"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.