The Story of Yunus

We have already discussed the story of Yunus, peace be upon him, in Surat Al-Anbiya' (21:87-88). In the Two Sahihs it is reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَا يَنْبَغِي لِعَبْدٍ أَنْ يَقُولَ: أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ مَتَّى»

Said next, it was: وَأَنبَتْنَا عَلَيْهِ شَجَرَ‌ةً مِّن يَقْطِينٍ (and We caused a tree of gourd to grow over him. - 146). The word: يَقْطِينٍ (yagtin) signifies every such tree that has no trunk. It appears in Hadith narrations that it was a gourd creeper. The purpose of having a tree grow there was to make the provision of shade for Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) . The word: شَجَرَ‌ةً (shajarah: tree) at this place serves as an indicator of two possibilities: Either Allah had made this very plant of gourd grow with a trunk by way of a miracle, or it was some other tree on which the creeping plant of gourd was made to wind its way up, so that it could provide a thick shade, otherwise, having enough shade from a winding plant alone would have been difficult.