The Ranks (Al-Saffat)
Verses 139-148 GROUP_1177 37.139-148
139
وَإِنَّ يُونُسَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ
Jonah too was one of the messengers.
140
إِذْ أَبَقَ إِلَى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ
He fled to the overloaded ship.
141
فَسَاهَمَ فَكَانَ مِنْ الْمُدْحَضِينَ
And then they cast lots and he was the one who lost,
142
فَالْتَقَمَهُ الْحُوتُ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ
and the fish swallowed him while he was blaming himself.
143
فَلَوْلَا أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِنْ الْمُسَبِّحِينَ
Had he not been one of those who acknowledge the glory of God,
144
لَلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ
he would certainly have remained inside the fish till the Day of Resurrection.
145
فَنَبَذْنَاهُ بِالْعَرَاء وَهُوَ سَقِيمٌ
But We caused him to be cast forth on to the beach, sick as he was,
146
وَأَنبَتْنَا عَلَيْهِ شَجَرَةً مِّن يَقْطِينٍ
and We caused a gourd tree to grow over him.
147
وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِئَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ
We sent him as a messenger to a hundred thousand people or more,
148
فَآمَنُوا فَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ
and they believed in him: so We let them live in ease for a while.
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Commentary
(a) Jonah (Yunus) lived in the eighth century B.C. and was sent as a prophet to the ancient city of Nineveh in Iraq. After performing his dawah mission for a certain period of time, he came to the conclusion that his people were not going to embrace the true faith, and left the city. To proceed with his journey, he boarded a boat, perhaps on the bank of the River Tigris. The boat was overloaded; and halfway to its destination it was feared that it would sink. In order to lighten the burden of the boat, lots were drawn to decide who should be thrown out of the boat. The name of Jonah was drawn and so the sea-men threw him over-board. Then, at God’s behest, a huge fish swallowed him, took him to the river bank and cast him ashore. Jonah had left his people before time, in this way God ordained him to return to his people. He went back and started preaching once again, with the result that all the one hundred and twenty five thousand inhabitants of the area became believers. This incident shows that it is absolutely essential for a preacher to have patience, even at a time when his community becomes hostile towards him.