Yunus

The prophet swallowed by a great fish, Jonah in the Bible.

Yunus is the prophet called Jonah in the Bible. His story is in the Quran, among other places in the chapter named after him, and in the chapter of the Prophets. He is also called Dhun-Nun, the man of the fish.

Yunus was sent to his people, but when they did not listen, he left in anger, without waiting for God's permission. He boarded a ship, which ran into a storm. Lots were drawn to decide who should go overboard, and the lot fell on Yunus. A great fish swallowed him. In the darkness of the belly of the fish, the night and the sea he called to God with the words: there is no god but You, glory be to You, I was truly among the wrongdoers.

God answered him. The fish cast him out onto the shore, sick and weak, and God made a plant grow over him to give him shade. Then he returned to his people, who meanwhile had come to faith. It is the only people in the Quran who repented at the last moment and so were spared.

The supplication of Yunus, the dua of Yunus, is prayed to this day by many Muslims in hard times. According to a tradition God answers every Muslim who prays it in distress.

In dream interpretation Yunus is an image of hope. A dream about being swallowed, about a fish, about sitting in the dark or about a storm at sea can be read in the light of his story: even from the deepest darkness there is a way out, and repentance opens the door. On Dreamkin Islamic readings of such dreams often refer to Yunus.