Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:142

"Then the whale swallowed him" — meaning it gulped him down, derived from al-luqmah (a morsel). In a report recorded by Ahmad and others from Ibn Mas‘ud: He came upon some people on a ship, and they carried him, recognizing him. When he boarded, the ship became stationary, while the other ships were moving to the right and left. He said, "What is the matter with your ship?" They said, "We do not know." He said, "But I know. There is a servant on board who has fled from his Lord, and by Allah, it will not move until you cast him out." They said, "By Allah, O Prophet of Allah, we will not cast you out." He said, "Cast lots; whoever the lot falls upon, let him be cast out." They cast lots three times, and each time the lot fell upon him. So he cast himself [into the sea], and what Allah the Exalted has narrated occurred.

Regarding the manner of their casting lots, it is reported from Ibn Mas‘ud concerning [the event] at sea that they took a share for each person, determining that whoever’s lot floated was him, and whoever’s lot sank was not him. The lot of Yunus floated. It is narrated that when he stood on the edge of the ship to throw himself in, he saw a whale—whose name, according to what Ibn Abi Hatim and a group reported from Qatadah, was Najm—which had raised its head from the water to the length of three cubits, watching and waiting for him. He went to another corner, but the whale met him there. He moved to another, and found it there as well, and so on, until it had circled the ship. When he saw that, he knew it was a command from Allah the Exalted, so he cast himself [into the water], and it caught him before he reached the surface.

"While he was mulim" — meaning, having entered into blame. This is based on the [grammatical] structure af‘ala indicating entry into a state, similar to ahrama (to enter the Haram). Or, it means one who has committed that for which he is blamed, where the hamza indicates transition to a state, similar to aghadda al-ba‘ir (the camel developed a tumor); thus, because he committed what deserved blame, he became one possessed of blame. Or, it means one who blames himself, where the hamza is for transitive usage, similar to aqdamtuhu, with the object being omitted. What has been narrated from Ibn Abbas and Mujahid, interpreting it as "the wrongdoer" and "the sinner," is an explanation of the ultimate meaning; for the good deeds of the righteous are the misdeeds of those near to Allah.

It has also been read as mulam (with the first letter having a fatha), as a passive participle. Its standard form would be malum because it is wawi (from the root w-l-m), as one says: lumtuhu, alumuhu, lawman. However, it was brought as mulim just as they said mashib and mud‘i instead of mashub and mad‘u, based on the forms shiba and du‘iya. This is because when the waw was changed [to ya] in the passive voice, it was treated as the root, and the description was derived accordingly.