Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Anbya Verse 87

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And (remember) Dhunnūn (the man of the fish, namely Yūnus X), when he walked away in anger and thought that We would never put him to trouble. Then, he called (Us) in depths of darkness saying, “There is no god but You. Pure are You. Indeed I was among the wrongdoers”.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember˺ when the Man of the Whale stormed off ˹from his city˺ in a rage, thinking We would not restrain him.[[ Or “thinking We will let him get away with it.” Jonah (ﷺ) had been met with denial for many years. When he sensed the coming of Allah’s torment, he abandoned his city without Allah’s permission. Eventually, his people repented before the coming of the torment, and Allah accepted their repentance (see {10:98}), whereas Jonah ended up in the belly of the whale (see {37:140}-148).]] Then in the ˹veils of˺ darkness[[ The darkness of the night, the sea, and the belly of the whale. ]] he cried out, “There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except You. Glory be to You! I have certainly done wrong.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

And [remember] the Man of the Whale [Jonah] when he departed in anger, thinking that We would not take him to task. Then he cried out in the depths of darkness, “None has the right to be worshiped except You. Glory be to You! I have certainly done wrong”.

A. J. Arberry

And Dhul Nun -- when he went forth enraged and thought that We would have no power over him; then he called out in the darkness, 'There is no god but Thou. Glory be to Thee! I have done evil.'

Abdul Haleem

And remember the man with the whale,when he went off angrily, thinking We could not restrict him, but then he cried out in the deep darkness, ‘There is no God but You, glory be to You, I was wrong.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And Zun-nun! recall what time he departed in anger and imagined that We could not straiten him, then he cried in the darknesses, that: there is no god but Thou! hallowed be Thou! verily I have been of the wrong-doers.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And remember Zun-nun, when he departed in wrath; He imagined that We had no power over him! But he cried through the deptHs of darkness, "There is no god but thou; glory to thee; I was indeed wrong!"

Abul Ala Maududi

And We bestowed Our favour upon Dhu al-Nun. Recall, when he went forth enraged, thinking We have no power to take him to task. Eventually he cried out in the darkness:" There is no god but You. Glory be to You! I have done wrong."

Ahmed Ali

And (remember) Dhu'n-Noon (Jonah of the fish), when he went away in anger and imagined We will not test him (with distress). Then he called out from the darkness: "There is no god other than You. All glory to You; surely I was a sinner.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And remember Zun-Noon,* when he left in anger, assuming that We would not restrict him – he therefore called out in the realms of darkness, saying, “There is no God except You, Purity is to You; I have indeed committed a lapse.” (* Prophet Yunus – peace and blessings upon him)

Ali Quli Qarai

And [remember] the Man of the Fish, when he left in a rage, thinking that We would not put him to hardship. Then he cried out in the darkness, ‘There is no god except You! You are immaculate! I have indeed been among the wrongdoers!’

Ali Ünal

And (also mention) Dhu’n-Nun (Jonah). He departed in anger (from his people, who persistently disbelieved and paid no attention to his warnings), and he was certain that We would never straiten (his life for) him. But eventually he called out in the veils of darkness (formed of the belly of the fish, the sea, and dark, rainy night): "There is no deity but You, All-Glorified You are (in that You are absolutely above having any defect). Surely, I have been one of the wrongdoers (who have wronged themselves)."

Amatul Rahman Omar

And (We showed Our favours to) Dhul-Nûn (Jonah). Behold! he left in anger (his people for the sake of God). He was sure in his mind that We would not cause him any distress. (But when We did,) he cried out in the midst of afflictions, `There is no other God but you. Holy are You. I have indeed been of those hard pressed with difficulties and distress.´

English Literal

And (owner of) the whale/fish when he went away angrily, so he thought/assumed that We will never/not become capable on him, so he called/cried in the darknesses: "That (there is) no God except You, Your praise/glory, that I was from the unjust/oppressive."

Faridul Haque

And remember Zun-Noon, * when he left in anger, assuming that We would not restrict him - he therefore called out in the realms of darkness, saying, "There is no God except You, Purity is to You; I have indeed committed a lapse." (* Prophet Yunus - peace and blessings upon him)

Hamid S. Aziz

And We admitted them into Our Mercy; verily, they were among the righteous.

Hilali & Khan

And (remember) Dhan-Nun (Jonah), when he went off in anger, and imagined that We shall not punish him (i.e. the calamites which had befallen him)! But he cried through the darkness (saying): La ilaha illa Anta [none has the right to be worshipped but You (O Allah)], Glorified (and Exalted) are You [above all that (evil) they associate with You]. Truly, I have been of the wrong-doers."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And We admitted them to Our mercy; surely they were of the good ones.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And Yunus, when he went away in wrath, so he thought that We would not straiten him, so he called out among afflictions: There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee; surely I am of those who make themselves to suffer loss.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And (mention) Dhu'n-Nun, when he went off in anger and deemed that We had no power over him, but he cried out in the darkness, saying: There is no Allah save Thee. Be Thou Glorified! Lo! I have been a wrong-doer.

Muhammad Sarwar

Dhun Nun went away in anger and thought that We would never have power over him, but in darkness he cried, "Lord, You are the Only God whom I glorify. I have certainly done wrong to myself (so forgive me)".

Qaribullah & Darwish

And ThulNun (Prophet Jonah), he went away in anger thinking We had no power over him. But in the darkness he cried: 'There is no god except You. Exaltations to You! I was among the harmdoers'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And (remember) Dhun-Nun, when he went off in anger, and imagined that We shall not punish him! But he cried through the darknesses (Zulumat) (saying): "There is no God but You, Glorified be You! Truly, I have been of the Zalimin wrongdoers."

Wahiduddin Khan

Remember the man in the whale [Jonah] when he went away in anger, thinking We had no power over him. But he cried out in the darkness, "There is no deity but You. Glory be to You! I was indeed wrong."

Talal Itani

And Jonah, when he stormed out in fury, thinking We had no power over him. But then He cried out in the darkness, “There is no god but You! Glory to You! I was one of the wrongdoers!”

Tafsir jalalayn

And, mention, Dh'l-Nn, the one of the whale, namely, Jonah son of Amittai (Ynus bin Matt) when he went off enraged ([Dh'l-Nn] is substituted by [the clause idh dhahaba mughdiban]) by his people, that is, furious with them because of what he had suffered at their hands -- even though he had not been granted permission [by God to go off as he did] -- thinking that We had no power over him, that is, that We could [not] compel him to [submit to] Our decree in the way that We did by imprisoning him inside the stomach of the whale; or that We could [not] make circumstances difficult for him. Then he cried out in the darknesses, [through] the darkness of the night, the darkness of the sea and the darkness of the whale's stomach, that; `There is no god except You! Glory be to You! I have indeed been one of the wrongdoers', for leaving my people without [Your] permission.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Yunus

This story is mentioned here, and in Surah As-Saffat and Surah Nun.

Yunus bin Matta, upon him be peace, was sent by Allah to the people of Nineveh, which was a town in the area of Mawsil (in northern Iraq). He called them to Allah, but they rejected him and persisted in their disbelief. So he left them in anger, threatening them with punishment after three (days).

When they realized that he was telling the truth and that a Prophet never lies, they went out to the desert with their children and cattle and flocks. They separated the mothers from their children, then they beseeched Allah and pleaded to Him, with the camels and their young groaning, the cows and their calves mooing, and the sheep and their lambs bleating, so Allah spared them from the punishment.

Allah says;

فَلَوْلَا كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ ءَامَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَأ إِيمَانُهَا إِلاَّ قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّأ ءَامَنُواْ كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الخِزْىِ فِى الْحَيَوةَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ

Was there any town that believed (after seeing the punishment), and its faith saved it Except the people of Yunus;

when they believed, We removed from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the world, and permitted them to enjoy for a while. (10;98)

Yunus, meanwhile, went and traveled with some people on a ship, which was tossed about on the sea. The people were afraid that they would drown, so they cast lots to choose a man whom they would throw overboard.

The lot fell to Yunus, but they refused to throw him overboard. This happened a second and a third time.

Allah says;

فَسَـهَمَ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْمُدْحَضِينَ

Then he (agreed to) cast lots, and he was among the losers. (37;141)

meaning, the draw went against him, so Yunus stood up, removed his garment and cast himself into the sea.

Then Allah sent from the Green Sea -- according to what Ibn Mas`ud said -- a large fish which cleaved the oceans until it came and swallowed Yunus when he threw himself into the sea.

Allah inspired that large fish not to devour his flesh or break his bones, (as if He said) Yunus is not food for you, rather your belly is a prison for him.

وَذَا النُّونِ

إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا

And (remember) Dhun-Nun,

Here Nun refers to the fish; it is correct for it to be attributed to him here.

when he went off in anger,

Ad-Dahhak said;

"Anger towards his people."

فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ

and imagined that We shall not punish him!

meaning, constrict him in the belly of the fish.

Something similar to this was reported from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak and others.

This was the view favored by Ibn Jarir, and he quoted as evidence for that the Ayah;

وَمَن قُدِرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقُهُ فَلْيُنفِقْ مِمَّأ ءَاتَاهُ اللَّهُ لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْساً إِلاَّ مَأ ءَاتَاهَا سَيَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ عُسْرٍ يُسْراً

and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what Allah has given him. Allah puts no burden on any person beyond what He has given him. Allah will grant after hardship, ease. (65;7)

فَنَادَى فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَن لاَّ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ



But he cried through the depths of darkness (saying);"There is no God but You, Glorified be You! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers."

Ibn Mas`ud said regarding the `depths of darkness';

"The darkness of the belly of the fish, the darkness of the sea and the darkness of the night."

This was also narrated from Ibn Abbas, `Amr bin Maymun, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Muhammad bin Ka`b, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan and Qatadah.

Salim bin Abu Al-Ja`d said;

"The darkness of the fish in the belly of another fish in the darkness of the sea."

Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn Abbas and others said;

"This was because the fish took him through the sea, cleaving it until it reached the bottom of the sea. Yunus heard the rocks at the bottom of the sea uttering glorification of Allah, at which point he said;


لااَّ إِلَـهَ إِلااَّ أَنتَ سُبْحَـنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّـلِمِينَ

There is no God but You, Glorified be You! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers.

`Awf Al-A`rabi said;

"When Yunus found himself in the belly of the fish, he thought that he had died. Then he moved his legs. When he moved his legs, he prostrated where he was, then he called out;`O Lord, I have taken a place of worship to You in a place which no other person has reached."'