Note [édition originale] : The people of Jonas;]
viz. The inhabitants of
Ninive, which stood on or near the place
where
al Mawsel now stands. This people having corrupted themselves with
idolatry,
Jonas the son of
Mattai (or
Amittai, which the
Mohammedans suppose
to be the name of his mother,) an
Israelite of the tribe of
Benjamin, was sent
by
God to preach to and reclaim them. When he first began to exhort them to
repentance, instead of hearkening to him, they used him very ill, so that he
was obliged to leave the city; threatening them, at his departure, that they
should be destroyed within three days, or, as others say, within forty
1.
But
when the time drew near, and they saw the heavens overcast with a black cloud,
which shot forth fire, and filled the air with smoke, and hung directly over
their city, they were in a terrible consternation, and getting into the fields
with their families and cattle, they put on sackcloth, and humbled themselves
before God, calling aloud for pardon, and sincerely repenting of their past
wickedness. Whereupon
God was pleased to forgive them, and the storm blew
over
2.
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1
See Jonah iii. 4.
-
2
Al Beidawi, Jallalo’ddin, Abulfed. See chap. 21, and 37.