The Supplication of Yunus (as)

THE FIRST FLASH

The supplication of Yunus ibn MattāYunus ibn Matta was a Messenger of Allah who was sent to Nineveh, a city in northern Iraq with a population of more than one hundred thousand. —may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet and upon him— is a powerful supplication and an effective means of having one’s supplication answered. The essence of the well-known story of Yunus (as)Yunus ibn Matta was a Messenger of Allah who was sent to Nineveh, a city in northern Iraq with a population of more than one hundred thousand. may be summarized as follows:

He was cast into the sea and swallowed by a great fish. The sea was stormy, the night was terrifying and dark, and all hope was exhausted. It was precisely in such a desperate situation that he made the supplication:

لاَۤ اِلٰهَ اِلاَّۤ اَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَThere is no god except You. Glory be to You! Indeed, I have been among the wrongdoers. 

which served as a swift means of deliverance.

The profound secret behind the power of his supplication is this:

In that distressing situation, all ordinary causes had ceased to function. Yunus (as)Yunus ibn Matta was a Messenger of Allah who was sent to Nineveh, a city in northern Iraq with a population of more than one hundred thousand. was in urgent need of One Who holds under His command the fish, the sea, the night, and the expanse of the heavens. The night, the sea, and the fish had together assumed a hostile stance against him. Only One Who could subdue all three at once had the power to bring him safely to the shore. Even if the whole of creation had become his servants and helpers, it would have made no difference. For causes have no real effect.

Because Yunus (as)Yunus ibn Matta was a Messenger of Allah who was sent to Nineveh, a city in northern Iraq with a population of more than one hundred thousand. saw with the certainty of direct witnessing that there was no refuge apart from the Causer of Causes, and because the mystery of Divine Oneness was disclosed within the light of Tawhid, through this supplication, Allah made the night, the sea, and the fish subservient to him. He transformed the belly of the fish into a submarine, and the surging sea, with its tumultuous, mountain-like waves, into a peaceful plain, a pleasant place of excursion. Moreover, He swept the sky clear of clouds and caused the moon to shine above Yunus (as)Yunus ibn Matta was a Messenger of Allah who was sent to Nineveh, a city in northern Iraq with a population of more than one hundred thousand. like a night-lamp. The creatures that had pressed upon him and threatened him from every side now showed him kindness from every direction. At last he reached the shore of safety and witnessed this favour of his Lord beneath the Yaqtīn TreeIt is not known with certainty which species of tree this term refers to. Some identify it with the kikayon plant. For the yaqtīn tree to have been beneficial to Prophet Yunus (peace be upon him), it would need to provide shade from the sun and bear a fruit that was both refreshing and nourishing, similar to a pumpkin..

Now we are in a condition a hundred times more severe than the first condition of Yunus (as)Yunus ibn Matta was a Messenger of Allah who was sent to Nineveh, a city in northern Iraq with a population of more than one hundred thousand.. Our night is the future. When we look toward our future, it is a hundred times darker and more terrifying than his night. Our sea is this storm-tossed globe. Every wave of this sea carries thousands of corpses with it, and is therefore a thousand times more frightening than his sea. Our nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits., which pursues base desires, is like the fish that threatens our eternal life and strives for its destruction. This fish is a thousand times more dangerous than his. For his fish could destroy only a life of a hundred years, whereas ours strives to destroy a life that lasts for hundreds of millions of years.

Since this is our true condition, we too, like Yunus (as)Yunus ibn Matta was a Messenger of Allah who was sent to Nineveh, a city in northern Iraq with a population of more than one hundred thousand., must turn our attention away from all causes and take refuge directly in our Lord, the Creator of causes. We too must utter:

لاَۤ اِلٰهَ اِلاَّۤ اَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ اِنِّى كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَThere is no god except You. Glory be to You! Indeed, I have been among the wrongdoers.

and understand at the level of ayn al-yaqīnCertainty through direct sight; certainty of seeing. that only He Who holds the future, the world, and our nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. under His command and authority can save us from the harms of the future, the world, and the nafs-i ammāraThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits., which, because of our heedlessness and misguidance, have united against us.