"And indeed, Yunus was among the messengers." "When he fled"—meaning: he fled from his people—"to the laden ship," meaning: the one filled to capacity.
Yahya said: It reached us—and Allah knows best—that Yunus invited his people to Allah. When that took a long time for him and they refused, Allah revealed to him that the punishment would come upon them on such-and-such a day. When the time drew near, he departed from them. When it was one day before the appointed time, he came and began to walk around the city, weeping and saying: 'Tomorrow, the punishment will come upon you!' A man from among them heard him, so he went to the king.
﴿وَإِنَّ يُونُسَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ﴾ ﴿إِذْ أبق﴾ أَي: فرَّ من قومه ﴿إِلَى الْفلك المشحون﴾ يَعْنِي: المُوقَرَ.
قَالَ يحيى: بلغنَا - وَالله أعلم - أَن يُونُس دَعَا قومه إِلَى اللَّه، فَلَمَّا طَال ذَلكَ عَلَيْهِ وأبوا أوحى اللَّه إِلَيْهِ أَن الْعَذَاب يَأْتِيهم يَوْم كَذَا وَكَذَا، فَلَمَّا دنا الْوَقْت تنحى عَنْهُمْ، فَلَمَّا كَانَ قبل الْوَقْت بِيَوْم جَاءَ فَجعل يطوف بِالْمَدِينَةِ وَهُوَ يبكي وَيَقُول: غَدا يأتيكم الْعَذَاب! فَسَمعهُ رجلٌ مِنْهُم، فَانْطَلق إِلَى الْملك
