Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:144

As is indicated by that which is in a ḥadīth narrated by ‘Abd al-Razzāq, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, and Ibn Mardawayh from Anas, in marfū‘ form: When the whale swallowed him and descended with him until it reached the depths of the earth, he heard the glorification of the earth. He then called out in the darkness: "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers." The supplication ascended toward the Throne, and the angels said: "O our Lord, we hear a faint voice from a land of exile." The Almighty said: "Do you not know what that is?" They replied: "No, our Lord." He said: "That is My servant, Yūnus." They said: "Is it the one for whom we used to raise up accepted deeds and answered supplications?" He replied: "Yes." They said: "O our Lord, will You not have mercy on him for what he used to do during times of ease and deliver him during times of affliction?" He replied: "Yes." So, the Almighty commanded the whale, and it cast him forth.

Abū Ḥayyān held the view that the intended meaning of His saying—the Almighty—(لَّلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِهِ) etc., is that he would have remained in its belly, alive, until the Day of Resurrection, and this is the view I uphold. This has been critiqued by the argument that it contradicts the report that no living soul among humans or animals on land or sea will remain upon the first blast of the Horn.

It is answered—after conceding the validity of that report or what indicates it—that it is an exaggeration meant to emphasize the duration of the time. Furthermore, it is within the realm of the conditional "if" (law), so it does not constitute a contradiction at all; or, death at the time of Resurrection encompasses the time of the blast, as it is among its preliminaries, and thus it is considered part of it.

From Qatādah: "The belly of the whale would have been a grave for him." The apparent meaning is that it was intended for him to remain dead in its belly until the Day of Resurrection, and there is no prohibition against the structure of the whale remaining—like the structure of others—upon which the affliction was imposed until that day. The pronoun in (يُبْعَثُونَ - they are resurrected) refers to others not explicitly mentioned, which is evident.