77. This is the third place where the Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him) has been mentioned in the Quran. Before this he has already been mentioned in Surah Younus and Surah Al-Anbiya. (For reference, please see (Surah Younus, Ayat 98 ) and (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayats 87-88) and E.Ns thereof).

78. The word abaqa in Arabic is used for the flight and escape of a slave from his master’s house.

79. This is what one understands from a study of these sentences:

(1) The vessel which the Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him) boarded was already overloaded.

(2) Lots were drawn in the vessel probably at a time when during the voyage it was felt that the lives of the passengers had been endangered due to the overloading; therefore, lots were cast to pick oat a person to be thrown overboard.

(3) The lot fell on the Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him), and so he was thrown into the sea and a fish swallowed him.

(4) The Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him) was so afflicted because he had fled and abandoned the place of his mission without the permission of his Master (Allah Almighty). This meaning is confirmed by the word abaqa as has been explained in (E.N. 78) above, and also by the word muleem. Muleem is a blameworthy person, who becomes worthy of blame by himself because of his sin and error, whether somebody else blames him for it or not. (Ibn Jarir).

80. It has two meanings and both are implied: (1) That the Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him) was not of the people who are heedless of God, but was of those who glorify and adore Allah constantly and perpetually. (2) That when he went inside the fish, he turned to Allah alone and glorified Him. In Surah Al-Anbiya it has been said: He invoked Us from the depths of the darkness, saying: There is no god but You: Glory be to You: I am indeed blameworthy. (verse 87).

81. This does not mean that the fish would have lived till Resurrection and the Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him) would have remained alive in its belly till then, but that the fish’s belly would have become his grave till Resurrection. The famous commentator Qatadah has given this same meaning of this verse. (Ibn Jarir).

82. That is, when the Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him) confessed his fault, and began to glorify Allah like a true and sincere believer, the fish spat him up on the beach by Allah’s command. The beach was a bare plain, without any vegetation on it, or anything to provide him shade, or any means of food.

Here, the rationalists have been heard expressing the misgiving that it is impossible for a man to come out alive from the belly of a fish. But, towards the end of the last century, an event took place near the sea-shores of England (the center of this so-called rationalism), which belies this claim. In August, 1891, some fishermen went to the high sea to hunt whales in a ship called Star of the East. There they injured a great fish which was 20 feet long, 5 feet wide and weighed a hundred tons, but during the struggle the fish swallowed a fisherman, James Bartley, in front of the very eyes of his companions. Next day the same fish was found dead on the sea. The fishermen hauled it up on board and when they cut open its belly, James Bartley came out alive. He had remained in the fish’s belly for full 60 hours. (Urdu Digest, February, 1964). Obviously, when such a thing is possible in normal circumstances naturally, why should it be impossible under abnormal conditions as a miracle of God?

83. The Arabic word yaqteen applies to a tree which does not stand on a stem but grows and spreads like a creeper, e.g. a pumpkin, cucumber, water-melon, etc. In any case, a creeper was produced miraculously, so that its leaves should provide shade to the Prophet Jonah and its fruit should serve him both as food and as shade.