10. Yunus/Prophet Jonah

I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah

The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.

10:01
Alif. Lam. Ra’.
These are the Messages of the Book of Wisdom - The Qur’an.

10:02
Is it so strange for the people that WE revealed to a person who is one of them –
Muhammad ibn Abdallah - with a command:
‘Warn the people, but also give the good news to those who believe –
that they will have the reward of their good deeds and dealings with their Rabb -The Lord?’
But the disbelievers allege:
‘This is certainly a clear deception.’

10:03
Surely, your Rabb - The Lord is Allah – The One and Only God,
WHO created the celestial realm and the terrestrial world in six days/time spans,
then settled over The Throne of Almightiness, directing all affairs.
No one can intercede with HIM on behalf of anyone except after HIS permission.
This is Allah, your Rabb - The Lord!
So submit to HIM in awe, reverence, and worship!
Will you not then reflect?

10:04
To HIM is your return – all of you together:
Indeed, Allah’s Promise is true that you all are to be brought back to HIM.
It is HE WHO initiated the process of creation in the first instance, and
then HE will repeat it in another dimension of existence,
so that HE may reward - in all fairness - those who believe and practice righteousness.
Whereas those who disbelieve and die as disbelievers – for them will be a drink of boiling
dirty fluid,
and a grievous punishment for they had been willfully disbelieving.

10:05
It is HE WHO made
the sun radiant - emitting light, and
the moon light reflected, and
appointed its stations so that you may compute the years and measure time.

Allah did not create these but for a purpose.
HE distinctly explains HIS Messages to a people seeking knowledge.

10:06
Surely, in the alternation of the nighttime and the daytime, and
whatever HE has created within the celestial realm and the terrestrial world,
there are certainly Miraculous Wonders for a people who are conscious of Allah’s Creative Power.

10:07
As for those who do not look forward to their meeting with US in the realm of the Hereafter,
and are content with the present life of this world and feel reassured in it,
and are heedless of OUR Messages ….,

10:08
those – their living place is going to be the Fire,
– a payback for what they have been earning of faith, deeds and dealings.

10:09
However, those who believe and practice righteousness – they will be guided by their Rabb - The Lord because of their faith.
And by them will flow rivers/streams in the Paradise of Bliss.

10:10
In that state of happiness, they will call out:
‘All Glory be to YOU, O Allah!’
And among them, their greetings will be
‘Peace!’
And their call will end with the words:
‘All Praise be to Allah, Rabb - The Lord of all existence.’

10:11
And were Allah to hasten the evil/punishment for the people in the same manner as they hasten for the good/worldly possessions,
their appointed term would, indeed, have come to an end immediately.
So WE leave those who do not look forward to their meeting with US - wandering in their willful blindness.

10:12
And when a person is afflicted with adversity, he cries out to US,
whether lying on his side, or
sitting, or
standing.
But as soon as WE remove his adversity from him, he carries on as if he had never cried
out to US in adversity that afflicted him.
In the same way, their deeds and dealings have been made to appear pleasing to such over-indulgent people.

10:13
And so it was that WE destroyed whole generations and communities before you when they became willfully unjust.
Their Messengers came to them with clear Messages,

but they would not listen and believe.
Thus do WE payback the wicked people.

10:14
Then, after them, WE made you successors in the land to see how you would act/behave in it:
whether you would learn from their example and believe in OUR Messengers.

10:15
And whenever OUR Messages – from The Qur’an - are recited to them in all clarity, those who do not look forward to their meeting with US say:
‘Bring us a different Qur’an than this one,
or else change this one’ to suit our views as to what is right and what is wrong.
Say to them:
‘It is not for me to change it of my own free will.
I merely follow whatever is divinely revealed on to me.
In fact, if I ever disobeyed my Rabb - The Lord by changing it, then I dread the punishment of an Awful Time.’

10:16
Say also:
‘If Allah had so willed, I would neither be reciting it to you – this Message - nor would HE have made it known to you.
I have already spent an entire lifetime among you before this Qur’an began to be revealed to me.
Will you not then understand?’

10:17
Who, then, can be more evil than someone who fabricates falsehood against Allah, or belies the truth of HIS Messages in The Qur’an?
Surely, such criminals will never succeed.

10:18
And they worship entities apart from Allah that can neither harm them nor benefit them,
and they still say:
‘These entities are our intercessors with Allah!’
Ask them:
‘Are you actually informing Allah about something in the celestial realm or the terrestrial world which HE does not know?
Glory be to HIM!’
HE is Exalted - far above what they ascribe to HIM! in Unity and Worship

10:19
In the beginning, the people were a single religious community,
then they differed from each other and split.
Were it not for a Word that had preceded from your Rabb - The Lord,
it would indeed have been decided immediately among them concerning their differences.

10:20
And they say:
‘Why has not a miracle been sent down to him from his Rabb - The Lord.’

Say:
‘Truly the realm of the Unseen belongs to Allah alone.
So just wait and see Allah’s Judgment, if you do not believe.
Surely, I too will be of those waiting and watching with you.

10:21
And when WE give people a taste of mercy after hardship had befallen them,
suddenly they start conspiring against OUR Messages in The Qur’an.
Say:
‘Allah is quicker than you at planning secretly.
Surely, OUR angelic-messengers are recording whatever you are conspiring.

10:22
It is HE WHO enables you to travel over the land and the sea, until,
when you are sailing on the ships, and they sail upon a gentle and favorable wind, and you rejoice over it.
However, when a violent gale comes upon them, and waves surge toward them from every side,
and they are sure that they are encircled by death with no way out –
they start calling upon Allah, professing submission to HIM sincerely:
‘If YOU salvage us from this ordeal now, we will definitely be among the grateful/faithful.’

10: 23
Yet once HE has salvaged them, they act/behave outrageously upon the earth, unjustifiably
- again and again.
O The People!
Your outrageous acts/behavior will coil back upon yourselves - the joys of the life of this world are only for a short while.
Then to US is going to be your return,
whereupon WE will apprise you about everything you had been doing in the worldly life and call you to account for it.

10:24
Indeed, the likeliness of the life in this world is like the water which WE send down from the sky clouds.
And it mingles with the vegetation/plants of the earth to sprout to life.
from which people and livestock eat.
But when the earth is embellished and adorned with gold,
and its people begin to think that vegetation/crops are under control,
but then OUR Command comes upon it - night or day,
whereupon WE turn it - vegetation/crops - into a field mown down, as though there was
nothing there the day before.
This is how WE explain OUR Messages to a people who reflect.

10:25
And Allah calls you to the Realm of Peace, and
HE guides whoever HE Wills along a Straight Path – leading to the Realm of Peace.

10:26
As for those who do good by having true faith, there is goodness of reward for them and
even more than that.

Neither darkness nor humiliation will overshadow their faces at the Time of Resurrection,
for it is they who will be the People of the Paradise, and
they will remain therein – never to leave, never to die.

10:27
As for those who earn evil by practicing disbelief, the payback for an evil deed is an evil
like it - and disgrace will overshadow them.
And they will have no one to defend them against Allah.
It will be as if their faces are covered with patches of dark night.
It is they who will be the People of the Fire, and
they will remain therein - never to leave, never to die.

10:28
And be mindful of the Time when WE will resurrect them to a new dimension of existence and gather them, all together.
Then WE will say to those who ascribed entities to US:
‘Stay where you are!
You and the entities you worshiped!’
Then WE will separate them from each other, and
the entities will say:
‘It was not us that you were worshiping!’

10:29
‘So now Allah is Sufficient as a Witness between us and you.
We were certainly not aware of your worshiping’ us.

10:30
Then and there every person will see exactly what he had earned in the past worldly life,
and they will be brought back to Allah - their True Rabb - The Lord,
and all the falsehood they had fabricated will be of no benefit to them.

10:31
Ask them:
‘Who provides for you sustenance from the heaven and the earth?
Or, who has the power over your hearing and sight?
And who brings the living out of that which is dead?
And who brings the dead out of that which is living?
And who governs the course of all matters of existence?’
Then they will say:
‘Allah!’
So ask them:
‘Will you not then be reverent’ to HIM and fear HIS disobedience?

10:32
This then is Allah - your True Rabb - The Lord!
And what else can there be after the truth except error?
So how, then, are you turning away from the truth?

10:33
This is how the Word of your Rabb - The Lord has come true against those who defiantly
disobey,
for they are not going to believe.

10:34
Ask them:
‘Are there among the entities you ascribe to Allah in Unity and Worship the one who can
initiate the creation, and then recreate it in another dimension of existence?
Say to them:
‘In fact it is Allah alone who initiated/initiates the creation and then recreates it in another dimension of existence.
How, then, are you so deviated’ from the truth and make untenable claims?

10:35
Ask them:
‘Are there anyone among the entities you ascribe to Allah in Unity and Worship that can guide someone to the truth?’
Then say:
‘No!
It is only Allah – HE Guides to the Truth!’
Then who is more worthy to be followed –
the One WHO guides to the Truth, or
the one who cannot find the right way unless he be guided himself?
So what is the matter with you?
Just how do you judge so wrongly?

10:36
And most of them follow nothing but conjectures as they imitate their forefathers,
and conjectures can never be a substitute for the truth.
Surely, Allah is All-Aware as to what they do.

10:37
And this Qur’an is not such a writ that could ever be composed by anyone apart from Allah.
Rather it is revealed as a confirmation of whatever there still remains of the earlier revelations – the Torah, the Psalms, and the Injeel/Bible –
and a detailed explanation of the Essence of all Divine Books.
Without any doubt, this – The Qur’an - is from Rabb - The Lord of all existence.

10:38
Or do they allege that:
‘He - the Prophet - has fabricated it’ – The Qur’an?
Then challenge them by saying:
‘Bring then just one Surah like this, and call upon whoever you can to help you, apart from Allah,
if you are truthful’ in asserting that this is a fabrication.

10:39
But no!
They are denying what they cannot even comprehend in their knowledge,
while its reality has not yet become clear to them.
Likewise, those before them denied and belied the truth of their Scriptures.
Therefore, consider the fate of those who were among the unjust!

10:40
And some of them will believe in it, and some of them will not believe in it.
But your Rabb - The Lord knows well all those who create and promote religious corruption.

10:41
If they still continue to deny and belie you, then tell them:
‘For me are my deeds/actions, and for you are your deeds/actions.
You are free of the responsibility of what I am doing, and I am free of the responsibility of
what you are doing.’

10:42
And there are some among them who pretend to listen to you when you recite the Qur’an,
but can you make the spiritually deaf to hear, even though they do not want to listen and
understand?

10:43
There are some among them who just stare at you,
but can you guide the spiritually blind, even though they do not see?

10:44
In fact, Allah is never unfair to the people,
but it is the people who are unfair to themselves.

10:45
And The Time when HE is going to resurrect them to another dimension of existence and
gather them, all together,
it will seem to them that they had lived in the world merely for an hour of a day or so to make each other’s acquaintance.
Lost indeed will be those who denied the truth of meeting with Allah -
for they were never guided aright.

10:46
Whether WE show you – O The Prophet - in your lifetime some of the promises of punishment in wait for them, or WE make you to die before that,
know that, in the end, their return will be to US,
where Allah will be the Witness to all they had done.

10:47
And for every community of the communities of this world, there has been a Messenger
assigned by US,
and only after their Messenger had come, and delivered his message, some believed and the others did not,
so judgment was passed on them with absolute fairness and justice,
and they were never treated unfairly.

10:48
And they ask mockingly:
‘When will this promise come true, if you are honest’ about it?

10:49
Say to them:
‘I have neither any power to avert harm from myself, nor bring any benefit - except what
Allah may please.
For every community there is an appointed span of time,
and when their time arrives, they can neither delay it by a single moment, nor can they advance it by a single moment.’

10:50
Ask them:
‘Have you ever considered:
If HIS punishment were to afflict you suddenly by the nighttime or during the daytime – will you be able to save yourselves?
What is it that the criminals – guilty of disbelief and a life full of sin - seek to hasten?’

10:51
What!
Will you only believe in it when it - punishment - actually afflicts you?
Is it now that you are going to believe whereas you had been seeking to hasten it in mockery of it.

10:52
Then it will be said to the evil-doers:
‘Now taste the punishment of eternity/everlasting!
In all fairness, are you being paid back for anything other than for what you earned?’

10:53
And yet some people are asking you:
‘Is this really true?’
Say:
‘Yes indeed - by my Rabb - The Lord!
This is the truth.
And you can never escape’ it….

10:54
‘… even if every person who had done wrong possessed whatever is within the earth, he would surely offer it to ransom himself from the punishment,
and feel deeply repentant within himself on seeing the punishment that awaits him.
But judgment will be passed among them with all fairness and justice,
and they will not be treated unfairly.’

10:55
Indeed, whatever is within the celestial realm and the terrestrial world - belongs to Allah.
Remember, Allah’s Promise is always true.
Yet most of them do not realize this.

10:56
It is HE WHO gives both life and death,
and to HIM you all are going to be returned for the reckoning.

10:57
O The People!
An exhortation in the form of the Qur’an has now come to you from your Rabb - The Lord.
And, in addition, this is a healing/cure for doubts of the hearts with corrupt beliefs,
and a source of guidance and a mercy for the believers.

10:58
Say to them:
‘This is through Allah’s blessing and mercy -
so rejoice over it!
For it is much better than all the worldly riches that they may amass.’

10:59
Ask them:
‘Have you ever considered all the means of sustenance that Allah has sent down for you?
Yet you label some as unlawful to consume and some as lawful.’
Then ask them:
‘Has Allah permitted you to do so, or you are fabricating falsehood against Allah by attributing that to HIM?’

10:60
So what do they - who fabricate falsehood against Allah - think about the Time of Resurrection?
In fact, Allah is Immensely Gracious to all people -
but most of them are ungrateful for HIS Graciousness.

10:61
Whatever you may be engaged in, and whatever you may be reciting of The Qur’an, and whatever work you may be doing,
yet still WE are witnesses over you while you are engaged in it.
There is nothing even as small as the weight of a speck within the terrestrial world and within the celestial realm that escapes the knowledge of/from your Rabb - The Lord,
nor is there anything smaller than that, or bigger, except that is recorded in the Clear Book.

10:62
Indeed, those who are friends of Allah -
there will be neither any fear on them nor will they grieve in this world as well as in the Hereafter.

10:63
a. They are those who believe and obey Allah in awe, reverence, and piety….

10:64
…. for them is going to be the good news in the life of this world as well as in the Hereafter.
There can be no changing in the Words of Allah.
Indeed, that will be the great triumph!

10:65
O The Prophet!
And let their saying that you have not been assigned with Prophethood not grieve you.
Surely, all might and honor belongs to Allah.
HE is the All-Listening to their saying and All-Knowing of their motives.

10:66
Indeed, whatever is within the celestial realm and whatever is within the terrestrial world belongs to Allah.
Those who call on other entities in their worship,
they follow nothing but conjectures and fabricating lies that they will intercede for them.

10:67
It is HE WHO made the nighttime dark for you to rest, and the daytime bright to make you
see in it.
Indeed, there are wonders of nature in these for a people who reflect.

10:68
And yet they assert:
‘Allah has taken a child.’
Glory be to HIM!
HE is All-Sufficient beyond needs!
To HIM belongs whatever is within the celestial realm and whatever is within the terrestrial world.
You have no evidence for this assertion that HE has taken a child.
Are you then alleging things against Allah about which you know nothing?

10:69
Tell them:
‘Surely, those who fabricate falsehood against Allah will never be successful.’

10:70
Let them have a brief enjoyment in this world,
but then to US will be their return.
And then WE will make them taste the terrible punishment for having persistently denied
and belied the truth.

10:71
And recount to them the narrative of Noah.
When he said to his people:
‘O My People!
If you find my presence among you offensive, and my warning by Allah’s Messages, then
it does not matter as you should know that I put my trust in Allah.
So plan your course of action against me - you and the entities you ascribe to Allah,
then do not let your plan be a cause of distress for you.
And pass your sentence against me and give me no respite.’

10:72
‘But if you decide to turn away from my advocacy, remember I have not asked you for any compensation for it.
My compensation is only with Allah,
and I am commanded to be among those who submit to HIM in awe, reverence, and piety – to be a Muslim.’

10:73
Even then they denied and belied him.
So WE saved him and those with him in the Ark,
and WE made them survive in the land,
and WE drowned - by unleashing the Flood - those who denied and belied OUR Messages.
So consider the fate of those who were warned but they did not take heed and were destroyed.

10:74
Then, after him – Noah - WE assigned many Messengers to their people throughout the world.
They brought clear proofs.
But they were not prepared to believe in what they had already decided to disbelieve.
This is how WE set a seal on the hearts of the defiant.

10:75
Then, after them, WE assigned Moses and Aaron with OUR Messages and Miraculous Signs to Pharaoh and his courtiers.
But they behaved arrogantly and rejected them for they were criminal/sinful people.

10:76
So when the Truth came to them from US, they said of it:
‘This is clearly nothing but pure magic/deception!’

10:77
Moses said to them:
‘Do you say so about The Truth when it comes to you?
Can this be magic/deception?
But the magicians do not prevail!’

10:78
They remarked:
‘Have you come to us to turn us away from what we found our forefathers believing and doing,
so that the two of you – Moses and Aaron - may become powerful in the land of Egypt?
However, we are not going to believe in both of you.’

10:79
Then Pharaoh ordered:
‘Bring me every individual excelling in the art of magic.’

10:80
So when the magicians arrived, Moses said to them:
‘Cast down whatever spell you wish to cast down!’

10:81
Then when they had cast down their spell upon the people’s eyes, Moses said:
‘What you have cast down is only a charm.
Allah will surely render it to be false.
Surely, Allah does not validate and sets right any action/deed of those who create mischief
on earth.’

10:82
‘And Allah will establish the truth through HIS Words,
no matter how much the wicked be averse to it.’

10:83
But none of them believed in Moses, except a handful of his own people – Descendants of Jacob/Israelites,
while others held back fearing that Pharaoh and his courtiers would oppress them.
Surely, Pharaoh was indeed a haughty tyrant in the land of Egypt.
And, he was, indeed, a despot/the one who exceeded all bounds.

10:84
And Moses announced to his people:
‘O My People!
If you have believed in Allah, then put your trust in HIM if you are truly Muslims’ – who have sincerely submitted to HIM.

10:85
And they answered:
‘In Allah we trust.
Then they prayed:
‘O Our Rabb - The Lord!
Do not make us a target of oppression for the tyrannical people.’

10:86
a. ’And save us, by YOUR Grace, from the disbelieving people.’

10:87
And, then WE revealed on to Moses and his brother Aaron:
‘Set aside for your people some houses in Egypt,
and tell them:
‘Make your houses as places of worship, and establish therein the Salat/Prayers.
And give this good news of this concession to the believers.’

10:88
And Moses prayed:
‘O Our Rabb - The Lord!
You have in fact conferred upon Pharaoh and his courtiers splendor and riches in the life of this world.
O Our Rabb - The Lord, with the result that they are misleading people from YOUR Path.
O Our Rabb - The Lord!
Wipe out their riches, and harden their hearts, so much so that they would not believe until they see the grievous suffering.’

10:89
HE responded:
O Moses!
‘The prayer of both of you – Moses and Aaron - is answered.
Therefore, both of you remain firm with the Message and the Call until such time as Allah announces HIS Judgment, and
do not follow the path of those who do not want to know’ right and wrong.

10:90
And WE brought the Descendants of Jacob across the Red Sea -
while Pharaoh and his troops chased them wickedly and maliciously till he was on the point of drowning,
at which time he exclaimed:
‘I believe that there is no entity of worship except The One in whom the Descendants of Jacob believe,
and I am of the Muslims’ - among those who submit themselves to HIM.

10:91
Only ‘now you believe!?’ was the terse answer,
‘though previously you always disobeyed and were among the evil-doers.’

10:92
‘So WE are going to save you in your body today so that you become a warning symbol for those who come after you,
as many of the people are indeed heedless of OUR warning symbol.’

10:93
And so it was that WE settled the Descendants of Jacob in a settlement of excellence, and
WE provided them with good things of life.
So it was not that they differed with each other over matters of religion until the knowledge
of The Torah came to them.
Your Rabb - The Lord will surely judge among them all their differences during the Time of Final Judgment.

10:94
So if you are in doubt about what WE have revealed on to you – concerning Moses and Pharaoh - then
just ask those who read the Book of Torah before you.
The truth has indeed come to you from your Rabb - The Lord,
so do not ever be among those who doubt the narrative about Moses and Pharaoh.

10:95
Also do not ever be among those who deny and belie Allah’s Messages,
lest you should be among the losers.

10:96
a. Surely those against whom the Word of your Rabb - The Lord has been pronounced – they will never believe,

10:97
a. …. even if every Sign of truth should come to them – not until they witness the agonizing punishment.

10:98
Why has there been no community that believed in its entirety after initially denying its Messenger and benefited by its faith, other than the People of Jonah?
When they believed, WE withdrew from them the punishment of disgrace in the life of this
world,
and allowed them to enjoy their life for a little while longer.

10:99
And if your Rabb - The Lord had so willed, and, denied them the free will, and forced people to believe, all who are on the earth would surely have believed – all of them together.
But HE did not.
So would you, then, force the people until they become believers?

10:100
And it is not for any person to believe, except by Allah’s Will.
And HE causes disgrace to fall upon those who do not use their intellect.

10:101
Say to them:
‘Observe all that which is within the celestial realm and terrestrial world.’
But neither Messages nor warnings will be of any use to a people who are not willing to
understand and believe.

10:102
Then can they expect anything else to inflict them other than what the disbelieving people before them had experienced?

Say to them:
‘Then you just wait and watch for what will happen!
I am also with you among those waiting and watching.’

10:103
Tell them that when ‘the time’ comes, WE save OUR Messengers and those who believed
- as WE always do.
Likewise – it is an obligation on US – that WE save the believers - as WE always do.

10:104
Say to them:
‘O The People of the World!
If you have any doubts about my religion/faith, then know that I do not worship those entities you worship apart from Allah,
rather I worship Allah, The One and Only, WHO causes you to die.
And I am commanded to be of the believers.’

10:105
Hence, ‘Set your face toward the true religion/faith - as a haneef -
and never be among those who ascribe worshipful entities to Allah.

10:106
And do not call upon any entity - proverbial or metaphorical – apart from Allah,
that can neither benefit you nor harm you.
However, if you were to do so, you would surely be among those who are unfair to themselves

10:107
And if Allah inflicts you with any adversity, no one can remove it but HIM.
And if HE Wills any good for you, no one can hold back HIS Favor -
HE brings it down upon whoever HE Wills of HIS servants.
HE is the Forgiving, HE is the Compassionate.

10:108
Say:
‘O The People of the World!
The Truth – the Qur’an - has now come to you from your Rabb - The Lord.
Whoever chooses guidance of the Qur’an, chooses guidance only for the benefit of oneself,
and whoever chooses to go astray by ignoring its guidance, goes astray only against oneself.
Anyhow I am not responsible for your conduct’ that I may compel you to accept the Guidance.

10:109
O The Prophet!
And follow what is being revealed on to you from your Rabb - The Lord,
and be patient in the challenging times until Allah will pronounce HIS Judgment,
for HE is the Best of all judges.’A