Surah Al-Anbiyaa
Chapter 21 · Verse 88 · Revealed in Makkah
“So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.”
Translation: Saheeh International
Listen to recitation
Mishary Rashid Alafasy
Reflection — Ibn Kathir
Yunus
This story is mentioned here, and in Surat As-Saffat and Surah Nun. Yunus bin Matta, upon him be peace, was sent by Allah to the people of Nineveh, which was a town in the area of Mawsil in northern Iraq. He called them to Allah, but they rejected him and persisted in their disbelief. So he left them in anger, threatening them with punishment after three days. When they realized that he was telling the truth and that a Prophet never lies, they went out to the desert with their children and cattle and flocks. They separated the mothers from their children, then they beseeched Allah and pleaded to Him, with the camels and their young groaning, the cows and their calves mooing, and the sheep and their lambs bleating, so Allah spared them from the punishment. Allah says:
فَلَوْلاَ كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ ءَامَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَآ إِيمَانُهَا إِلاَّ قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّآ ءَامَنُواْ كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الخِزْىِ فِى الْحَيَوةَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ
Reflection — Maarif ul Quran
The prayer of Yunus (علیہ السلام) is invoked by all people at all times and for all their needs
وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُنجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (And this is how We rescue the believers - 21:88.) That is, just as We released Yunus (علیہ السلام) from his misery and distress, so do We deliver other believers (مُؤْمِنِينَ ) when they turn towards Us repenting their sins sincerely.
What does this verse bring up for you today?