The Meaning of the Saying of Allah the Exalted: "And [mention] the owner of the fish when he went off in anger"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
A questioner says regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Anbya 21:87] He asks: What is the meaning of "in anger" (mughadhiban)?
Answer:
"The owner of the fish" refers to Yunus (peace be upon him), and "the fish" (al-nun) is the whale, because the whale swallowed him, so Allah called him "the owner of the fish," meaning the companion of the whale, for the nun is the whale. Part of his story is that he called his people and invited them, but they did not respond to him. He became impatient because they did not respond to him and no punishment came down upon them, so he hastened, peace and blessings be upon him, and fled from them. The whale encountered him and swallowed him, and the whale cast him into its belly, so he fell into darknesses: the darkness of the night, the darkness of the sea, and the darkness of the whale's belly.[Al-Anbya 21:87] He repented to Allah and returned to Allah and called with the call of tawhid (the oneness of Allah): "There is no deity but You." So Allah saved him from the belly of the whale and cast him out. But he was afflicted with what he was afflicted with of illness, and Allah caused a plant of qiqd (bitter gourd) to grow for him, which is the watermelon tree. They say to us that it is the Najd tree because flies do not land on it. Allah caused it to grow for him to protect him from the flies, because his body was in a state of decay.
Until Allah bestowed upon him good skin and health. At that time, Allah sent him to his people, and they submitted to Islam.[As-Saffat 37:147-148]
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh,
A questioner says regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And [mention] the man of the fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him.
وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِAnswer:
"The owner of the fish" refers to Yunus (peace be upon him), and "the fish" (al-nun) is the whale, because the whale swallowed him, so Allah called him "the owner of the fish," meaning the companion of the whale, for the nun is the whale. Part of his story is that he called his people and invited them, but they did not respond to him. He became impatient because they did not respond to him and no punishment came down upon them, so he hastened, peace and blessings be upon him, and fled from them. The whale encountered him and swallowed him, and the whale cast him into its belly, so he fell into darknesses: the darkness of the night, the darkness of the sea, and the darkness of the whale's belly.
And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."
فَنَادَىٰ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَن لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَUntil Allah bestowed upon him good skin and health. At that time, Allah sent him to his people, and they submitted to Islam.
(147) And We sent him to [his people of] a hundred thousand or more. (148) And they believed
وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ فَآمَنُواThe presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh,
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، فصل وأما المقام الثاني الذي وقع فيه الغلط — islamhouse.com (58:40)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.