إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿۹۶﴾ وَلَوْ جَاءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ آيَةٍ حَتَّى يَرَوُا الْعَذَابَ الْأَلِيمَ ﴿۹۷﴾ فَلَوْلَا كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّا آمَنُوا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ ﴿۹۸﴾

﴾96﴿ Innal lazeena haqqat 'alaihim Kalimatu Rabbika laa yu'minoon
﴾97﴿ Wa law jaaa'at hum kullu Aayatin hattaa yarawul 'azaabal aleem
﴾98﴿ Wa law shaaa'a Rabbuka la aamana man fil ardi kulluhum jamee'aa; afa anta tukrihun naasa hattaa yakoonoo mu'mineen

﴾96﴿ Indeed, those upon whom the judgment of your Lord has been established will not believe
﴾97﴿ And even though every sign comes to them, until they see the painful torment
﴾98﴿ Then why wasn't there a people of a village who believed so that their belief would benefit them, except for the people of Jonah, peace be upon him? When they believed, We removed from them the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life and benefited them for a time

[96] In this verse, there is a warning to the deniers.
The intended meaning of the word is the punishment of Allah, the Exalted, due to their denial.
And this word (punishment) is implied and understood as being assumed in the context.
[97] This verse is connected to the previous one, stating that no matter what kind of sign comes to them, they will not believe until they see the punishment.
Then they will want to believe, but it will be of no benefit to them.
[98] This verse mentions the repentance of the people of Yunus (peace be upon him), who turned in repentance at the right time and were saved from punishment.
The commentators have written that the people of Yunus (peace be upon him) lived in the region of Mosul, in the town of Nineveh, and they practiced polytheism.
Yunus (peace be upon him) called them to monotheism for a long time, but they denied him.
Then revelation came to Yunus (peace be upon him), commanding him to inform his people that if they did not believe, punishment would befall them after three days.
When the third day approached, Yunus (peace be upon him) left them.
His people then realized that the punishment was truly near, so they repented from disbelief and polytheism and prayed to Allah, the Exalted.
The punishment was then lifted from them.
The correct opinion is that the punishment had not yet come upon them—they repented before its arrival, because once the punishment actually descends, neither belief nor repentance is of any benefit.
“Fa-lawlā” here is used for negation.
“Fa-nafa‘ahā” means that the beneficial belief is that which happens before the soul reaches the throat (i.e., before death becomes certain).
“Illā qawma Yūnus” is a disconnected exception, meaning they were an exception in that they brought beneficial belief.
It is narrated from Zajjāj that they did not actually see the punishment, but only its signs, and “kashafnā” means that Allah removed it from them before it reached them.
Or, it may be a connected exception, meaning they did see the punishment—i.e., it was about to descend, but through their repentance, it was averted.
This was a unique case for this nation, as Allah, the Exalted, acts according to His will.
Moreover, Allah knew of their sincere repentance, so He accepted it and withheld the punishment from them.
Thus, “kashafnā” retains its direct meaning—that the punishment was near to descending, but Allah withheld it from them.