Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:89
[Allah] said, "Your supplication has been answered." So remain on a right course and follow not the way of those who do not know."
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 exegesis of the words of the Exalted: قَالَ قَدْ أُجِيبَتْ دَعْوَتُكُمَا فَاسْتَقِيمَا وَلا تَتَّبِعَانِّ سَبِيلَ الَّذِينَ لا يَعْلَمُونَ (He said: Your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered — so remain steadfast, and do not follow the path of those who have no knowledge.) (89)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is an announcement from Allah concerning His answering of the supplication of Mūsā — peace be upon him — and Hārūn, when they implored Allah against Firʿawn, the eminent ones of his people, and their possessions. Allah — exalted be His praise — says: (He said) — that is to say: Allah said to the two of them — (Your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered), concerning Firʿawn and his court and their possessions.
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Now if someone asks: how is the "answering" ascribed to two persons when the "supplication" proceeded from only one person?
Then the answer is: even though the one supplicating was a single person, the second — namely Hārūn — pronounced the "āmīn"; therefore the answering is ascribed to the two of them, for the one who says āmīn is himself also a supplicant. Thus do the exegetes also say.
*Here follow the traditions that confirm this:*
17847 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of a man, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the words قَدْ أُجِيبَتْ دَعْوَتُكُمَا: he said: Mūsā prayed, and Hārūn pronounced the āmīn — that is what the words your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered refer to.
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Some among the Arabic philologists have claimed that the Arabs address a single person in the form of the dual, and as proof of this they cite the verse:
فَقُلْـتُ لِصَاحِبي لا تُعْجَلانَـا بِنزعِ أُصُولِهِ وَاجْتَزَّ شِيحَا
(So I said to my companion: do not be hasty — do not pull the shrubs out by the root, but prune the wormwood.)
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17848 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Zakariyyā ibn ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ibn al-Mubārak, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, who said concerning your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered: Mūsā prayed, and Hārūn pronounced the āmīn.
17849 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father and Zayd ibn Ḥubbāb related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, who said: Mūsā prayed and Hārūn pronounced the āmīn.
17850 — … he said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of a sheikh of his, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, who said: Mūsā prayed and Hārūn pronounced the āmīn.
17851 — Al-Muthnā related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, who said concerning your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered: Mūsā prayed and Hārūn pronounced the āmīn.
17852 — He said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Saʿd and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, who said: Mūsā prayed and Hārūn pronounced the āmīn — that is what the words your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered refer to.
17853 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the words "your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered": he said: Mūsā prayed and Hārūn pronounced the āmīn — that is what the words your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered refer to.
17854 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered — this was said to Mūsā and Hārūn. Ibn Jurayj said: ʿIkrima said: Hārūn pronounced the āmīn upon the supplication of Mūsā, and Allah said: your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered, so remain steadfast.
17855 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: Hārūn used to say "āmīn," whereupon Allah said: your prayer, the prayer of you both, has been answered — thus the pronouncing of the āmīn became a supplication, and he became a partner therein.
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As for the words so remain steadfast (fa-staqīmā): this is a command from Allah — exalted is He — to Mūsā and Hārūn to remain steadfast and to persevere in their task, namely the calling of Firʿawn and his people to acknowledge the oneness of Allah and to obey Him — until the punishment of Allah should come upon them, concerning which Allah had informed the two of them that He had answered their supplication. Thus also:
17856 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: so remain steadfast — that is to say: proceed with My charge; that is the steadfastness. Ibn Jurayj said: it is said that Firʿawn remained alive for forty years after this supplication.
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And as for His words and do not follow the path of those who have no knowledge: that is to say: do not take the way of those who do not know the reality of My promise and who would thereby wish to hasten My decree. For My promise admits of no wavering, and My threat shall fall upon Firʿawn — My punishment shall strike him and his people.
