it was not a glorification (tasbih) before that, but when the whale swallowed him, he began to say: 'Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah,' and calling upon Allah.

Yahya said: Allah inspired the whale to cast him onto the land, which is His statement: "Then We cast him onto the open shore (al-ara') while he was ill" [meaning: upon the shore of a village from the villages of Mosul called Balad. "Al-ara'" means naked, his flesh having withered, and everything of him [was like] a newborn infant. "While he was ill" means [like] a newborn infant].

Muhammad said: "Al-ara'" (with a long alif) is the empty land. It was called "ara'" because it has no trees and nothing to cover it; it is as if it comes from "something became bare" (ariya al-shay'u). As for "al-ara" (with a short alif), it means the side or region.

Yahya said: The heat of the sun afflicted him, so Allah caused a plant of yaqtin to grow over him—which is the gourd—[shading him with its leaves, and he drank from its liquid]—so it shaded him. He slept, then woke up [and arose from his sleep], and it had withered, so he became sad over it. Allah inspired him: "Are you sad over this tree while you wanted Me to destroy one hundred thousand of My creation [as Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: 'And We sent him to one hundred thousand or more'—meaning more than a hundred thousand, Allah knows best who the majority of them were] 'or more (aw yazidun)'—meaning: rather, they increase."

Muhammad said: It is said: The meaning is: "and they increase (wa yazidun)," where the alif is an additional filler particle.