Prophet Yūnus ﷺ — also called Dhū al-Nūn, the companion of the great fish — made this duʿāʾ in a place with no visible way out.

لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

Lā ilāha illā Anta, subḥānaka innī kuntu min aẓ-ẓālimīn.

Meaning: There is no deity except You. Glory be to You. I have certainly been among the wrongdoers.

It is in Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ, āyah 87.

Why did he leave his people?

Allah sent Yūnus to call his people to faith, and at first they refused. He left them in anger, before he had been given leave to go, and Allah corrected him for it.

The phrase in the āyah — that he thought We would not decree upon him — is understood by the scholars of tafsīr to mean he did not expect to be constrained or straitened in this way. It does not mean he doubted Allah’s power. Yūnus remained an honoured prophet: the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ warned against anyone claiming to be better than Yūnus ibn Mattā.

What happened on the ship?

He boarded a laden ship. When it came into danger those aboard drew lots to decide who would go overboard; the lot fell against Yūnus, and he went into the sea. Allah commanded a great fish to swallow him.

The Qur’an does not name the species of fish, nor say how many days he remained inside. Popular retellings often supply both. Neither is established, so neither is stated here.

The duʿāʾ in the darkness

The Qur’an says he called out fī aẓ-ẓulumāt — in the darknesses, plural. Classical tafsīr commonly reads these as the dark of the night, the dark of the sea, and the dark inside the fish.

In that state he did not blame his people or protest his circumstances. The duʿāʾ holds three things and no complaint:

1. He begins with tawḥīd

لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ,

There is no deity except You — only the One who put him there could take him out.

2. He glorifies Allah

سُبْحَـٰنَكَ

Glory be to You — an acknowledgement that Allah had done him no wrong, and that the decree was just.

3. He admits his mistake

إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

I have certainly been among the wrongdoers — no excuse offered, no blame passed.

How was it answered?

The very next āyah:

فَٱسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُۥ وَنَجَّيْنَـٰهُ مِنَ ٱلْغَمِّ ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُـۨجِى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

Meaning: So We answered him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.

The fish released him onto an open shore, weak and ill, and Allah caused a spreading plant to grow over him. He was later sent to a people of a hundred thousand or more, who believed. Their story is in Sūrah Yūnus 10:98 — the one town whose faith benefited it when it came.

The virtue the Prophet ﷺ named

The Prophet ﷺ said that the supplication of Dhū al-Nūn, when he called out inside the fish, was this duʿāʾ — and that no Muslim ever supplicates with it for anything except that Allah answers him. It is recorded in Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī 3505 and graded authentic.

That does not mean every request arrives in the shape or at the moment we expect. Duʿāʾ is made sincerely, for what is lawful, trusting that Allah knows better what the answer should be.

When might you say it?

  • In severe distress.
  • In fear, or when the outcome is unknown.
  • After a mistake you regret.
  • When you feel trapped.
  • In family, financial or personal difficulty.
  • When no solution is visible at all.

The story says plainly that no darkness is outside Allah’s knowledge, and no place is beyond His reach. See also how to perform ruqyah on yourself.