Surah Hud — Ayah 38 (11:38)
وَيَصۡنَعُ ٱلۡفُلۡكَ وَكُلَّمَا مَرَّ عَلَيۡهِ مَلَأٞ مِّن قَوۡمِهِۦ سَخِرُواْ مِنۡهُۚ قَالَ إِن تَسۡخَرُواْ مِنَّا فَإِنَّا نَسۡخَرُ مِنكُمۡ كَمَا تَسۡخَرُونَ ٣٨
English translation (Saheeh International)
And he constructed the ship, and whenever an assembly of the eminent of his people passed by him, they ridiculed him. He said, "If you ridicule us, then we will ridicule you just as you ridicule.
Brief commentary
Noah followed the command of his Lord, and immediately started building the Ark. Whenever the leaders and noblemen among his people passed by, they made fun of him, because he was building the Ark and there was no water or rivers around. When they continued to mock him, he said to these important people that if they mocked him and his people today when they were building the Ark, they also mocked them because of their ignorance of the fact that they would be drowned.