Name: The name of this surah is Yunus and it has nine sections and 109 verses. The surah has been so named to draw attention to a similarity between the people of Jonah who escaped destruction by believing and the people of the Holy Prophet whose trajectory would be the same, that is they would not be destroyed and, in the end, will come to the right way.
Summary: This surah in the most part draws attention to the mercy of Allah. He takes mercy on people when they are going through tribulations. The disbelievers are advised to take advantage of His great mercy. The first section mentions Divine revelation and states that the life of this world is transitory and worldly life should not be taken as the purpose of existence because the real life of a person is another life and revelation guides one towards that life. The second section warns those who reject the revelation that they will be punished. The third section informs that small trials and tribulations randomly impact people and human nature turns to Allah for help during such times. Muslims are advised to benefit from such difficulties and incline to Allah and when ease returns, they should not forget God. The fourth section advances arguments about the Being of the Creator and His Oneness. The fifth section again states that those who reject the revelation will be punished. The sixth section states that the Quran has been revealed to elevate people to great spiritual heights. Instead of rejecting the Quran, people should turn their attention to attaining these elevated positions. The seventh section describes the high positions that the believers will achieve. The eighth section gives the examples of Noah and Moses. The ninth section describes the destruction of Pharoah and reveals that when death confronted even a tyrannical person like Pharoah, he turned to Allah, but it was too late as he was already in the throes of the punishment. People are advised to learn from this example and to turn to Allah before it is too late. It is also revealed that the body of Pharoah was thrown out of the sea to be preserved as a sign. This information bears testimony that the Quran is from Allah because nobody knew about this at the time of revelation but today events have shown that his body is preserved. The tenth section conveys that if the disbelievers even now stop from belying the Quran, the punishment can be averted. The eleventh section gives the judgment of Allah and brings the chapter to an end.
Relationship and arrangement: The last chapter was ended by the statement that the Messenger is greatly distressed by any difficulty that befalls the people. Hence it is clarified in this chapter that although falsifying the revelation and striving only for this world makes punishment a certainty, but Allah’s mercy is unlimited. If a person turns to Him even a little, He too turns to him mercifully. The last chapter mostly dwells on the punishment of the disbelievers while this chapter states that Allah’s mercy dominates His punishment provided there is an earnest desire to benefit from it. In the general organization of the Quran, the seven chapters from surah Yunus to Al Nahal are very similar in their content and are primarily focused on providing proof of prophethood. Thus, when surah Al Araf, which furnishes proof of prophethood, mentions the falsifying of prophets, it is followed by surah Al-Anfal and surah Al-Tawbah which deal with the punishment of the Holy Prophet’s opponents. With this chapter, there is a reversion to the original topic of proof of prophethood and this subject is continued in the following surahs. In terms of the timing of revelation, these seven surahs from Yunus to Al-Nahl are from the last period of the Holy Prophet’s life in Makkah. This was a period in which the Holy Prophet’s opposition had exceeded all limits and in these surahs the Holy Prophet and Muslims are comforted through prophecies that the truth will ultimately triumph and falsehood will be destroyed.
Bayan-ul-Quran 