Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:22
It is He who enables you to travel on land and sea until, when you are in ships and they sail with them by a good wind and they rejoice therein, there comes a storm wind and the waves come upon them from everywhere and they assume that they are surrounded, supplicating Allah, sincere to Him in religion, "If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the thankful."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: هُوَ الَّذِي يُسَيِّرُكُمْ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ حَتَّى إِذَا كُنْتُمْ فِي الْفُلْكِ وَجَرَيْنَ بِهِمْ بِرِيحٍ طَيِّبَةٍ وَفَرِحُوا بِهَا جَاءَتْهَا رِيحٌ عَاصِفٌ وَجَاءَهُمُ الْمَوْجُ مِنْ كُلِّ مَكَانٍ وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ أُحِيطَ بِهِمْ دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ لَئِنْ أَنْجَيْتَنَا مِنْ هَذِهِ لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ (22) (He is the One Who causes you to travel over land and sea, until, when you are aboard the ships and they carry them along with a favourable wind and they rejoice therein, a violent wind strikes them and the waves assail them from every side and they are convinced that destruction has encompassed them, they call upon Allah, devoting their religion sincerely to Him: "If You save us from this, we shall surely be among the grateful.")
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah, the Exalted, says by this: Allah is the One Who causes you, O people, to travel — on land upon the backs of riding-beasts, and on the sea aboard the ships.
حَتَّى إِذَا كُنْتُمْ فِي الْفُلْكِ — that is: the vessels — وَجَرَيْنَ بِهِمْ — that is: the ships carry the people along — بِرِيحٍ طَيِّبَةٍ — upon the sea — وَفَرِحُوا بِهَا — that is: the passengers of the ships rejoiced at the favourable wind by which they were moving along.
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The pronoun "hā" in the expression "bihā" refers back to "the favourable wind" (al-rīḥ al-ṭayyiba).
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جَاءَتْهَا رِيحٌ عَاصِفٌ — that is: there struck the ships a violent wind, and that is the tempestuous wind.
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The Arabs say: "rīḥ ʿāṣif" and "ʿāṣifa" (both forms are possible), and: "qad aʿṣafat al-rīḥ" and "ʿaṣafat" and "aʿṣafat" — this last especially among the Banū Asad, as has been transmitted. A poet of the Banū Dubayyr said:
"Until there arose a violent wind, shaking everything — within it rain and thunder whose sound resounded and rose high."
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وَجَاءَهُمُ الْمَوْجُ مِنْ كُلِّ مَكَانٍ — Allah, the Exalted, says by this: the waves struck the passengers of the ship from every side. وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ أُحِيطَ بِهِمْ — that is: they were convinced that destruction had encompassed and enclosed them. دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ — that is: at that moment they directed their supplication exclusively to Allah, not to their idols and gods; their refuge at that moment was Allah alone, and not their idols — as in:
17595 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said concerning the words دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ: "When evil struck them at sea, they directed their supplication exclusively to Him."
17596 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, concerning the words مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ: "Hayā sharā hayā" — its explanation is: O Living One, O People.
17597 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the words وَإِذَا أَذَقْنَا النَّاسَ رَحْمَةً مِنْ بَعْدِ ضَرَّاءَ مَسَّتْهُمْ to the end of the verse: "These are the polytheists (mushrikīn): they call upon, besides Allah, what they call upon, but when evil strikes them, they call upon none other than Allah. When He then saves them, they at once begin to murmur again."
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لَئِنْ أَنْجَيْتَنَا from this distress that has befallen us لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ — toward You for Your favours, and for the fact that You have saved us from it — by devoting our worship exclusively to You and rendering obedience to You alone, to the exclusion of the idols and rivals.
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The Qurʾān-reciters differed concerning the reading of the words هُوَ الَّذِي يُسَيِّرُكُمْ: the general body of Qurʾān-reciters of the Ḥijāz and Iraq read: هُوَ الَّذِي يُسَيِّرُكُمْ — derived from "al-sayr" (travelling), with the sīn.
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Abū Jaʿfar al-Qārī read: هُوَ الَّذِي يَنْشُرُكُمْ — derived from "al-nashr" (spreading/expanding), that is: spreading out. This is as when one says: "nasharta al-thawb" — that is: one spreads out the garment from its folded state.
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Abū Jaʿfar gave this reading the meaning that Allah raises up His servants and spreads them out over land and sea. The meaning of this is close to that of "al-tasyīr" (causing to travel).
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He said: وَجَرَيْنَ بِهِمْ بِرِيحٍ طَيِّبَةٍ — and in another place Allah says: فِي الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ (Sūra Yāsīn, 36:41), where the singular is used.
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The word "al-fulk" (ship/ships) is a designation for both the singular and the plural, and can be used as both masculine and feminine.
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Allah said: وَجَرَيْنَ بِهِمْ — and beforehand He had said: هُوَ الَّذِي يُسَيِّرُكُمْ, in which He addressed those spoken to directly, after which He shifted to the manner of speaking about an absent party. This phenomenon I have already explained in several places in the book in a manner that makes its repetition here unnecessary.
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The answer to the condition حَتَّى إِذَا كُنْتُمْ فِي الْفُلْكِ is جَاءَتْهَا رِيحٌ عَاصِفٌ.
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The answer to وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ أُحِيطَ بِهِمْ is دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ.
