سُوْرَةُ الصَّافَّاتِ
Surah As-Saaffaat (37) — Ayah 142
فَٱلْتَقَمَهُ ٱلْحُوتُ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ ﴿142﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
Then a (big) fish swallowed him as he had done an act worthy of blame.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
فَٱلْتَقَمَهُ
fal-taqamahu
Then swallowed him
ٱلْحُوتُ
l-ḥūtu
the fish
وَهُوَ
wahuwa
while he
مُلِيمٌۭ
mulīmun
(was) blameworthy
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan — Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan is a well-known Quran commentary by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. This tafsir explains the meanings of the Quran in accordance with the methodology of the Salaf (early righteous generations), relying on authentic sources and straightforward language. Due to its reliability and adherence to sound Islamic scholarship, the Saudi government publishes and distributes this tafsir among the Hujjaj (pilgrims) visiting the Haramain. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
142. 1. Hazrat Yunus (علیہ السلام) was sent as a prophet to the region of Nineveh in Iraq (present-day Mosul), which was the capital of the Assyrians. They had taken one hundred thousand Banu Israel as captives, so for their guidance and direction, Allah sent Hazrat Yunus (علیہ السلام) to them. However, this nation did not believe in him. Eventually, he warned his people that soon you will be seized by the punishment of Allah. When the punishment was delayed, he left there on his own without Allah’s permission and went to the sea, boarding a ship. His departure from his area was described with such a word as when a slave runs away from his master. Because he too left his people without Allah’s permission. The ship was full of passengers and goods. The ship got caught in the waves of the sea and came to a halt. So, in order to lighten the load, the suggestion was made to throw one or two people into the sea so that the lives of the other passengers could be saved. But no one was willing to sacrifice themselves, so a draw had to be held, in which Hazrat Yunus (علیہ السلام)’s name came up. And he became among the subdued, meaning willingly or unwillingly, he had to surrender himself to the waves of the sea like a runaway slave. Meanwhile, Allah commanded the fish to swallow him whole, and thus Hazrat Yunus (علیہ السلام), by Allah’s command, went into the belly of the fish.
