Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page 26
26 Chapter 10 Y u nus $ % " &$ (Revealed before Hijrah) Date and Place of Revelation This S u rah was revealed at Mecca in the late Meccan period, i. e. in the last four or five years of the Prophet’s stay there. Some Commentators have ascribed some of its verses to the Medinite period, but their opinion is not based on historical data. They seem to have drawn the inference merely from the subject-matter of those verses. The S u rah derives its name from v. 99. Subject-Matter On pondering over the contents of the Qur’ a n we notice that not only its verses are interrelated but also that every S u rah possesses a subtle connection with the one preceding it and the one following it. Moreover, certain groups of Qur’ a nic Chapters are linked with other groups. Thus a perfect order runs throughout the whole of the Qur’ a n. Its different Chapters are related to one another in more ways than one; and when their order and arrangement are considered, no doubt is left that the Qur’ a n is indeed a great miracle of diction. The present S u rah possesses a threefold connection with the preceding Chapter. First, it constitutes a continuation of the preceding Chapter. Two subjects were mentioned in its concluding portions: (a) The revelation of the Book and its denial (9:127); (b) the coming of a Messenger of God and the benefits derived from following his teaching (9:128). The same subject is continued in the present S u rah. It mentions the importance of the Book (10:2) and it refers to the Divine Messenger (10:3). Secondly, the S u rah completes the subject-matter of the preceding one. In that Chapter (which is not really a separate Chapter but is a part of Chapter 8) reference was made to the fact that the time of the prosperity and predominance of Islam had come and that God’s promises were going to be fulfilled in all their glory and grandeur. So the believers were exhorted to attend to the purification of their hearts in order that their repentance might be accepted. As doubts might have arisen in the hearts of some people that on account of the enormity of their sins their repentance will not be accepted, the present Chapter removes that doubt and stresses the fact that God’s mercy encompasses and transcends all things, though it requires the highest form of repentance to attract it. Thirdly, all the Chapters of the Qur’ a n from Chapter 2 to Chapter 9 (which are really seven in number; for, as stated above, Chapter 9 is not a separate Chapter but forms part of Chapter 8 and was written separately only on account of the special importance of its subject- matter) deal with one group of subjects, while with this Chapter begins a new group of S u rahs , ending with Chapter 18. This second group deals with a