By this verse, the Quranic stories begins. It clarifies how disbelief developed amongst previous nations, one after the other. Allah (swt) wants human beings to learn from previous experiences because those who do not contemplate on history will not be able to build the future. There are absolute and universal norms that recur the same way repeatedly, including the social norms which are mentioned by Quranic stories. The stories of the Quran match our true reality and on the other hand they are not concerned with details, as in the verse:
وَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مُّؤْمِنٌ مِّنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَكْتُمُ إِيمَانَهُ أَتَقْتُلُونَ رَجُلًا أَن يَقُولَ رَبِّيَ اللَّهُ وَقَدْ جَاءَكُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ وَإِن يَكُ كَاذِبًا فَعَلَيْهِ كَذِبُهُ ۖ وَإِن يَكُ صَادِقًا يُصِبْكُم بَعْضُ الَّذِي يَعِدُكُمْ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ كَذَّابٌ
(And a believing man from the family of Pharaoh who concealed his faith said, “Do you kill a man [merely] because he says, ‘My Lord is Allah’ while he has brought you clear proofs from your Lord? And if he should be lying, then upon him is [the consequence of] his lie; but if he should be truthful, there will strike you some of what he promises you. Indeed, Allah does not guide one who is a transgressor and a liar.) (Ghaafir: 28)
The story does not mention who this believer is, it only mentions the Prophets (PBUT) because they are the leaders of humanity. The characters mentioned in the events are vague so that we are not disrupted by the event itself and forget about the lesson behind it. There is no complete story in the Holy Quran dictated from beginning to the end in a single Surah except for the story of Prophet Yusuf (PBUH) which is mentioned within one Surah. However, the stories of other Prophets (PBUT), for example the story of Prophet Noah (PBUH), can be found across several Surahs. The story of Prophet Noah (PBUH) can be found in Surah Al-A’raf and there is another Surah called Surah Nooh that talks about him (PBUH) too, but the most details given about the story of Prophet Noah (PBUH) are found in Surah Hud. The story is mentioned in parts in a manner that serves the Quranic narration; there are no repetitions in the Holy Quran but rather wisdoms. We are reading the Holy Quran which is not a book written by a human. The Quranic stories are indeed different from that of human literature.
Surah Al-A’raf talks first about the story of Prophet Noah (PBUH) since it has an unprecedented destruction that befell humanity after they turned into disbelievers.
( لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ ) (We had certainly sent Noah to his people): The Arabic text of the verse begins with the word (laqad). Whenever a verse starts with this word, it denotes a very strong emphasis or an oath. As if Allah (swt) is swearing by His Might and Excellency that He (swt) sent Prophet Noah (PBUH) to his people. The call of the Prophet Noah (PBUH) revolved around three elements, the same that all other Prophets (PBUT) were sent with:
( فَقَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ ) (and he said, “O my people, worship Allah): The first command was to worship Allah (swt). To worship is to obey Allah’s (swt) commandments and not go against them.
( مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ) (you have no deity other than Him): The second command was to believe that there is no deity other than Allah (swt). Allah (swt) denies having a partner, for He (swt) is the One and Only true God.
( إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ) (Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous Day): The Prophet Noah (PBUH) made it clear that he feared for his people if they disobeyed that a grave punishment would befall upon them, so he advised them repeatedly.