21:87 [al-Anbiyaa, Mecca 73]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:  

وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ...  

21: 87.  And remember Dhu al Nun, when he departed in wrath: he imagined that We had no power over him!

C2744. Dhu al Nun. "the man of the Fish or the Whale", is the title of Jonah (Yunus), because he was swallowed by a large Fish or Whale.

He was the prophet raised to warn the Assyrian capital Nineveh. For Nineveh see n. 1478 to 10:98.

His story is told in 37:139-149. When his first warning was unheeded by the people, he denounced Allah's wrath on them. But they repented and Allah forgave them for the time being.

Jonah, meanwhile, departed in wrath, discouraged at the apparent failure of his mission. He should have remained in the most discouraging circumstances, and relied on the power of Allah; for Allah had power both over Nineveh and over the Messenger He had sent to Nineveh. He went away to the sea and took a ship, but apparently the sailors threw him out as a man of bad omen in a storm.

He was swallowed by a big Fish (or Whale), but in the depth of the darkness, he cried to Allah and confessed his weakness.

...فَنَادَى فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ...

But he cried through the depths of darkness,

The "darkness" may be interpreted both physically and spiritually;

-        physically, as the darkness of the night and the storm and the Fish's body;

-        spiritually as the darkness in his soul, his extreme distress in the situation which he had brought on himself.

Allah Most Gracious forgave him. He was cast out ashore; he was given the shelter of a plant in his state of mental and physical lassitude. He was refreshed and strengthened, and the work of his mission prospered. Thus he overcame all his disappointment by repentance and Faith, and Allah accepted him.

فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْغَمِّ...  

21: 88.  So We listened to him: and delivered him from distress:

...وَكَذَلِكَ نُنجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٨٨﴾

and thus do We deliver those who have faith.

Asad’s Version:

AND [remember] him of the great fish 82 - when he went off in wrath, thinking that We had no power over him! 83 But then he cried out in the deep darkness [of his distress]: "There is no deity save Thee! Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Verily, I have done wrong!" 84

Arabic Source and Roman Transliteration Arabic   وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَن لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ &#x21E8 Transliteration   Watha alnnooni ith thahaba mughadiban fathanna an lan naqdira AAalayhi fanada fee alththulumati an la ilaha illa anta subhanaka innee kuntu mina alththalimeena &#x21E8

Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning Muhammad Asad   AND [remember] him of the great fish when he went off in wrath, thinking that We had no power over him! But then heeded out in the deep darkness [of his distress]: “There is no deity save Thee! Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Verily, I have done wrong!” &#x21E8 M. M. 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. &#x21E8 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. &#x21E8 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!" &#x21E8 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. &#x21E8 [Al-Muntakhab]   And Zun-nun -Yunus-, who met the opposition of the people to whom he was sent with impatience. Moved by anger he renounced them and left them thinking that We would not reprove him for such a behaviour. -He went on board ship and in the crossing it was decided by the crew that he was one too many and must be got rid of-. In the sea he was swallowed by the fish wherein he was constrained. In the depth of darkness he called on Allah and invoked His mercy, he said: "O Allah, there is no Ilah but You, glory be to You and extolled are Your glorious attributes. I have been rongful of actions." &#x21E8 [Progressive Muslims]   And Jonah, when he went off in anger, and he thought that We would not be able to take him. Then he called out in the darkness: "There is no god but You! Glory to You, I was of the wicked!"

21:88

And so We responded unto him and delivered him from [his] distress: for thus do We deliver all who have faith.

[[82 I.e., the Prophet Jonah, who is said to have been swallowed by a "great fish", as mentioned in

37:139 ff. and more fully narrated in the Old Testament (The Book of Jonah).

83 According to the Biblical account (which more or less agrees with the Qur'anic references to his story), Jonah was a prophet sent to the people of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. At first his preaching was disregarded by his people, and he left them in anger, thus abandoning the mission entrusted to him by God; in the words of the Qur'an (37:140), "he fled like a runaway slave". The allegory of his

temporary punishment and his subsequent rescue and redemption is referred to elsewhere in the Qur'an (i.e., in 37: 139-148) and explained in the corresponding notes. It is to that punishment, repentance and salvation that the present and the next verse allude. (The redemption of Jonah's people is mentioned in 10:98 and 37:147-148.)

84 Lit, "I was among the wrongdoers". ]]