Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:71
And recite to them the news of Noah, when he said to his people, "O my people, if my residence and my reminding of the signs of Allah has become burdensome upon you - then I have relied upon Allah. So resolve upon your plan and [call upon] your associates. Then let not your plan be obscure to you. Then carry it out upon me and do not give me respite.
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 word of Allah the Exalted: وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ نُوحٍ إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ إِنْ كَانَ كَبُرَ عَلَيْكُمْ مَقَامِي وَتَذْكِيرِي بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ فَعَلَى اللَّهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ فَأَجْمِعُوا أَمْرَكُمْ وَشُرَكَاءَكُمْ ثُمَّ لا يَكُنْ أَمْرُكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ غُمَّةً ثُمَّ اقْضُوا إِلَيَّ وَلا تُنْظِرُونِ (71)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: واتل — recite to these polytheists (mushrikīn) among your people who said: "Allah has taken a child," نبأ نوح — that is to say: the tidings of Nūḥ — إذ قال لقومه يا قوم إن كان كبر عليكم مقامي — that is to say: if it is grievous to you that I dwell in your midst and that this burdens you — وتذكيري بآيات الله — that is to say: and my admonishing of you with the proofs of Allah, and my reminding you concerning them — فعلى الله توكلت — that is to say: if it is grievous to you that I dwell in your midst and that I remind you of the signs of Allah, and you have the intention to kill me or to drive me out from your midst, then my trust is in Allah, and with Him is my support; He is my pillar and my back — فأجمعوا أمركم — that is to say: make ready your affair and take a firm resolve regarding what you intend in my case.
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Of this one says: "I have firmly resolved upon such-and-such" (ajmaʿtu ʿalā kadhā), with the meaning: I have firmly determined upon it.
And of this is the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: "Whoever does not firmly resolve upon the fast from the night before, for him there is no (valid) fast" — with the meaning: whoever does not have the firm intention for it beforehand. And of this is the word of the poet:
"O, would that I knew — and wishes avail not — whether I shall one day go out with my affair firmly resolved"
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From al-Aʿraj the following is related:
17760 — One of our companions related to me, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, on the authority of Hārūn, on the authority of Usayd, on the authority of al-Aʿraj — concerning فأجمعوا أمركم وشركاءكم: he said: "Make firm your affair and call your associates."
The accusative of the word وشركاءكم is by means of an elided verb, namely: "and call your associates" — and الشركاء is here connected to أمركم in the manner of the word of the poet:
"And you saw your husband in the battle armed with a sword and a spear"
For a spear is not borne at one's side; but because in the uttered part of the sentence there was an indication of what was elided, one made do with what was present in place of what was omitted. So it is also with the expression وشركاءكم.
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The Qurʾān reciters differed over the reading of it.
The reciters of the great cities read it: وَشُرَكَاءَكُمْ in the accusative, and فَأَجْمِعُوا with a hamza on the alif and with fatḥa, from the root: "ajmaʿtu amrī fa-anā ujmiʿuhu ijmāʿan."
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From al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī it is related that he read it: فَأَجْمِعُوا أَمْرَكُمْ with fatḥa and hamza on the alif, and وَشُرَكَاؤُكُمْ in the nominative — with the meaning: make firm your affair, and let your associates too make firm their affair together with you.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct position in this matter is the reading of the one who read: فَأَجْمِعُوا أَمْرَكُمْ وَشُرَكَاءَكُمْ — with fatḥa on the alif of "ajmaʿū" and the accusative of "al-shurakāʾ" — because it stands in the muṣḥaf without a wāw, and because the scholars have agreed upon the reading thereof and have rejected everything contrary to it. Against this reading one cannot invoke anyone in whom error and inattention are possible.
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By "the associates" he meant: their gods and their idols.
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And His word: ثم لا يكن أمركم عليكم غمة — that is to say: then let your affair not be concealed and unclear and obscure to you.
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This is derived from the expression: "the new moon was obscured to the people" (ghumma ʿalā al-nāsi al-hilālu) — that is to say: when it was unclear to them so that they could not distinguish it. Of this is the word of al-ʿAjjāj:
"Nay, had you seen the people when they were enveloped by a darkness — were it not removed, they would suffocate"
And it was said: that it derives from "distress" (al-ghamm), for the breast is straitened thereby and the one afflicted by it sees no way out that relieves him of what is in his heart. Of this is the word of al-Khansāʾ:
"And one distressed, whose noose Ibn ʿAmr loosed and whose anguish withdrew from his countenance, so that it cleared"
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Qatāda said in this connection the following:
17761 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning أمركم عليكم غمة: he said: "Let your affair not be grievous to you."
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As for His word: ثم اقضوا إليّ — its meaning is: then carry out regarding me what is in your hearts and be entirely done with it — as in:
17762 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning ثم اقضوا إليّ ولا تنظرون: he said: "Carry out regarding me what you intended to carry out."
17763 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shubl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — concerning the word ثم اقضوا إليّ ولا تنظرون: he said: "Carry out regarding me what is in your hearts."
17764 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
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The grammarians differed over the meaning of ثم اقضوا إليّ.
Some said: its meaning is "proceed unto me" (imḍū ilayya) — as one says: "so-and-so has reached his end" (qad qaḍā fulānun), by which is meant: he has died and gone.
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Others among them said: rather its meaning is: "then be entirely done with it regarding me" — and they said: "al-qaḍāʾ" means: being completed. And "qaḍā his debt" derives from this — that is to say: he was completely done with it.
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And it is related from one of the reciters that he read it: ثُمَّ أَفْضُوا إِلَيَّ — with the meaning: turn toward me until you reach me, from the expression: "the pain reached me" (qad afḍā ilayya al-wajaʿu) and the like.
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And His word: ولا تنظرون — that is to say: and do not grant me respite.
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This is derived from the expression: "I granted so-and-so respite for what he owes me of debt" (anẓartu fulānan bi-mā lī ʿalayhi mina al-dayn).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: This is but a notification from Allah the Exalted concerning the words of His prophet Nūḥ ʿalayhi al-salām to his people — that he firmly trusted in the help of Allah against them and was not afraid of their cunning and their evil — and a making-known to them that their gods can bring neither harm nor benefit. He says to them: carry out regarding me what you discuss in your hearts, upon a firm and sincere resolve, and seek together with those who support you against me also the help of your gods whom you call upon besides Allah, and do not delay that — for I have relied upon Allah and I trust in Him that you cannot do me harm, unless my Lord wills it.
And although this is a notification from Allah the Exalted concerning Nūḥ, it is at the same time an exhortation from Allah to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ to direct himself after his example, and an indication on His part of the path of right guidance in what He has entrusted to him of the mission and the conveyance of His message.
