sons standing apart and called: my son, come aboard with us and do not stay with the disbelievers. The son said he would climb a mountain that would keep him from the water.
Then the water subsided and the ark came to rest on al-Judi. Nuh said to Allah that his son was of his family. The answer came that the son was not of his family, for his deeds were not righteous. At once Nuh sought refuge in Allah and asked His forgiveness.