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The story of Yunus (peace be upon him) in the Quran and the Islamic tradition: verses, hadiths and the views of the exegetes, faithfully translated from Arabic.
Updated on 06 September 2026 at 3:41 AM
"If only there had been a city that believed and whose faith profited it – except the people of Yunus: when they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life, and gave them enjoyment for a time."
Surah Yunus, 98
And the Most High said, in surah al-Anbiya:
"And Dhul-Nun, when he left in anger, thinking We could not constrain him; he called out in the darknesses: no god but You! Glory to You! I have been of the wrongdoers. We answered him and saved him from the distress: thus We save the believers."
Surah al-Anbiya, 87-88
And the Most High said, in surah as-Saffat:
"Yunus is among the sent ones: when he fled to the laden ship, he drew lots and was among the losers. The fish swallowed him while he was blameworthy. Had he not been among the glorifiers, he would have remained in its belly until the day they are raised. We threw him onto the shore, he was sick; and We caused to grow over him a tree of gourd; and We sent him to a hundred thousand or more, and they believed: We gave them enjoyment for a time."
Surah as-Saffat, 139-148
And the Most High said, in surah Qalam:
"So be patient for the judgment of your Lord, and be not like the Companion of the Fish, when he called out while his soul was straitened. Had the favor of his Lord not reached him, he would have been cast onto the shore, blameworthy. His Lord chose him and placed him among the righteous."
Surah al-Qalam, 48-50
The exegetes said: Allah sent Yunus (peace be upon him) to the people of Ninawa, of the land of Mossul; he called them to Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), they denied him and rebelled in their disbelief and obstinacy. When that grew long upon him from them, he left their midst and promised them the descent of the punishment upon them after three (days). Ibn Mas'ud, Mujahid, Sa'id ibn Jubayr and Qatada, with more than one of the salaf and the khalaf, said: when he left their backs and they confirmed the descent of the punishment upon them, Allah cast into their hearts repentance and turning back, and they regretted what had come from them toward their prophet.
They donned the garments of contrition, separated every beast from its young, cried out to Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), shouted and humbled themselves before Him, abasing themselves; the men and the women, the sons and the daughters, the mothers wept; the cattle, the beasts of burden and the flocks lowed, the camels and their calves wailed, the cows and their young bellowed, the sheep bleated with their lambs. It was an immense, fearsome hour, and Allah the Great, by His power and strength, His kindness and mercy, lifted from them the punishment that had reached them because of it, which circled above their heads like the pieces of a dark night. That is why the Most High said: "If only there had been a city that believed... – that is: was there not found in the past generations a city believing fully?
That indicates it had not happened, but as the Most High said: "We sent no warner to any city but its luxuriant ones said: we disbelieve in what you are sent with" (Saba, 34). And His saying: "except the people of Yunus: when they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life, and gave them enjoyment for a time" – they believed fully.
The exegetes differed: does that faith profit them in the hereafter, saving them from the later punishment as it saved them from the worldly punishment? Two views; the more apparent from the context: yes, if Allah wills. And Allah knows best. As the Most High said: "when they believed", and He said: "and We sent him to a hundred thousand or more, and they believed: We gave them enjoyment for a time" – and that enjoyment for a term does not preclude with it the lifting of the later punishment. And Allah knows best.
They were, without doubt, a hundred thousand. And they differed over the addition: from Makhul: ten thousand. And at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim, from the hadith of Zuhayr, from one who heard Abu al-Aliya: "Ubayy ibn Ka'b told me that he asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about His saying: and We sent him to a hundred thousand or more. He said: more by twenty thousand." Without this imprecise man, this hadith would have settled this chapter. And from Ibn Abbas: "they were a hundred and thirty thousand"; from him: "thirty and some thousand"; from him: "forty and some thousand". Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: "a hundred and seventy thousand." And they differed: was his sending to them before the fish or after it, or were they two nations? Three views, developed in the tafsir.
The purpose is that he (peace be upon him), having left in anger because of his people, boarded a ship at sea; it made them sail, they were agitated, the waves carried them and it grew heavy with what was in it, and they nearly drowned – as the exegetes mention. They said: they drew lots among themselves to cast lots, and he upon whom the lot fell would be thrown from the ship, to lighten themselves of him. When they cast lots, the lot fell on the prophet of Allah Yunus; they did not permit it, they drew again a second time and it fell on him also. He rolled up his sleeves to take off his clothes and cast himself, but they refused that of him.
Then they drew the lot a third time and it fell on him again, for what Allah willed of him of the great affair. Allah the Most High said: "Yunus is among the sent ones: when he fled to the laden ship, he drew lots and was among the losers; the fish swallowed him while he was blameworthy. And that is: when the lot fell on him, he was cast into the sea, and Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent a great fish of the Green Sea which swallowed him; and Allah the Most High commanded it: not to eat any of his flesh, nor break any of his bones: you have no provision in it. It took him and circled with him all the seas.
And it is said: another fish, greater than it, swallowed that fish. They said: when he settled in the belly of the fish, he thought he had died; he moved his limbs and they moved: he was alive. He fell prostrating to Allah and said: "Lord, I have taken for You a sanctuary that none worships at its like."
They differed over the measure of his stay in its belly. Mujalid, from ash-Sha'bi: it swallowed him at morning and cast him at evening. Qatada said: he remained in it three (days). Ja'far as-Sadiq said: seven days. Testifying for him is the poem of Umayya ibn Abi as-Salt:
And by a favor from You, You saved Yunus, though he had spent the nights in the folds of a fish, night after night.
Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan and Abu Malik said: he remained in its belly forty days. And Allah knows best the measure of his stay.
The purpose is that, when the fish began to circle with him in the depths of the deep seas and plunge with him through the crashing waves, he heard the glorification of the fish to the Merciful, and heard the glorification of the pebbles to the Splitter of the grain and the kernels, the Lord of the seven heavens and the seven earths, and what is between them, and what is beneath the soil. Then, there and then, he said what he said, by the tongue of state and speech, as the Possessor of majesty and nobility informed of him – He who knows the secret and the private talk, who removes harm and trial, who hears the voices however weak, who knows the hidden things however fine, who answers the calls however great – as He said in His clear Book, sent down upon His trustworthy messenger, the most truthful of speakers, the Lord of the worlds, the God of the sent ones:
"And Dhul-Nun, when he left in anger, thinking We could not constrain him; he called out in the darknesses: no god but You! Glory to You! I have been of the wrongdoers. We answered him and saved him from the distress: thus We save the believers."
Surah al-Anbiya, 87-88
"thinking We could not constrain him" – that is: could not straiten him. And it is said: it means "could not measure him", from taqdir – a famous language: qadara and qaddara. As the poet said:
No one returns to that time that has passed; blessed are You: what You measure will be, and the affair is Yours.
"he called out in the darknesses": Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, Amr ibn Maymun, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Muhammad ibn Ka'b, al-Hasan, Qatada and ad-Dahhak said: the darkness of the fish's belly, the darkness of the sea, and the darkness of the night. Salim ibn Abi al-Ja'd said: another fish swallowed it, so there was the darkness of the two fish with the darkness of the sea.
His saying: "Had he not been among the glorifiers, he would have remained in its belly until the day they are raised": the meaning, it is said: had he not glorified Allah there, and said what he said of the declaration of transcendency and glorification, acknowledging Allah with humility, repenting to Him and returning to Him, he would have remained there until the Day of Resurrection, and been raised from the belly of that fish. That is the meaning of what was reported from Sa'id ibn Jubayr in one of the two versions from him. And it is said: the meaning is: had he not, before the fish took him, been among the glorifiers – that is: the obedient, the praying, those who remembered Allah much. Ad-Dahhak ibn Qays, Ibn Abbas, Abu al-Aliya, Wahb ibn Munabbih, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, ad-Dahhak, as-Suddi, Ata ibn as-Sa'ib, al-Hasan al-Basri and Qatada said it, and more than one.
Ibn Jarir chose it, and testifying for it is what Imam Ahmad and some of the Sunan reported, from Ibn Abbas: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me: "O boy, I teach you words: guard Allah, He will guard you; guard Allah, you will find Him facing you; acknowledge Allah in ease, He will recognize you in hardship. And Ibn Jarir reported in his tafsir, and al-Bazzar in his Musnad, from the hadith of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from one who told him, from Abdullah ibn Rafi', freedman of Umm Salama, who heard Abu Hurayra say: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "When Allah willed to confine Yunus in the belly of the fish, Allah revealed to the fish: take him and do not scratch any flesh, nor break any bone. When it brought him to the lowest depth of the sea, Yunus heard a sound and said to himself: what is this? Allah revealed to it, while he was in the belly of the fish: "this is the glorification of the sea creatures.
He glorified in the belly of the fish, and the angels heard his glorification and said: "Our Lord, we hear a weak sound from a strange land. It said: "That is My servant Yunus: he disobeyed Me, so I confined him in the belly of the fish, in the sea. They said: "The righteous servant whose accepted work and answered supplication used to rise to You every day and night? It said: "Yes.
They said: "They interceded for him then", and He commanded the fish, which cast him onto the shore, as the Most High said: "he was sick. That is the wording of Ibn Jarir, chain and text. Then al-Bazzar said: "we do not know it reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) except by this chain" – thus he said.
Ibn Abi Hatim said in his tafsir: Abu Abdillah Ahmad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Wahb, nephew of Wahb, reported to us, his uncle reported to us, Abu Sakhr told me that Yazid ar-Raqashi told him: I heard Anas ibn Malik – and I only know that Anas raises the hadith to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): that when it appeared to Yunus the prophet (peace be upon him) to call with these words, while he was in the belly of the fish, he said: "O Allah, no god but You, glory to You, I have been of the wrongdoers. And the supplication began to groan at the Throne, and the angels said: "Our Lord, a weak, known sound from a strange land. He said: "Do you not know it? They said: "Our Lord, who is it?
He said: "My servant Yunus. They said: "Your servant Yunus, whose accepted work and answered supplication never ceased to rise? He said: "Yes. They said: "Our Lord, will You not have mercy on what he used to do in ease, and save him from the trial?
He said: "Yes. He commanded the fish and it cast him on the shore; Ibn Jarir reported it from Yunus, from Ibn Wahb likewise. Ibn Abi Hatim added: Abu Sakhr Humayd ibn Ziyad said: Ibn Qusayt informed me, while I was narrating to him this hadith, that he heard Abu Hurayra say: "He was cast on the shore, and Allah caused to grow over him the gourd. We said: O Abu Hurayra, what is the yuqtina?
He said: "The tree of the gourd (dubba'). Abu Hurayra said: "Allah prepared for him a wild beast that ate the grass of the earth" – or said: "the herbage of the earth" – "which swelled over him and nourished him with its milk, every evening and morning, until he recovered. And Umayya ibn Abi as-Salt said thereon a verse of his poem:
In mercy, He caused a gourd to grow over him; without Allah, none would be found to bring relief.
That is strange too, of this kind, and Yazid ar-Raqashi is weak, but it is strengthened by the preceding hadith of Abu Hurayra, as that is strengthened by this. And Allah knows best.
Allah the Most High said: "We threw him" – that is: We cast him onto the shore, which is the bare place in which there is nothing of trees, but bare of them; "and he was sick": weak of body. Ibn Mas'ud said: "like a chick, without feathers. Ibn Abbas, as-Suddi and Ibn Zayd said: "like the newborn when born, having been breathed into, with nothing on him. "And We caused to grow over him a tree of gourd.
Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, Ikrima, Mujahid, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Wahb ibn Munabbih, Hilal ibn Yasaf, Abdullah ibn Tawus, as-Suddi, Qatada, ad-Dahhak, Ata al-Khurasani and more than one said: "it is the qar' (gourd). Some scholars said: in the growth of the gourd over him there are many wisdoms: its leaves are of the utmost tenderness, abundant and shaded; no fly comes near it; its fruit is eaten from its first sprouting to its end, raw and cooked, and also its peel and its seeds; there is much benefit in it, a strengthening of the brain, and other things. And has preceded the word of Abu Hurayra on Allah subjecting to him that wild beast that suckled him with its milk, grazing in the wilderness and coming to him morning and evening. That is of Allah's mercy toward him, His grace upon him and His kindness to him.
That is why the Most High said: "We answered him and saved him from the distress": the karb and straitness he was in – "thus We save the believers": thus We act with every believer who calls upon Us and seeks refuge with Us.
Ibn Jarir said: Imran ibn Bakkar al-Kala'i reported to us, Yahya ibn Salih reported to us, Abu Yahya ibn Abd al-Rahman reported to us, Bishr ibn Mansur, from Ali ibn Zayd, from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib who said: I heard Sa'd ibn Malik – he is Ibn Abi Waqqas – say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "The name of Allah by which He is called, He answers; and by which He is asked, He gives: the supplication of Yunus ibn Matta. I said: "O Messenger of Allah, is it for Yunus alone or for all the Muslims? He said: "It is for Yunus alone, and for the believers in general when they call with it. Have you not heard the saying of Allah: he called out in the darknesses: no god but You, glory to You, I have been of the wrongdoers; We answered him and saved him from the distress: thus We save the believers?
It is a condition of Allah for whoever calls Him with it. And Ibn Abi Hatim said: Abu Sa'id al-Ashajj reported to us, Abu Khalid al-Ahmar, from Kathir ibn Zayd, from al-Muttalib ibn Hantab – Abu Khalid said: I think it from Mus'ab, meaning Ibn Sa'd – from Sa'd who said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever calls with the supplication of Yunus is answered. Abu Sa'id al-Ashajj said: he means by it: "thus We save the believers. And these are two ways from Sa'd.
And a third, better than the two: Imam Ahmad said: Ismail ibn Umar reported to us, Yunus ibn Abi Ishaq al-Hamdani reported to us, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'd reported to us, my father Muhammad told me, from his father Sa'd – he is Ibn Abi Waqqas – who said: I passed by Uthman ibn Affan in the mosque and greeted him; he filled his eyes with me and did not return my salam. I came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and said: "O commander of the believers, has something happened in Islam? twice. He said: "No.
And why? I said: "Nothing, except that I passed a while ago by Uthman in the mosque and greeted him; he filled his eyes with me and did not return my salam. He sent to Uthman and called him, and said: "What prevented you from returning your brother's salam? He said: "I did not do so.
Sa'd said: I said: "Yes," until he swore and I swore. Then Uthman mentioned and said: "Yes – and I seek Allah's forgiveness and turn to Him: you passed a while ago by me, and I was keeping myself occupied with a word I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him); by Allah, never have I mentioned it without my sight being covered and my heart veiled. Sa'd said: "I am the one who tells you of it: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mentioned to us a first supplication, then a bedouin came and occupied him, until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood and I followed him; and when I feared he would outpace me to his dwelling, I struck the earth with my foot. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) turned to me and said: who is this?
Abu Ishaq? I said: yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: and then? I said: by Allah, nothing, except that You mentioned to us a first supplication, then this bedouin came and occupied You.
He said: "Yes: the supplication of Dhul-Nun, while he was in the belly of the fish: no god but You, glory to You, I have been of the wrongdoers. No Muslim ever called his Lord with it in anything but He answered him. And at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasa'i reported it, from the hadith of Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'd with it.
Mention of the merit of Yunus (peace be upon him). Allah the Most High said: "Yunus is among the sent ones" (as-Saffat, 139). And He mentioned him in the group of the noble prophets, in the surahs an-Nisa and al-An'am – from Allah, the best of prayer and peace upon them.
Imam Ahmad said: Waki' reported to us, Sufyan, from al-A'mash, from Abu Wa'il, from Abdullah who said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "It does not befit anyone to say: I am better than Yunus ibn Matta. And al-Bukhari reported it, from the hadith of Sufyan ath-Thawri with it. And al-Bukhari said also: Hafs ibn Umar reported to us, Shu'ba, from Qatada, from Abu al-Aliya, from Ibn Abbas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who said: "It does not befit a servant to say: I am better than Yunus ibn Matta", linking him to his father. And Ahmad, Muslim and Abu Dawud reported it, from the hadith of Shu'ba with it.
Shu'ba said, as Abu Dawud related from him: "Qatada heard from Abu al-Aliya only four hadiths; this is the most authentic of them. And Imam Ahmad reported it, from Affan, from Hammad ibn Salama, from Ali ibn Zayd, from Yusuf ibn Mihran, from Ibn Abbas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who said: "It does not befit a servant either to say: I am better than Yunus ibn Matta" – Ahmad alone reported it. And the Hafiz Abu al-Qasim at-Tabarani reported it: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Kaysan reported to us, Abdullah ibn Raja informed us, Israil, from Abu Yahya al-Qattat, from Mujahid, from Ibn Abbas: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "It does not befit anyone to say: I am, with Allah, better than Yunus ibn Matta. Its chain is good, and they did not extract it.
Al-Bukhari said: Abu al-Walid reported to us, Shu'ba, from Sa'd ibn Ibrahim: I heard Humayd ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who said: "It does not befit a servant to say: I am better than Yunus ibn Matta"; and Muslim reported it, from the hadith of Shu'ba with it. And in Bukhari and Muslim, from the hadith of Abdullah ibn al-Fadl, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-A'raj, from Abu Hurayra, in the story of the Muslim who slapped the face of the Jew when he said: "By He who chose Musa over the worlds" – al-Bukhari said at the end: "and I do not say that anyone is better than Yunus ibn Matta": that is, no one may prefer himself over Yunus. And in a version: "It does not befit anyone to prefer me over Yunus ibn Matta" – as came in some hadiths: "Do not prefer me over the prophets, nor over Yunus ibn Matta." And that is of the deflection and humility on his part (may the prayers of Allah and His peace be upon him), and upon all the other prophets and sent ones of Allah.