Translation:
And they believed; so We permitted them to enjoy (their life) 4128 for a while.
And they believed; so We permitted them to enjoy (their life) 4128 for a while.
Translation:
and [this time] they believed [in him] 59 and so We allowed them to enjoy their life during the time allotted to them? 60
and [this time] they believed [in him] 59 and so We allowed them to enjoy their life during the time allotted to them? 60
Commentary:
59 Cf. the reference to the people of Jonah in 10:98. For the Biblical version of this story, see The Book of Jonah iii.
60 Lit., "for a time": i.e., for the duration of their natural lives (Razi also Manar XI, 483).
59 Cf. the reference to the people of Jonah in 10:98. For the Biblical version of this story, see The Book of Jonah iii.
60 Lit., "for a time": i.e., for the duration of their natural lives (Razi also Manar XI, 483).
4128 They repented and believed, and Nineveh got a new lease of life. For the dates to which Jonah maybe referred, and the vicissitudes of the City's history as the seat of the Assyrian Empire, see notes 1478-1479 to 10:98. The lessons from Jonah's story are: (1) that no man should take upon himself to judge of Allah's wrath or Allah's mercy; (2) that nevertheless Allah forgives true repentance, whether in a righteous man, or in a wicked city; and (3) that Allah's Plan will always prevail, and can never be defeated.