10. Surah Yunus
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
فَلَوْلاَ
كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ
آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا
إِيمَانُهَا
إِلاَّ قَوْمَ
يُونُسَ...
10: 98. Why was there not a single township (among those We warmed), which believed -- so its Faith should have profited it -- except the people of Jonah?
C1478. Allah in His infinite Mercy points out the contumacy of Sin as a warning, and the exceptional case of Nineveh and its Prophet Jonah is alluded to.
The story of Jonah is told in 37:139-148, which would be an appropriate place for further comments.
Here it is sufficient to note that Nineveh was a very ancient town which is now no longer on the map. Its site is believed to be marked by the two mounds on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite the flourishing city of Mosul on the right bank, about 230 miles north- north-west of Baghdad. One of the mounds bears the name of "the Tomb of NabiYunus."
Archeologists have not yet fully explored its antiquities. But it is clear that it was a very old Sumerian town, perhaps older than 3500 B.C. It became the capital of Assyria. The first Assyrian Empire under Shalmaneser 1, about 1300 B.C., became the supreme power in Western Asia.
Babylon, whose tributary Assyria had formerly been, now became tributary to Assyria. The second Assyrian Empire arose about 745 B.C., and Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) beautified the town with many Public Works. It was destroyed by the Scythians (so-called Medes) in 612 B.C.
If the date of Jonah were assumed to be about 800 B.C., it would be between the First and the Second Assyrian Empire; when the City was nearly destroyed for its sins, but on account of its repentance was given a new lease of glorious life in the Second Empire.
...لَمَّآ آمَنُواْ كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا...
When they believed, We removed from them the Penalty of Ignominy in the life of the Present,
...وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ ﴿٩٨﴾
and permitted them to enjoy (their life) for a while.
C1479. The point of the allusion here may be thus explained. Nineveh was a great and glorious City. But it became, like Babylon, a city of sin. Allah sent the prophet Yunus (Jonah) to warn it.
Full of iniquities though it was, it listened to the warning, perhaps in the person of a few just men. For their sakes, the All-Merciful Allah spared it, and gave it a new lease of glorious life.
According to the chronology in the last note the new lease would be for about two centuries, after which it perished completely for its sins and abominations.
Note that its new lease of life was for its collective life as a City, the life of the Present, i.e., of this World. It does not mean that individual sinners escaped the spiritual consequences of their sin, unless they individually repented and obtained Allah's mercy and forgiveness.
وَلَوْ شَاء رَبُّكَ
لآمَنَ مَن فِي
الأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ
جَمِيعًا...
10: 99. If it had been the Lord's Will, they would all have believed -- all who are on earth!
...أَفَأَنتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُواْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٩٩﴾
Wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe!
C1480. If it had been Allah's Plan or Will not to grant the limited Free-will that He has granted to man, His omnipotence could have made all mankind alike: all would then have had Faith, but that Faith would have reflected no merit on them.
In the actual world as it is, man has been endowed with various faculties and capacities, so that he should strive and explore, and bring himself into harmony with Allah's Will. Hence Faith becomes a moral achievement, and to resist Faith becomes a sin.
As a complementary proposition, men of Faith must not be impatient or angry if they have to contend against Unfaith, and most important of all, they must guard against the temptation of forcing Faith, i.e., imposing it on others by physical compulsion or any other forms of compulsion such as social pressure, or inducements held out by wealth or position, or other adventitious advantages.
Forced faith is no faith. They should strive spiritually and let Allah's Plan work as He wills.
وَمَا
كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ
أَن تُؤْمِنَ
إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِ
اللّهِ...
10: 100. No soul can believe, except by the Will of Allah,
C1481. To creatures endued with Will, Faith comes out of an active use of that Will. But we must not be so arrogant as to suppose that that is enough. At best man is weak, and is in need of Allah's grace and help.
If we sincerely wish to understand. He will help our Faith; but if not, our doubts and difficulties will only be increased. This follows as a necessary consequence, and in Quranic language all consequences are ascribed to Allah.
...وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ ﴿١٠٠﴾
and He will place Doubt (or obscurity) on those who will not understand.
C1482. Rijs (from rajisa, yarjasu, or rajusa, yarjusu) has various meanings: e.g.,
- filth, impurity, uncleanness, abomination, as in 9:95;
- hence, filthy deeds, foul conduct, crime, abomination, thus shading off into previous, as in 5:93;
- hence punishment for crime, penalty, as in 6:125;
- a form of such punishment, viz., doubt, obscurity, or unsettlement of mind, anger, indignation, as in 9:125, and here, but perhaps the idea of punishment is also implied here.
قُلِ
انظُرُواْ
مَاذَا فِي
السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالأَرْضِ...
10: 101. Say:
"Behold all that is in the heavens and on earth;"
...وَمَا تُغْنِي الآيَاتُ وَالنُّذُرُ عَن قَوْمٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٠١﴾
but neither Signs nor Warners profit those who believe not.
C1483. If Faith results from an active exertion of our spiritual faculties or understanding, it follows that if we let these die, Allah's Signs in His Creation or in the spoken Word which comes by inspiration through the mouths of His Messengers will not reach us any more than music reaches a deaf man.
فَهَلْ
يَنتَظِرُونَ
إِلاَّ مِثْلَ
أَيَّامِ الَّذِينَ
خَلَوْاْ مِن
قَبْلِهِمْ...
10: 102. Do they then expect (anything) but (what happened in) the days of the men who passed away before them?
...قُلْ فَانتَظِرُواْ إِنِّي مَعَكُم مِّنَ الْمُنتَظِرِينَ ﴿١٠٢﴾
Say: "Wait ye then: for I too, will wait with you."
The argument about Allah's revelation of Himself to man was begun in those early sections of this Sura and is being now rounded off towards the end of this Sura with the same formula.
ثُمَّ نُنَجِّي
رُسُلَنَا
وَالَّذِينَ
آمَنُواْ...
10: 103. In the end We deliver Our Messengers and those who believe:
...كَذَلِكَ حَقًّا عَلَيْنَا نُنجِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿١٠٣﴾
thus is it fitting on Our part that We should deliver those who believe!
Other versions:
10: 98 [Yunus, Mecca 51]
Asad For, alas [note 119] there has never yet been any community that attained to faith [in its entirety,] and thereupon benefited by its faith, except the people of Jonah [note 120]. When they came to believe, We removed from them the suffering of disgrace [which otherwise would have befallen them even] in the life of this world, and allowed them to enjoin their life during the time allotted to them.
Yusuf Ali Why was there not a single township (among those We warned) which believed so its Faith should have profited it except the people of Jonah? When they believed We removed from them the Penalty of Ignominy in the life of the Present and permitted them to enjoy (their life) for a while.
Pickthall If only there had been a community (of all those that were destroyed of old) that believed and profited by its belief as did the folk of Jonah. When they believed We drew off from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the world and gave them comfort for a while.
Appreciation of God's Signs and Blessings Brings Prosperity
Yuksel Why was there not a single town that benefited from its acknowledgement, with the exception of the people of Jonah? When they acknowledged, We removed from them the retribution of disgrace in this worldly life, and We let them enjoy until a time.
Transliteration Fa lau la_ ka_nat qaryatun a_manat fa nafa'aha_ ima_nuha_ illa_ qauma yu_nus(a), lamma_ a_manu_ kasyafna_ 'anhum 'aza_bal khizyi fil haya_tid dunya_ wa matta'na_hum ila_ hin(in).
[[ Asad’s notes: 119 – The particle ‘law-la’ … is sometimes synonymous with ‘hal-la’, and could therefore be translated as “why not”…………Whenever it is followed by a verb in the future tense, it expresses an urgent exhortation to do a thing; if followed by a verb in the past tense, as in the above case, it implies reproof for one’s not having done something that should have been done. There is no idiomatic equivalent in modern English to convey this meaning. ….the archaic exclamation “alack”, expressive of deep sorrow or reproach: ……..]]
[[Asad’s note 120 – The Quran points in many places that no prophet has ever been immediately accepted as such and followed by all of his people, and that many a community perished in result of the stubborn refusal, by the majority of its members, to listen to the divine message.
The only exception in this respect is said to have been the people of Nineveh, who – after having at first rejected their prophet Jonah, so that “he went off in wrath” (cf. 21:87) – later responded to his call in union, and were saved. For the story of Jonah, see 21:87-88 and 37:139-148, as well as the corresponding notes; a fuller narrative, which does not conflict with the Quran references, is forthcoming from the Bible (The Book of Jonah). In the context of the passage which we are now considering, the mention of Jonah’s people – who alone among the communities of the past heeded their prophet before it was too late – is meant to warn the hearers and readers of the Quran that a deliberate rejection of its message by “those against whom God’s word [of judgment] has come true”………….]]
[[ Ali’s notes - 1478 Allah in His infinite Mercy points out the contumacy of Sin as a warning, and the exceptional case of Nineveth and its Prophet Jonah is alluded to. The story of Jonah is told in xxxvii. 139-148, which would be an appropriate place for further comments. Here it is sufficient to note that Nineveth was a very ancient town which is now no longer on the map. Its site is believed to be marked by the two mounds on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite the flourishing city of Mosul on the right bank, about 230 miles north-north-west of Bagdad. One of the mounds bears the name of "the Tomb of Nabi Yunus." Archeologists have not yet fully explored its antiquities. But it is clear that it was a very old Sumerian town, perhaps older than 3500 B.C. It became the capital of Assyria. The first Assyrian Empire under Shalmaneser I, about 1300 B.C., became the supreme power in Western Asia. Babylon, whose tributary Assyria had formerly been, now became tributary to Assyria. The second Assyrian Empire arose about 745 B.C., and Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) beautified the town with many Public Works. It was destroyed by the Scythians (so-called Medes) in 612 B.C. If the date of Jonah were assumed to be about 800 B.C., it would be between the First and the Second Assyrian Empire; when the City was nearly destroyed for its sins, but on account of its repentance was given a new lease of glorious life in the Second Empire. (10.98)
1479 The point of the allusion here may be thus explained. Nineveh was a great and glorious City. But it became, like Babylon, a city of sin. Allah sent the prophet Yunus (Jonah) to warn it. Full of iniquities though it was, it listened to the warning, ……………..(10.98)
10: 99
Yusuf Ali If it had been the Lord's Will they would all have believed all who are on earth! Wilt thou then compel mankind against their will to believe!
Pickthall And if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Wouldst thou (Muhammad) compel men until they are believers?
Yuksel Had your Lord willed, all the people on earth in their entirety would have acknowledged. Would you force the people to make them acknowledge?*
Transliteration Wa lau sya_'a rabbuka la'a_mana man fil ardi kulluhum jami'a_(n), afa anta tukrihun na_sa hatta_ yaku_nu_ mu'minin(a).
10: 100
Yusuf Ali No soul can believe except by the Will of Allah and He will place Doubt (or obscurity) on those who will not understand.
Pickthall It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of Allah. He hath set uncleanness upon those who have no sense.
Yuksel It is not for a person to acknowledge except by God's leave. He casts the affliction upon those who do not reason.
Transliteration Wa ma_ ka_na li nafsin an tu'mina illa_ bi iznilla_h(i), wa yaj'alur rijsa 'alal lazina la_ ya'qilu_n(a).
10: 101
Yusuf Ali Say: "Behold all that is in the heavens and on earth"; but neither Signs nor Warners profit those who believe not.
Pickthall Say: Behold what is in the heavens and the earth! But revelations and warnings avail not folk who will not believe.
Yuksel Say, "Look at all that is in the heavens and the earth." But what good are the signs and
Transliteration Qul-inzuru_ ma_za_ fis sama_wa_ti wal ard(i), wa ma_ tugnil a_ya_tu wan nuzuru 'an qaumil la_ yu'minu_n(a).
10: 102
Yusuf Ali Do they then expect (anything) but (what happened in) the days of the men who passed away before them? Say: "Wait ye then: for I too will wait with you."
Pickthall What expect they save the like of the days of those who passed away before them? Say: Expect then! I am with you among the expectant.
Yuksel Say, "Look at all that is in the heavens and the earth." But what good are the signs and
Transliteration Fa hal yantaziru_na illa_ misla ayya_mil lazina khalau min qablihim, qul fantaziru_ inni ma'akum minal muntazirin(a).
10: 103
Asad [For thus it always happens: We seal the doom of all who deny the truth and give the lie to Our messages;] and thereupon We save Our apostles and those who have attained to faith [note 125]. Thus have We willed it upon Ourselves; We save all who believe [in Us]. Note 126
Yusuf Ali In the end We deliver Our apostles and those who believe: thus is it fitting on Our part that We should deliver those who believe!
Pickthall Then shall We save Our messengers and the believers, in like manner (as of old). It is incumbent upon Us to save believers.
Put Your Full Trust In God
Yuksel Then We will save Our messengers and those who acknowledge. It is thus binding upon Us that We save those who acknowledge.
Transliteration Summa nunajji rusulana_ wallazina a_manu_ kaza_lik(a), haqqan 'alaina_ nunjil mu'minin(a).