Tabari I:367 "The Apostles said to Jesus, 'Would you send us a man who saw the ark and could tell us about it.' He took a handful of the earth in his palm and asked, 'Do you know what this is?' 'Allah and His prophet know best!' they replied. Jesus said, 'This is the grave of Noah's son, Ham.' He struck the hill with his staff and said, 'Rise with Allah's permission!' And behold there was Ham, with gray hair, shaking the earth from his head. Jesus asked him whether he had perished in that state with gray hair. Ham replied, 'No when I died, I was a young man, but I thought the Day of Doom had come, and my hair turned gray.' Jesus said, 'Tell us about Noah's ark.' He said, 'It was 1,200 cubits long [nearly 4,000 feet] and 600 cubits wide. It had three stories, one for domestic and wild animals, another for human beings, and a third for birds. When the dung of the animals became excessive, Allah inspired Noah to tickle the elephant's tail. He did, and a male and female hog fell down and attacked the dung. When the rat fell down into the seams of the planks of the ark and gnawed at them, Allah inspired Noah to strike the lion between its eyes and a male and female cat came out from its nose and attacked the rat.'"