The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 89
PT. 11 YŪNUS CH. 10 عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيوةِ الدُّنْيَا so that their belief would have وَمَتَعْتُهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ profited them? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the present life, and We gave them provision for a while. 1370 Prophet according to the criteria by which Divine Signs are judged. 1370. Important Words: (Jonah), the name of a Prophet who lived in the 9th Century B. C. , is supposed to be derived from They say i. e. he was or became sociable, amiable or friendly with him; he was or became cheerful, gay or gladdened by his presence or company (Lane). See also Commentary below. Commentary: For those who are accustomed to pondering over the deep meanings of the Quran, this verse possesses remarkable evidence of the greatness of God's mercy. The almost pathetic words breathe a strong desire that the world should follow Divine guidance. The verse expresses the deepest regret at the disbelief of the people by asking why there had not been other people who, like the people of Jonah, should have believed in the truth and escaped Divine punishment. The case of the people of Jonah possesses a strong similarity with that of the people of the Holy Prophet. The people of Nineveh first bitterly opposed Jonah so much so that they were threatened with Divine punishment and Jonah prophesied their early destruction; but later they repented and were saved. In the same way, the people of Mecca opposed the Holy Prophet bitterly and persistently, but at the Fall of Mecca they submitted to him and were consequently saved from Divine punishment. Later, all of them believed in his mission and became the inheritors of Divine grace. In this way the Holy Prophet came to bear a great resemblance to the Prophet Jonah. 1297 Jonah is a Prophet who has been mentioned in six different places in the Quran. In 37:140 he has been spoken of as a heavenly Messenger; in 6:87 and 4:164 he has been reckoned among the Prophets of God; in 21:88 and 68:49 he has been called and (i. e. "he of the fish" or "the man of the fish"), in allusion to the incident of the fish. Reference has also been made to him in the words of the Holy Prophet who is reported to have said on one occasion, "Do not declare me to be better than Jonah, son of Amittai" (Muslim). The saying does not mean that the Holy Prophet was not superior to the Prophet Jonah, for he uttered these words before he had been informed by God of his superior spiritual rank. Later on, however, he himself saidie. "I am the chief of the children of Adam,"