This story is from the Holy book of Quran. When Prophet Mohammed-peace-be-upon-him was in despair because of the resentments prevailing in the hearts of the Makkans. Allah decoded the following parable to explain him the ways to proceed in his duties, without deserting the circumstances. Facing the state with the fixed Divine State in mind could give him strengths in all the circumstances.
Prophet Younus
He was the son of pious parents, born in the land of Egypt. His virtues were commendable. Honesty, truthfulness and faith kept him a loved being of the land. His parents were virtuous, but the people of Egypt practiced the idol worship, the ancestors were compared to the Almighty, human sacrifice and practice of polygamy existed. They were aware that their false practices were taking them away from Truth. So, they always prayed to Allah, for He may help them cross the chains of disbeliefs and sins. Younus Nabi was born to them as a blessing from Allah. He grew up as an ideal man, and practiced deep penances to realize his Self. Soon, he attained the Truth, but his consciousness had not merged with the Unified Eternity. He received commands form Allah, for he had to preach the citizens of the land about the Oneness and make them realize the fruits of hypocrisy, if they continued to do so. He readily carried out the order. But, social conflicts prevailed, sins didn’t cease. He used to pray to Allah, so that the people might gain some understanding about the sins. Things persisted and soon, the limits crossed the horizon. Allah proclaimed to Prophet that the people were to be punished, within next three days. Listening the proclamation, Prophet left the place, and decided to go to a new one, for refuging at other site.
On the third day from the proclamation, skies gained a bloody hue, creatures showed the symptoms of an approaching bad omen. The people who were the true followers of Prophet Younus, prayed to Allah, for He might forgive their sins, and help them sail through the omen. Prayers cleared the sky. The dark bloody clouds were pushed towards the seas, where Prophet was in the boat to another refuging site. The people who were present in the boat decided to reduce the weight by throwing off few assets from the boat. But, their efforts appeared futile. Since, human sacrifice was also their belief to please their Lord, they decide to throw one of the persons from the boat. They played the toss and picked out the names randomly, the luck indicated the name of Prophet. The others thought since he was a pious man, they could be saved because of his presence, so they didn’t throw him. They repeated the toss several times, and the luck always pointed towards Younus Nabi. Younus Nabi decided to leap into the waters, considering the results as the will of Allah. He leaped and landed into the mouth of a colossal whale, waiting for its morsel, with open jaws. He slipped into its stomach. He prayed to Allah, to forgive him and even his people of the land, for all the sins they had done, and promised to never repeat it again. He survived in the tummy of the whale for three days and nights. The acidic ambience excoriated his skin, and he was in immense pain. He prayed that if the Divine will wanted to lift him in Its Divine lap, he was ready, or rather save him. On the third day, the whale leaped in its habitual prance to take a breath and soon opened its mouth, and threw Younus Nabi on the shore of the sea. He was totally drenched in acid, and lesions patched his skin. He was thrown under a fig tree, whose leaves and fruits cured him, back to normal. In hale and hearty state, he returned back to Egypt.
The people of the land welcomed him with a merry heart and thanked him for making them realize their mistake, and even his sacrifice opened their eyes. The sins and filth were banished and soon, the land emerged as a cleansed land of virtues. Prophet Younus thanked Allah, and the people realized the Oneness of creations and the Unified Allah.
Prophet Younus practiced meditation and reached the Zenith of Unified Eternity. In the transcendental state, he became aware of the reason of the punishments he received, despite the people of the land were left unafflicted by any calamity. He realized that he ran away from the abode of his people, to save his own life. It was the Divine will, that Younus Nabi should have stayed in the land, and then prayed to Allah, for redeeming them from adverse circumstances. He ran away from his duties, thus was punished.
MORAL- If we run away from our responsibilities, we shall suffer. The duties are ought to cherished as a Divine command from Almighty. All our duties should be carried out as a service to Lord.
