The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 791
PT. 23 AȘ-ṢĀFFĀT CH. 37 tarried in its belly till the Day of Resurrection. 146. Then We cast him on a bare tract of land, and he was sick; 3356 147. And We caused a gourd plant to grow over him. لَلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِةٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ & He would have surely E. 145 فَتَبَذُنُهُ بِالْمَرَاءِ وَهُوَ سَقِيمة وَانْبَتْنَا عَلَيْهِ شَجَرَةً مِّنْ يَقْطِينٍ وَاَرْسَلْنَهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفِ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ فَأَمَنُوْا فَمَتَعْنُهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ فَاسْتَفْتِهِمْ أَلِرَبِّكَ الْبَنَاتُ وَلَهُمُ الْبَنُونَ 148. And We sent him as a Messenger to a hundred thousand people or more, 149. And they believed; so We gave them provision for a while. 3357 150. "Now ask the disbelievers whether thy Lord has daughters, whereas they have sons. 3358 "10:99. 6:101; 16:58; 43:17; 52:40; 53:22. 3356. Important Words: (bare tract of land) is derived from which means, he was or became naked, bare or without clothing. They say i. e. he was عری or became free from fault, defector blemish. means, a wide or spacious place or tract of land in which nothing is hidden; or the vacant surface of the earth or land or of a wide space of land (Lane). 3357. Commentary: In the whole history of religion, no people are known to have benefited SO much from the warning of impending Divine punishment as did the people of Jonah. When they were warned that they would be visited with punishment if they did not behave and believe in Jonah and did not mend their ways, they at once repented and believed in Jonah with the result that the threatened punishment was averted. This repentance of Jonah's people, even though belated, so pleased God that they were not only forgiven but their case is held up in the Quran, as an example for disbelievers of all Prophets of God (10:99). 3358. Commentary: 2705 After giving a brief history of some of the Prophets in the preceding verses, the Surah proceeds in the present verse to deal with a basic principle of all religions—the repudiation and condemnation of