The Age of Prophet Noah (Peace Be Upon Him): A Quranic and Rational Perspective

It has become widespread among people that Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him) lived for a thousand years or more, based on a specific understanding of the noble verse: "And We certainly sent Noah to his people, and he remained among them a thousand years minus fifty years" (Al-'Ankabut: 14). However, contemplation of the Quranic text, along with the assistance of science and historical data, leads to a different conclusion: that the age of Noah (peace be upon him) was within the limits of the natural human lifespan, i.e., at most between eighty and one hundred and twenty years as claimed by some sources. This does not diminish his status; rather, it increases its alignment with Almighty Allah's way in creation!.

Firstly: The Quranic text is clear in its indication:

The verse speaks about the period of his sojourn among his people from the beginning of his mission until the Flood Tufān, not about his total lifespan. "لبث" (labaṯa) means residing among them for the call to faith. The verse specified this period as "a thousand years minus fifty years." The exception here is connected (i.e., of the same kind as the thing excepted) because "سنة" (sanah) and "عام" ('ām) have the same meaning in the Arabic language. The verse contains no reference to his age before the mission nor after the Flood.

Secondly: The Quran states that the lifespans of previous nations are like ours:

God says: "And We did not grant to any man before you immortality [on earth]; so if you die – would they be immortal?" (Al-Anbiyā': 34). And He says: "And you are not one to overstep in the earth nor in the heaven." If Nuh had lived a thousand years, that would have been relative immortality and a clear exception not mentioned in the Quran.

Thirdly: Nuh is a human, not an angel:

The Quran insists on the humanness of the prophets: "Their messengers said to them, 'We are only men like you...'" (Ibrāhīm: 11). Humans – even with differences in average lifespans across eras – have never reached a thousand years under any circumstances, according to scientific and historical data.

Scientific and Historical Evidence:

Firstly: Biology and Human Evolution:

Scientific studies indicate that the biological age of humans is limited by natural boundaries. Even assuming different conditions, human cells have a limited life cycle (the Hayflick limit), with a maximum theoretical range of 120-150 years. An age of a thousand years surpasses all biological data.

Secondly: Historical Records:

No documented civilisation recorded lifespans reaching a thousand years. The oldest authenticated historical ages do not exceed 120 years. Even the Sumerian and Babylonian myths that mentioned long reigns for kings are considered legendary exaggerations for heroism, and cannot be relied upon to understand the Quranic text.

Thirdly: Comparison with Other Prophets:

Some holy books mentioned ages for other prophets. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) lived 175 years – a long but relatively plausible age. 'Isa Jesus (peace be upon him) was raised in his youth. Muhammad (peace be upon him) died at 63. So why would Noah alone be the millennial exception without conclusive evidence?

A Proposed Interpretation of the Verse:

The Quran uses "a thousand years" as an idiom for a very long period in the estimation of Noah's people. Evidence for this is God's saying: "Indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count." (Al-Ḥajj: 47). Therefore, the word "thousand" may be for emphasis (hyperbole) and is not necessarily literal.

Interpretation of "a thousand years minus fifty years":

Meaning: He remained among them for a very long time (a thousand years in their expression) but in reality, it was less than that by fifty years (i.e., the actual reality). This is a known Arabic rhetorical style of exaggeration with relative correction.

Or: That "a thousand years" is the general estimate, and "minus fifty years" indicates that this long period concluded with fifty years of intense preaching before the Flood.

Estimated Real Age of Nuh:

Firstly, if we assume that:

· He was sent at the age of forty (the typical age of prophethood).

· He remained among his people for 950 years symbolically (i.e., a very long period).

· But in reality, this period may have been 80-100 years at most (a natural lifespan).

· He lived after the Flood for 50 years (as in some narrations).

Then his age would be: 40 + 100 + 50 = 190 years. This is a very long but biologically possible lifespan under exceptional circumstances, and far less than a thousand years.

Secondly, we can read between the lines in the verse mentioned above about his age. The word Al-Labth (اللبث): It has one root meaning denoting tarrying/dwelling/staying. Sometimes it indicates only time—even if unmentioned—as in His saying: 'He did not stay long before bringing [them] a roasted calf.' (Hud: 69). In more than 14 verses, the verb 'labitha' (لَبِثَ) is followed by a period of time, such as: 'So that We might know which of the two parties was most precise in calculating the length of their stay.' (Al-Kahf: 12), and His saying: 'The criminals will swear they had remained but an hour.' (Ar-Rum: 55), and His saying: 'They will say, "We remained a day or part of a day; ask those who keep count."' (Al-Mu'minun: 113).

In this structure—as is consistent in those 14 verses—it is noted that the one who stayed did not perceive the true duration of their dwelling. Also, in His saying: 'ask those who keep count' (فاسأل العادّين), there is a clear indication of the existence of more than one counter (‘ādd). The plural here necessitates a difference in the method (system) of counting, not merely plurality; because the counters, even if many, are like a single counter if they rely on the same method.

At other times, it indicates both place and time together, taking the preposition 'fī' (في), as in His saying: 'And he remained in prison for several years.' (Yusuf: 42), and His saying: 'And they remained in their Cave three hundred years and add nine.' (Al-Kahf: 25), and His saying: 'He would have remained in its belly until the Day they are resurrected.' (As-Saffat: 144).

The word 'labitha' and its derivatives occur 30 times in the Noble Qur'an. In ten of them, it is transitive with the preposition 'fī'. Some explicitly indicate place, like the previous verses; some may indicate it by implication, like His saying: 'And you remained among the people of Madyan for years.' (Ta-Ha: 40), and His saying: 'If they knew the unseen, they would not have remained in the humiliating torment.' (Saba': 14). In some, what follows the preposition does not indicate a place, like His saying: 'And you remained among us for [many] years of your life.' (Ash-Shu'ara': 18), and His saying: 'For I have already remained among you a lifetime before it.' (Yunus: 16), and like the verse of Noah: 'And We certainly sent Noah to his people, and he remained among them a thousand years minus fifty years. Then the Flood seized them while they were wrongdoers.' (Al-`Ankabut: 14). It appears that the use of the preposition 'among' (fí) here is not for spatial contextuality; rather, the intended meaning is: according to the counting/reckoning of his people. This implies that Noah's people had a special counting system for years and periods. Perhaps, as Al-Ma'arri said, they counted the lunar cycle as a year:

وَاِدَّعوا لِلمُعَمِّرينَ أُموراً لَستُ أَدري ما هُنَّ في المَشهورِ

أَتَراهُم فيما تَقَضّى مِنَ الأَيّام، عَدّوا سَنيِّهُم بِالشُهورِ

كُلَّما لاحَ لِلعُيونِ هِلالٌ كانَ حَولاً لَدَيهِمُ في الدُهورِ

"And they claimed for those of long life, matters /

I do not know what they are in what is famous / 

Do you think that in the days that passed, / 

They counted their years by months? / 

Every time a crescent appeared to the eyes, / 

It was considered a year by them in their ages."

Thus, the 'thousand years' in their calculation—based on this assumption—would be a thousand months, which equals, in our calculation, a little over 83 years. If we except from it fifty 'years' (‘ām), the duration of Noah's sojourn among his people would be 33 years! This is because the concept of a 'year', which we now know and define as (365.25) days, is not constant across all civilisations and throughout ages. For example, the Babylonian year was 360 days, and the Sumerian year was only 6 of our contemporary months.

Perhaps the most important key to solving this issue is the phrase 'fīhim: among his people'. The contextual meaning of the preposition 'fī' here is not spatial, but rather for comparison according to a standard, even if not for preference between earlier and later. Just as we say, 'In France, wearing the hijab is not permitted in universities,' the first preposition 'In' is not used in a spatial context, but rather means 'according to the laws of France.' Similarly, we say: "In football, such-and-such is not allowed," and "a wave in physics means such-and-such." The meaning in these examples is: according to the laws, systems, and measures of such-and-such. From this comes this verse: the intended meaning is that the 'thousand years' is the measure of the duration of Noah's sojourn 'among his people'—that is, according to the counting system of his people and their method of calculating years and days.

The other matter related to the phrase 'among his people' is the acknowledgement that they were his people. This necessitates that the generation to whom Nuh was sent all lived with him throughout this entire period. Otherwise, if Nuh had lived through successive generations of them, it would not be correct to describe them as being his people. Which generation would then be considered his people? On the other hand, the first generation that Noah warned would perish and vanish, and the Flood would be a punishment befalling the last generation for the crimes of past generations. This is not just in any way, nor is it consistent with the eloquence and clarity of the Speech. The result of this is that the period of Noah's life (and the period of his sojourn) among his people was natural, consistent with what people were accustomed to at that time, and not outside the norm.

With this different understanding, we realise the importance of the disjunctive exception in His saying 'a thousand years minus fifty years', because what came after the Flood is disconnected from what came before it. The 'fifty-years' is what he lived after the Flood, and the 'thousand years' in their calculation (33 years) is what he lived before it. As for the exception particle 'illā' (إلّا) in the verse, it serves as the objective equivalent to the Flood event ('then came the Flood') that separated two epochs in the records of the Sumerian kings: the antediluvian epoch and the postdiluvian epoch.

What is mentioned in exegetical narrations—that the Prophet Nuh was commissioned at the age of forty and lived sixty years after the Flood—we can reinterpret considering that 'the age of forty' does not mean he reached 40 years; more correctly, it means the beginning of his entry into the fortieth year, which starts from the age of 31. Perhaps his commission was at the end of his thirties, which is why one who reaches 40 is said to have 'completed the forty'! As for the years of his life after the Flood, it might be a difference in narrations, or perhaps it means the beginning of the sixties. The phrase 'fifty years' that is excepted means he lived fifty years completely and began entering the first of the sixties.

We can now claimed explicitly that Prophet Nuh lived below 200 years of age not thousands of years as some assumed. And this doesn't devalued his prophetic status nor alter the understanding of the Holy Book Al-Quran but affirmed the principle of Almighty Allah with mankind.

Sidiq Abdulraheem Kolayo

20/01/2026

Qatru.