Dhu al-Nun, "the man of the Fish or the Whale", is the title of Nabi Yunus (Jonah) because he was swallowed by a large fish or whale. He was the prophet raised to warn the Assyrian capital Niveneh. When his first warning was unheeded by his people, he denounced Allah's wrath on them. They repented and Allah forgave them for the time being.
Yunus, meanwhile, departed in wrath, discouraged at the apparent failure of his mission. He should have remained in the most discouraging circumstances, and relied on the power of Allah; for Allah had power both over Niveneh and over the Messenger He had sent to Niveneh.
He went away to the sea and took a ship, but apparently the sailors threw him out as a man of bad omen in a storm. He was swallowed by a big Fish (or Whale), and in the depth of the darkness, he cried out to Allah and confessed his weakness.
The "darkness" may be interpreted both physically and spiritually; physical, as the darkness of the night and the storm and the Fish's body; spiritually, as the darkness in his soul, his extreme distress in the situation which he had brought on himself.
Allah Most Gracious forgave him. He was cast out ashore, he was given the shelter of a plant in his state of physical and mental lassitude. He was refreshed and strengthened, and the work of his mission prospered. Thus he overcame all his disappointment by repentance and Faith, and Allah accepted him.
And remember Dhu al-Nun, when he departed in wrath: he imagined that We had no power over him! But he cried through the depths of darkness. "There is no god but You: glory to You; I was indeed wrong!" So We listened to him: and delivered him from distress: and thus do We deliver those who have faith.
(Surah 21, verse 87)
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