18282 - From Wahb ibn Munabbih, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: Jonah son of Matta was a righteous servant, but there was a narrowness in his temperament. When the burdens of prophethood were placed upon him—and they have burdens that none can bear except a few—he broke under them like a pack animal under a heavy load, so he cast them from his hand and went out fleeing from them.

Allah says to His Prophet: "So be patient, as were those of determination among the messengers and do not be like the companion of the whale" (1).

His saying, the Almighty: "And the whale swallowed him."

18283 - From Qatada, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: "And the whale swallowed him," it is said to be [a whale called] Najm, and it traversed with him in the Roman Sea, then the Nile, then Persia, then the Tigris (2).

His saying, the Almighty: "While he was blameworthy."

18284 - From Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, regarding His saying: "While he was blameworthy," meaning having committed a sin (3).

His saying, the Almighty: "Had he not been of those who glorify [Allah]."

18285 - From Sa'id ibn Jubayr, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His saying: "Had he not been of those who glorify [Allah]," he said: "Of those who used to pray before he entered the belly of the whale" (4).

18286 - From al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His saying: "Had he not been of those who glorify [Allah]," he said: "It was nothing but a prayer he initiated in the belly of the whale." This was mentioned to Qatada, may Allah be pleased with him, and he said: "No, rather he used to perform deeds during [times of] ease" (5).

18287 - From Ibn Abbas, regarding "Had he not been of those who glorify [Allah]," he said: "Of those who used to pray" (6).

18288 - From al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding His saying: "Had he not been of those who glorify [Allah]," he said: "He used to pray a lot during times of ease. When he ended up in the belly of the whale, he thought it was death, so he moved his legs, and they moved, so he prostrated and said: 'O Lord, I have taken for You a place of prostration in a place where no one has ever prostrated.'"

18289 - From al-Sha'bi, he said: "The whale swallowed him in the forenoon and cast him out in the evening; he did not spend the night in its belly" (7).