Question: Was Jonah cast on the desert shore or was he not?
Sura 37 reads in verse 145:
"Then We cast him on the desert plain and he was sick"
The well known Muslim translators render this verse:
Pickthall:
"Then We cast him on a desert shore while he was sick"
Yusufali:
"But We cast him forth on the naked shore in a state of sickness"
Shakir:
"Then We cast him on to the vacant surface of the earth while he was sick"
Contrary to that, Sura 68 ("al-") has in verse 49:
"If not had reached him a favor from his Lord, he surely would have been cast on the desert plain and he would have been reprobate."
or according to
Pickthall:
"Had it not been that favor from his Lord had reached him he surely had been cast into the wilderness while he was reprobate."
Yusufali:
"Had not Grace from his Lord reached him, he would indeed have been cast off on the naked shore, in disgrace."
Shakir:
"Were it not that favor from his Lord had overtaken him, he would certainly have been cast down upon the naked Found while he was blamed."
Though the translations differ in style and in some minor points, all duly agree that in verse 37:145 Jonah (Yunus) is reported to have actually been cast on the desert shore. In contradiction to this, they again duly agree that in verse 68:49 Jonah is reported not to have been cast on the desert shore, because this fate only would have hit him if the divine grace hadn't pardoned him.
Answer: There is no contradictions in fact both stress the same facts. In both verses he was casted in the desert shore. In 68:49 given God grace he was not casted in disgrace. Verse 37:145 explain why not in disgrace: because God cared about him and covered him with the plant when he was sick.
68:49 Had not Grace from his Lord reached him, he would indeed have been cast off on the naked shore, in disgrace. لَوْلَا أَن تَدَارَكَهُ نِعْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ لَنُبِذَ
بِالْعَرَاء وَهُوَ مَذْمُومٌ
37:145 But We cast him forth on the naked shore in a state of sickness,
فَنَبَذْنَاهُ بِالْعَرَاء وَهُوَ سَقِيمٌ
37:146 And We caused to grow, over him, a spreading plant of the gourd kind. وَأَنبَتْنَا عَلَيْهِ شَجَرَةً مِّن يَقْطِينٍ
