Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:92
So today We will save you in body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign. And indeed, many among the people, of Our signs, are heedless
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 the Exalted: فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا لَغَافِلُونَ (92)
(This day shall We save you in your body, that you may be a sign for those who come after you; and verily, many of mankind are heedless of Our signs.)
Abū Jaʿfar says: The Exalted — blessed be His remembrance — says to Pharaoh: This day We shall place you upon an elevated spot above the land with your body, so that he who denied your destruction may behold you as one who has died. لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً (that you may be a sign for those who come after you) — that is to say: a lesson for the people who come after you, so that they may take instruction from it and be restrained from disobedience to Allah, from disbelief (kufr) toward Him, and from sowing corruption upon His earth.
The "najwa" (نجوة) is the spot that is elevated above the surrounding earth. To this the words of Aws ibn Ḥajar refer:
"He who is on the plain around his dwelling is like him who stands on an elevated spot, and he who is under shelter is like him who walks over bare, uncovered ground."
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In the same manner as we have explained this, the exegetes have also said it.
*Mention of who said that:*
17868 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū al-Salīl, on the authority of Qays ibn ʿUbād and others, who said: The Children of Israel said to Moses: "Pharaoh has not died!" He said: Then Allah brought him forth before them, so that they beheld him as a red bull.
17869 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd al-Jurayrī, on the authority of Abū al-Salīl, on the authority of Qays ibn ʿUbād — and he was one who knew the most traditions, or: the most recent traditions, concerning the Children of Israel — who said: He related to us that, when the foremost horsemen of Pharaoh reached the sea, the horses shied back from the chasm. And there was shown to one of the stallions a mare in heat, and he caught her scent — so I think he related it — and he slipped away and the others followed him. When the last of Pharaoh's soldiers were fully within the sea, and the last of the Children of Israel had come out, the sea was commanded and it closed over them. The Children of Israel, however, said: "Pharaoh has not drowned, and he could never die!" Allah heard their denial of His prophet, he says, and then cast him upon the shore, as though he were a red bull, so that the Children of Israel could behold him.
17870 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād, concerning the words فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ (This day shall We save you in your body): he said: "His body" — his body (his corporeal frame) — was cast by the sea upon the shore.
17871 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ (This day shall We save you in your body): he said: "With your body."
17872 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
17873 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
17874 — Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Al-Aṣbagh ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ayyūb, who said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: When Moses had crossed the sea with all his companions, the sea closed over them — that is, over Pharaoh and his people — and drowned them. The companions of Moses, however, said: "We fear that Pharaoh has not drowned, and we do not believe in his destruction!" Then he called upon his Lord, and Allah brought him forth and the sea cast him upon the shore, until they were certain of his death.
17875 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً (This day shall We save you in your body, that you may be a sign for those who come after you): he said: Certain groups of the Children of Israel denied this, and Allah cast him upon the shore of the sea so that they could behold him.
17876 — 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, concerning لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً (that you may be a sign for those who come after you): he said: When Allah drowned Pharaoh, a portion of the people did not believe it, and Allah brought him forth as a sign and a lesson.
17877 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn al-Taymī informed us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū al-Salīl, on the authority of Qays ibn ʿUbād or another, resembling the narration of Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā by way of Maʿmar.
17878 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rajāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ (This day shall We save you in your body): he said: "With your body."
17879 — He said: Muḥammad ibn Bakr related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: It reached me by way of Mujāhid, concerning فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ (This day shall We save you in your body): he said: "With your body."
17880 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: A portion of the Children of Israel denied the death of Pharaoh, and Allah cast him upon the shore of the sea so that the Children of Israel could see him. He said: Reddish, as though he were a bull.
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Others, however, said: The meaning is that he escapes from the sea with his body, in that Allah brings him out of it.
*Mention of who said that:*
17881 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to us, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ لِتَكُونَ لِمَنْ خَلْفَكَ آيَةً (This day shall We save you in your body, that you may be a sign for those who come after you): he said: Allah saved Pharaoh for the Children of Israel from the sea, so that they beheld him after he had drowned.
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If someone were to ask: What is the meaning of the addition بِبَدَنِكَ (with your body)? For is it not possible that one may be saved in some manner other than with his body, such that it would be necessary to mention this?
The answer is: It was possible that Allah might have saved him in his condition as he had entered the sea — alive. Because this was a possibility, it was said: فَالْيَوْمَ نُنَجِّيكَ بِبَدَنِكَ (This day shall We save you in your body), so that it might be known that he is saved with his body but without spirit — that is to say: as one dead.
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And His word: وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا لَغَافِلُونَ (and verily, many of mankind are heedless of Our signs) —
the Exalted — blessed be His remembrance — says: وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا (and verily, many of mankind, concerning Our signs) — that is to say: concerning Our proofs and indications that worship and divinity belong exclusively to Us — لَغَافِلُونَ (are heedless): they are negligent, they do not reflect upon it nor take any lesson from it.
