12:1. Alif. Lam. Ra’.^{1Groups of letters (al-huroof al-muqatta‘ah) appear at the beginning of several soorahs. The most correct scholarly view states that we are required to believe in them as they appear to be, without delving into their meaning, knowledge of which we should leave to Allah. We believe that they were not revealed in vain, and that there is wisdom behind them of which we are not aware.} These are verses of the clear Book.

12:2. Verily, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an so that you may understand.

12:3. We relate to you [O Muhammad] the best of stories, by revealing to you this Qur’an, of which you were unaware before.

Here Allah tells us that the verses of the Qur’an are ﴾verses of the clear Book﴿ that is, their words and meanings are clear, and they are so clear because He sent it down in the Arabic language, the noblest and clearest of all languages, which explains everything that people need to know of beneficial and useful facts. All of that clarification and explanation is f(so that you may understand﴿ that is, so that you may understand the limits that it sets, and the fundamental and minor issues of which it speaks, and its commands and prohibitions.

If you understand that and become certain of it, and your hearts are filled with knowledge of it, that will lead to physical actions in compliance with it.

dso that you may understand﴿ that is, so that you may increase in understanding by repeating its sublime meanings when you recite it and reflect upon it, thus you will move from one level to another that is higher and more perfect.

﴾We relate to you [O Muhammad] the best of stories﴿ that is because they are true and expressed in easy language, and they contain sublime meanings.

﴾by revealing to you this Qur’an﴿ that is, with what is contained in this Qur’an that We have revealed to you and with which We have favoured you over all the other Prophets. This is a pure favour and blessing from Allah.

﴾of which you were unaware before﴿ that is, you did not know anything about the Qur’an or faith, before Allah sent revelation to you. But We have made it a light by means of which We guide whomever We will of Our slaves.

Having praised what this Qur’an contains of stories, and told us that they are the best of all stories, and there are no stories in any other books that are like the stories in this Qur’an, Allah tells us the story of Yoosuf and his father and his brothers, this beautiful and wondrous story.

(Vi :^o_

*jy~>

12:4. [Remember] when Yoosuf said to his father: O my father, I saw [in a dream] eleven stars, and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating to me.

12:5. His father said: O my son, say nothing of this dream to your brothers, lest they plot evil against you, for verily the Shaytan is to man an avowed enemy.

12:6. Thus your Lord will choose you and teach you the interpretation of dreams and events, and He will complete His favour to you and to the family of Ya'qoob, as He completed it to your forefathers Ibraheem and Is-haq before. Verily your Lord is All- Knowing, Most Wise.

It should be noted that Allah states that He tells His Messenger the best of stories in this Book, then He tells this story and explains it, and tells what happened. Thus it is known that it is a complete, perfect and beautiful story. Whoever wants to augment it or improve on it by narrating what is mentioned in the Isra’eeliyat (stories from Jewish forces) that have no known chain of narration or narrator, and most of which are false, thinks he is filling so-called gaps in the story that Allah revealed, and he is trying to perfect something that he claims is lacking! It is sufficient evil for anyone to think in such a manner. Commentaries on this soorah in many books of tafseer are filled with a great deal of lies and abhorrent notions that are, to a large extent, contrary to what Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has told us.

People should understand what Allah has told us and ignore everything other than that which was not narrated from the Prophet

﴾[Remember] when Yoosuf said to his father﴿ Ya‘qoob ibn Is-haq ibn Ibraheem al-Khaleel (عليه السلام)

my father, I saw [in a dream] eleven stars, and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating to me﴿. This dream was a precursor to the high status that Yoosuf attained in this world and the hereafter.

This is how it is when Allah wills some great matter: He sends something ahead of it as a precursor to pave the way and prepare the individual for what he will go through of difficulty, by way of kindness to His slave. Ya‘qoob interpreted the sun as referring to his mother, the moon as referring to his father and the stars as referring to his brothers, and he understood it as meaning that he would move from one stage to another until they would all submit to him and prostrate to him out of respect and veneration, but this would not happen except by means of some events that Allah would choose for him, and that Allah would complete His favour upon him by blessing him with knowledge, guiding him to do righteous deeds and establishing him in the land.

This blessing would include the family ofYa'qoob who prostrated to him; they would be included with him in that blessing.

﴾Thus your Lord will choose you﴿ that is, He will select you through that with which He blesses you of sublime attributes and beautiful traits

﴾and teach you the interpretation of dreams and events, and He will complete His favour to you﴿ in this world and the hereafter, by giving you goodness in this world and goodness in the hereafter f[as He completed it to your forefathers Ibraheem and Is-haq before﴿ when Allah bestowed upon them abundant and immense blessings, both religious and worldly.

Verily your Lord is All-Knowing, Most Wise﴿ that is, His knowledge encompasses all things and what is in people’s hearts of righteousness or otherwise, so He gives to each one as His wisdom dictates, for He is Most Wise and does what is appropriate.

When the meaning of the dream became clear to Yoosuf, his father said to him:

﴾0 my son, say nothing of this dream to your brothers, lest they plot evil against you﴿ that is, out of envy that you will be the leader over them

﴾for verily the Shavtan is to man an avowed enemy﴿ and he never leaves him alone by night or by day, in private or in public. So it is better to avoid anything that may give an opportunity to him to gain power over you. Yoosuf obeyed his father’s command and did not tell his brothers about that; rather he concealed it from them.

12:7. Verily in Yoosuf and his brothers there are lessons for those who enquire.

12:8. [Remember] when they [his brothers] said: Truly Yoosuf and his brother are dearer to our father than we, even though we are so many. Indeed, our father is clearly mistaken.

12:9. Kill Yoosuf or banish him to some [other] land, so that your father’s attention will be yours alone; then after that you can become righteous people.

﴾Verily in Yoosuf and his brothers there are lessons﴿ that is, signs and proofs that lead one to aspire to good aims ﴾for those who enquire﴿ that is, for everyone who shows interest and asks, for those who enquire are the ones who benefit from the signs and lessons. As for those who turn away, they will not benefit from signs, stories or explanations.

﴾[Remember] when they [his brothers] said﴿ to one another: ﴾Truly Yoosuf and his brother﴿ Binyameen, who was his full brother; they were all brothers from different mothers if are dearer to our father than we, even though we are so many﴿ that is, a large group, so how can he love them more than us?

﴾Indeed, our father is clearly mistaken﴿ that is, he is making an obvious mistake because he has favoured them over us for no obvious reason, as far as we can tell.

﴾Kill Yoosuf or banish him to some [other] land﴿ that is, take him away from his father and send him to some faraway land where his father cannot see him; if you do one of these two things, dyour father’s attention will be yours alone﴿ that is, he will pay full attention to you and will focus his love on you, for his heart was so distracted by Yoosuf that there was nothing left for you. dthen after that﴿ that is, after taking this action ﴾you can become righteous people﴿ that is, you can repent to Allah and ask Him to forgive you after committing your sin.

They had the intention of repentance before committing the sin, so as to make it easy for them to do that deed and reduce the impact of its abhorrent nature, and so that they would encourage one another.

12:10. One of them said: Do not kill Yoosuf; but if you must do something, throw him into the hidden depths of a well, so that some caravan can pick him up.

﴾One of them﴿ that is, one of the brothers of Yoosuf who wanted to kill him or banish him

﴾said: Do not kill Yoosuf﴿ for killing him is a worse sin and more abhorrent deed. You can achieve your aim by sending him away from his father without killing him. You can send him away by throwing him ﴾into the hidden depths of a well﴿ and warning him not to tell anyone what you have done; rather he should say that he is a slave who has run away from you, so that ﴾some caravan can pick him up﴿ that is headed to some distant place, and they can take him and keep him.

The one who suggested this made the best suggestion concerning Yoosuf, and he was the most righteous of them and the one who feared Allah the most concerning this matter. Some evils are less than others and greater harm may be warded off by means of lesser harm.

(U-U

12:11. They said: O our father, why do you not trust us with Yoosuf when we truly care for him?

12:12. Send him with us tomorrow so that he may roam about and play; we will surely keep him safe.

12:13. Ya'qoob said: Verily it saddens me that you should take him away, and I am worried that a wolf may eat him when you are not paying attention.

12:14. They said: If the wolf were to eat him when we are so many, we would then be good for nothing.

When they had agreed upon their plan, the brothers of Yoosuf set out to put it into effect. So they said to their father:

﴾0 our father, why do you not trust us with Yoosuf when we truly care for him?﴿)

That is, why do you fear that we may do something to Yoosuf for no reason, at the time ﴾when we truly care for him﴿ and are compassionate towards him, and we like for him what we like for ourselves? This indicates that Ya‘qoob did not let Yoosuf go with them into the wilderness, and the like.

Having cleared themselves of any suspicions that could prevent him from letting Yoosuf go with them, they then told him how it was in Yoosuf’s own interests, as he could enjoy himself, which his father would like for him, and that would prompt him to let him go with them. So they said:

﴾Send him with us tomorrow so that he may roam about and play﴿ that is, have an outing in the wilderness and enjoy himself ﴾we will surely keep him safe﴿ that is, we will look after him and protect him from any harm.

Their father replied: ﴾Verily it saddens me that you should take him away﴿ that is, your merely taking him away saddens me and is hard on me, because I cannot bear to be without him even for a short while; this is what keeps me from letting him go ﴾and﴿ a second reason is that t-(l am worried that a wolf may eat him when you are not paying attention﴿-) that is, if you are distracted from him, because he is small and unable to defend himself from the wolf.

﴾They said: If the wolf were to eat him when we are so many﴿ that is, a large group that is eager to look after him ﴾we would then be good for nothing﴿ that is, there would be nothing good in us and we would be useless, if the wolf were to overpower us and eat him.

As they gave their father reasons why he should let Yoosuf go with them, and there was no reason why he should not do so, he allowed him to go with them so that he could enjoy himself.

('A-t a .ijj—) ^ otiu-Lil'ajijfj

12:15. So when they took him away, and they all decided to throw him into the hidden depths of a well. We revealed to him: You will surely tell them of this deed of theirs at a time when they will not realise who you are.

12:16. At nightfall they came to their father, weeping.

12:17. They said: O our father, we went off to race one another; we left Yoosuf with our things, and a wolf ate him. But you will not believe us, even though we are telling the truth.

12:18. They stained his shirt with false blood. Ya'qoob said: Nay; rather your souls have tempted you to do something evil. But I will bear this patiently, and in good grace. It is Allah alone Whose help I seek to bear the loss you speak of.

When the brothers of Yoosuf took him away, after his father had given him permission to go, they decided to throw him into the hidden depths of a well, as one of them had previously suggested, and they were able to carry out what they had agreed to. They threw him into the well, then Allah showed kindness to him by revealing to him when he was in that difficult situation: ﴾You will surely tell them of thisdeed of theirs at a time when they will not realise who you are﴿ that is, you will rebuke them and tell them about this deed of theirs, when they will not be aware of who you are in that situation.

Thus he received foretelling that he would be saved from the situation he found himself in, for Allah would reunite him with his family and his brothers when he was in a position of honour and had been given authority in the land.

At nightfall they came to their father, weeping﴿. They came later than usual and weeping to show that they were sincere and were telling the truth. They said, giving false excuses:

our father, we went off to race one another﴿ - the word translated here as ﴾frace one another﴿ refers to competing, either by racing on foot or competing in shooting arrows

﴾fwe left Yoosuf with our things﴿ to avoid putting him through trouble and to let him rest

﴾and a wolf ate him﴿ whilst we were away from him and were competing

﴾But you will not believe us, even though we are telling the truth﴿ that is, you will not accept our explanation, for it seems that you do not believe us because of the intense grief and sorrow that you feel in your heart for Yoosuf. But the fact that you do not believe us does not prevent us from offering our real explanation. All of this was said to confirm their version of the story.

And, to confirm what they were saying: ?(They stained his shirt with false blood﴿ and claimed that it was the blood of Yoosuf, from when the wolf had eaten him. But their father did not believe them, rather he said: ﴾Nay; rather your souls have tempted you to do something evil﴿ that is, your souls made fair-seeming to you an abhorrent deed in order to separate me and him. For he realised, from the circumstantial evidence and from the dream that Yoosuf had told him about, that which proved his suspicion.

﴾But I will bear this patiently, and in good grace. It is Allah alone Whose help I seek to bear the loss you speak of﴿) that is, for this is what is required of me and is what I am very keen to do well, which is to show patience and good grace in the face of this calamity, free of discontent and complaints to people, and I seek the help of Allah to do that, and I do not rely on my own strength. He made this promise of his own accord, and he complained to His Creator, as it says (in 12: 18): ﴾flt is Allah alone Whose help I seek to bear the loss you speak of﴿. Complaining to the Creator is not contrary to patience and good grace, because when a Prophet made a promise, he fulfilled it.

12:19. There came a caravan and they sent their water carrier [to the well]. He let down his bucket and [when he saw Yoosuf] he said: What good luck; there is a boy here! They concealed him as part of their merchandise, but Allah had full knowledge of what they were doing.

12:20. They [his brothers] sold him for a small price, for a few pieces of silver; they were quite indifferent about him.

Yoosuf remained in the well for a while, until ﴾There came a caravan﴿ heading towards Egypt

﴾and they sent their water carrier [to the well]﴿ that is, the one who brought water for them would go on ahead of them, fetch water and put it in vessels and the like. This water carrier ﴾let down his bucket﴿ and Yoosuf (عليه السلام) held onto it and came out.The water carrier said: ﴾ What good luck; there is a boy here!In other words, he was glad and said: There is a valuable boy here.

﴾They concealed him as part of their merchandise﴿; his brothers were nearby, so the travellers bought him from them

4(for a small price﴿ that is, for very little which is explained by the words: ﴾for a few pieces of silver; they were quite indifferent about him﴿.

That is because they had no aim other than to send him away from his father; their aim was not to make money.

What is meant is that when the travellers found him, they decided to keep him secret and they put him with the rest of their merchandise, until his brothers came to them and claimed that he was a slave who had run away from them. So they bought him for that price, and (his brothers) urged them not to let him run away from them. And Allah knows best.

12:21. The man in Egypt who bought him said to his wife: Take good care of him; perhaps he will be of some benefit to us or maybe we will adopt him as a son. Thus We established Yoosuf in the land, so that We might teach him the interpretation of dreams and events. Allah’s decree always prevails, though most people do not realise.

That is, when the travellers took him to Egypt and sold him there, he was bought by the ‘Azeez of Egypt. When he bought him, he wasvery impressed by him and he told his wife to take care of him and said: ﴾Take good care of him; perhaps he will be of some benefit to us or maybe we will adopt him as a son﴿. In other words: either we will benefit from him as a slave, because he will do all kinds of service for us, or we will regard him as one of our children; perhaps that was because they did not have any children of their own.

﴾Thus We established Yoosuf in the land﴿ that is, as We caused the ‘Azeez of Egypt to buy him and honour him in that manner. We made that the first step towards establishing him in the land in that way. ﴾so that We might teach him the interpretation of dreams and events﴿, as he would not have anything to distract him and no concern except the pursuit of knowledge, so this became a means of his learning a great deal about rulings, interpretation of dreams, and other matters.

﴾Allah’s decree always prevails﴿ that is, His will is always done, for nothing can cancel it out and nothing can withstand it.

﴾though most people do not realise﴿ and that is why they behave as they do, trying to withstand the decree of Allah when they are too helpless and too weak to do that.

12:22. When Yoosuf reached his prime, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. Thus do We reward those who do good.

﴾When Yoosuf reached his prime﴿ that is, his perfect strength, both mental and physical, and was fit to carry the heavy burdens of prophethood and messengership,﴾We gave him wisdom and knowledge﴿ that is, We made him a Prophet and a Messenger, knowledgeable and devoted to Allah. ﴾Thus do We reward those who do good﴿ by worshipping the Creator, doing their utmost with all sincerity, and seek to do good to the slaves of Allah by helping them and being kind to them. We will reward them for their good deeds and kindness with beneficial knowledge.

This indicates that Yoosuf attained the status of one who does good, so Allah granted him the wisdom to judge between people, a great deal of knowledge, and prophethood.

yu ,w) QJaj y»U' LajL.*'j qp . • n.jL J' UjC* ^

(rs-rr

12:23. But she in whose house he was living wanted to seduce him. She bolted the doors and said: Come here. He said: Allah forbid!

Surely, he [your husband] is my master; he has taken good care of me. Verily the wrongdoers will never prosper.

12:24. She advanced towards him, and he felt inclined towards her;^{1His feeling inclined was a natural human response to the situation. It does not mean that he wanted to commit any shameful deed, because he was a Prophet and therefore infallible.} were it not that he saw a sign from his Lord [he would have succumbed]. Thus We averted from him evil and shameful deeds. Verily He was one of Our chosen slaves.

12:25. They both raced to the door and she tore his chemise from behind, and they found her husband at the door. She said: What should the recompense of one who had evil designs on your wife be, other than prison or a painful punishment?

12:26. He said: It was she who tried to seduce me. A witness from her own household suggested: If his chemise is tom from the front, then she is telling the truth and he is lying.

12:27. But if his chemise is tom from behind, then she is lying and he is telling the truth.

12:28. When he saw that Yoosuf’s chemise was tom from behind, he said: This is but one of your [women’s] wiles. Your cunning is great indeed!

12:29. O Yoosuf, say no more about this matter. [O wife] seek pardon for your sin, for you have indeed done wrong.

This grave trial was harder for Yoosuf than the trial he went through at the hands of his brothers, and the patience with which he bore it brought a greater reward, because it was patience based on choice even though there were many reasons to commit the sin, but he gave precedence to love of Allah over those reasons. As for the trial at the hands of his brothers, his patience in that case was the patience of one who had no other choice, as in the case of sickness and hardship that may befall a person with no choice on his part, and he has no option but to bear it patiently, willingly or unwillingly. Yoosuf was respected and honoured in the house of the ‘ Azeez, and he had a highdegree of beauty, perfection and dignity; all of this led to temptation at the hands of his mistress: ﴾she in whose house he was living wanted to seduce him﴿ that is, he was her slave and under her control, and they lived in the same dwelling, which would have made it easy to commit the evil deed without anyone realising.

What made matters worse was that she ﴾bolted the doors﴿ and the place was deserted; they were safe from anyone entering, because the doors had been bolted, and she called him to her.

﴾fand said: Come here﴿ that is, commit the evil deed and come to me. Moreover, he was a stranger (in that land) and a stranger would not feel embarrassed as he would if he was in his homeland and among people who knew him. He was like a prisoner under her control, and she was his mistress and owner; she possessed beauty that might encourage him to do that, and he was a young man and single. Moreover, she threatened him, if he did not do her bidding, with prison or a painful punishment.

But he remained steadfast in refraining from disobedience to Allah, even though there was a strong motive for doing so, because he thought of that sin and felt inclined towards her, but he refrained for the sake of Allah, giving precedence to what Allah wanted over what the soul that is inclined to evil might want. From the proof of his Lord - which was what he possessed of knowledge and faith that required him to refrain from everything that Allah had forbidden - he saw that which compelled him to keep away and refrain from this grave sin.

﴾He said: Allah forbid! p That is: I seek refuge with Allah lest I do this evil deed, for it is something that incurs the wrath of Allah and distances one from him; moreover, it is a betrayal of my master who has honoured me and taken good care of me. So it is not befitting for me to respond by committing the utmost evil with his wife, for this is one of the gravest kinds of wrongdoing, and wrongdoers never prosper.

To sum up, he mentioned reasons why he should not do this deed, namely fear of Allah and paying attention to the rights of his master who had shown him kindness, as well as protecting himself from wrongdoing, for those who do wrong never prosper. Moreover, Allah had blessed him with the proof of the faith that was in his heart, which dictated that he should comply with Allah’s commands and avoid that which He prohibited. All of that was because Allah had averted evil and shameful deeds from him, because he was one of His devoted slaves who were sincere towards Him in their worship, whom Allah chose, selected and kept for Himself; He bestowed blessings upon them and averted evil from them, so they were the best of His creation.

When he refused to comply with her demand despite her fervent efforts, and he tried to flee from her and ran to the door in order to escape this temptation, she raced him to the door and grabbed hold of his garment and tore his chemise. When they reached the door, at that moment they found her husband at the door. He saw something that upset him, so she hastened to tell a lie, saying that Yoosuf was the one who had wanted to tempt her, as she said: ﴾What should the recompense of one who had evil designs on your wife be!?? She did not say “one who did evil to your wife”, so as to suggest that she was innocent and so was he. Rather what was disputed was the matter of who had tempted whom.

﴾other than prison or a painful punishment﴿?

Yoosuf declared his innocence of what she accused him of, and said: ﴾It was she who tried to seduce me﴿. At that point the issue was that one of them was telling the truth, but al-‘Azeez did not know which one it was.

But Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has made signs and indications that point to the truth, which people may or may not know. In this case, Allah guided him to a way by which he could know which of them was telling the truth, thus proving the innocence of His Prophet and chosen one, Yoosuf (^X A witness from her household intervened and suggesteda way to find out who was telling the truth, based on circumstantial evidence. He said: ﴾If his chemise is tom from the front, then she is telling the truth and he is lying﴿ because that would indicate that he was the one who had come to her and tried to seduce her, and she had wanted to fend him off, so she had tom his chemise from the front. ﴾But if his chemise is tom from behind, then she is lying and he is telling the truth﴿ because this would indicate that he was running away from her, and that she was the one who had been pursuing him and had tom his chemise from the back.

﴾When he saw that Yoosuf’s chemise was tom from behind﴿ he realised thereby that Yoosuf was telling the truth and was innocent, and that she was the liar. So her husband said to her: ﴾This is but one of your [women’s] wiles. Your cunning is great indeed﴿.

Is there anything worse than this cunning by means of which she tried to prove her innocence of what she had tried to do and accused the Prophet of Allah Yoosuf (HO of doing? But when her husband realised what had really happened, he said to Yoosuf: ﴾0 Yoosuf, say no more about this matter﴿ that is, do not speak about it; forget it and do not mention it to anyone. He said this because he wanted to conceal what his wife had done.

﴾f [O wife] seek pardon for your sin, for you have indeed done wrong﴿ - so he instructed Yoosuf to say no more about it and he instructed his wife to seek forgiveness and repent.

12:30. Women in the city said: The wife of al-‘Azeez is trying to seduce her slave, for she is passionately in love with him. Indeed we think she is clearly in error.

12:31. When she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a banquet for them, and gave each one of them a knife. Then she said [to Yoosuf]: Come out unto them. When they saw him, they were so wonderstruck that they cut their hands. They said: Good Lord! This is no mortal; this can be none but a noble angel!

12:32. She said: This is the one you blamed me for. I did indeed try to seduce him, but he resisted. If he does not do my bidding, he will certainly be thrown into prison and will certainly find himself among the despised!

12:33. He said: O my Lord, prison is more to my liking than that to which they are calling me. Unless You protect me from their wiles, I may succumb and lapse into folly.

12:34. So his Lord answered his prayer and protected him from their wiles. Verily He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

12:35. Then it occurred to them, even after they had seen the signs [of his innocence], that they should imprison him for a while.

The news became known far and wide in the city, and the women talked about it and started to criticise her, saying: (-[The wife of al-‘Azeez is trying to seduce her slave, for she is passionately in love with him﴿ that is, this is something abhorrent, for she is a woman ofhigh standing and her husband is a man of high standing, yet despite that she is still trying to seduce her slave who is under her control and at her service, for her love for him has become intense.

﴾she is passionately in love with him﴿) that is, her love for him has penetrated deeply into her heart. This is the greatest degree of love. ﴾Indeed we think she is clearly in error﴿ as she is in this state, which is not befitting to her, for it is lowering her status and causing her to lose respect in people’s eyes.

This was malicious talk on their part, because the aim behind it was not just to blame and criticise her; rather by means of this talk they wanted to see Yoosuf, this man by whom the wife of al-‘Azeez had been tempted, so that she would get annoyed and decide to show him to them so that they would stop blaming her and would cease their malicious talk.

﴾When she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them﴿ and invited them to her house

﴾and prepared a banquet for them﴿ that is, she prepared a room with couches and pillows, and delicious food. Among the food that she offered them was some food that required knives, either citrus fruits or something else, so she ﴾gave each one of them a knife﴿ with which to cut that food.

﴾Then she said [to Yoosuf]: Come out unto them﴿ with your beauty and dignity.

﴾When they saw him, they were so wonderstruckjs that is, they felt awe in their hearts, as they saw a beautiful sight, the like of which they had never seen

﴾that they cut their hands﴿ out of astonishment, with the knives that they had with them.

﴾They said: Good Lord! This is no mortal; this can be none but a noble angel!﴿ That is because Yoosuf was given a supreme degree of beauty, radiance and dignity, which was a sign to the onlookers and a lesson for those who reflect.

When they saw Yoosuf’s outward beauty, they were so amazed by it that they expressed their understanding and appreciation of why the wife of al-‘Azeez had been tempted. But she also wanted to show them his inner beauty and perfect dignity. So she said, announcing that and expressing her extreme love without a care, and because the women no longer blamed her:

﴾I did indeed try to seduce him, but he resisted﴿ that is, he refused. But she kept trying to seduce him and the passage of time only increased her in anxiety, love and longing for his response. Hence she said to him in their presence:

﴾If he does not do my bidding, he will certainly be thrown into prison and will certainly find himself among the despised! ﴿ in order to force him, by means of this threat, to do what she wanted. At that, Yoosuf sought the protection of his Lord, seeking His help against their wiles.

﴾He said: O my Lord, prison is more to my liking than that to which they are calling me﴿. This indicates that the women started advising Yoosuf to obey his mistress, and they were trying their best to make him do that.

But he preferred prison and worldly punishment over a brief moment of pleasure that would incur a severe punishment (in the hereafter).

﴾Unless You protect me from their wiles﴿ that is, I may incline towards them, for I am weak and helpless; if You do not ward off their evil from me

﴾I may succumb﴿ that is, give in to them

﴾and lapse into folly﴿, for this is foolishness, because it is giving precedence to brief, tainted pleasure over the ongoing and varied delights of the gardens of bliss, and who is more foolish than the one who gives precedence to the former over the latter? For knowledge and reason call for giving precedence to the greater of two interests and the greater of two pleasures, and giving precedence to that which leads to the best consequences.

﴾So his Lord answered his prayer﴿ when he called upon Him ﴾fand protected him from their wiles﴿. But she kept trying to seduce him, using all possible means at her disposal, until she gave up and Allah protected him from her wiles.

﴾Verily He is All-Hearing﴿ and hears the call of the one who calls upon Him

﴾All-Knowing﴿ and He knew his good intentions and weak nature that required His support, protection and kindness. Thus Allah saved Yoosuf from a great trial and hard test. As for his masters, when the news became known far and wide, and some people gave justification for it whilst others blamed and criticised, ﴾Then it occurred to them﴿ that is, they decided ﴾even after they had seen the signs [of his innocence], that they should imprison him for a while﴿ that is, so that the gossip about that news would stop and the people would forget it, because when something becomes widely known, it will be talked about and spread further, so long as the reason for it is still present, but if the reason disappears, it will be forgotten. So they decided that this was in their best interests, and they put him in prison.

12:36. Two young men went to prison with him. One of them said: I dreamt that I was pressing [grapes for] wine. The other one said: I dreamt that I was carrying bread on my head, from which the birds were eating. [They said:] Tell us the interpretation of these dreams, for we see that you are a man of virtue and knowledge.

12:37. Yoosuf said: Before there comes to you the meal which you are given [daily], I will inform you of the true interpretation of your dreams. This is part of what my Lord has taught me. Verily I have rejected the religion of people who do not believe in Allah and who deny the hereafter.

12:38. I follow the religion of my fathers, of Ibraheem, Is-haq and Ya’qoob; it is not right for us to ascribe any partner to Allah. This is part of Allah’s grace which He has bestowed on us and on all humankind, but most people do not give thanks.

12:39. O my two fellow prisoners, which is better: many different gods or Allah, the One, the Subjugator?

12:40. All that you worship besides Him is no more than names you have named, you and your forefathers, for which Allah has not sent down any authority. All power belongs to Allah alone, and He has ordained that you should worship none but Him. This is the right religion, but most people do not realise.

When Yoosuf went to prison, ﴾Two young men went to prison with him﴿. Each of them saw a dream, and told it to Yoosuf so that he might interpret it.

﴾One of them said: I dreamt that I was pressing [grapes for] wine. The other one said: I dreamt that I was carrying bread on my head.from which the birds were eating. [They said:] Tell us the interpretation of these dreams;﴿ and how they will materialise,

﴾for we see that you are a man of virtue and knowledge﴿ that is, you are one of those who are kind to others, so be kind enough to interpret our dreams for us, as you have been kind to others. They appealed to Yoosuf on the basis of his virtue and knowledge.

﴾Yoosuf said﴿, responding to their request: ﴾Before there comes to you the meal which you are given [daily], I will inform you of the true interpretation of your dreams﴿ that is, so that you may be reassured and be certain that I am going to interpret your dreams, your daily meal will not come to you before I interpret them.

Perhaps Yoosuf (عليه السلام) meant to call them to faith in that situation in which they needed him, so that his call would be more effective and they would be more receptive.

Then he said: ﴾This﴿ interpretation that I will give to you ﴾is part of what my Lord has taught me﴿ that is, it is part of the knowledge of Allah that He has taught me and bestowed upon me. That is because ﴾I have rejected the religion of people who do not believe in Allah and who deny the hereafter﴿ and ([I follow the religion of my fathers, of Ibraheem, Is-haq and Ya’qoob﴿. Then he explained that religion, saying: ﴾it is not right﴿ that is, it is not appropriate or befitting ﴾for us to ascribe any partner to Allah﴿; rather we affirm His oneness and we devote our worship only to Him.

﴾This is part of Allah’s grace which He has bestowed on us and on all humankind﴿ that is, this is part of His great blessings, favour and grace towards us and towards those whom Allah guides as He has guided us, for there is no greater blessing that Allah can bestow upon people than Islam and the true religion. Whoever accepts it and submits to Him is most fortunate, for he has attained the greatest blessings and the greatest virtues.

﴾but most people do not give thanks﴿. Hence blessings come to them but they do not accept them and they do not carry out their dutiestowards Allah. This is encouragement to follow the path that he was following, clearly making it appealing. When it was established in Yoosuf’s mind that the two young men held him in high esteem and regarded him as a man of virtue and knowledge, he told them: The reason why I am as you think is that it is all by the grace and blessing of Allah, for He has blessed me by enabling me to reject polytheism and follow the way of my forefathers. This is what has brought me to what you see now, so you should follow my path.

Then he openly called them to Allah, and said: ﴾0 my two fellow prisoners, which is better: many different gods or Allah, the One, the Subjugator?﴿ That is, gods who are helpless and weak, and can neither bring benefit nor cause harm, give or withhold, and they are of many different types: trees, rocks, angels, the dead and other objects of worship that the polytheists take as gods. Is that better, ﴾or Allah﴿ Who possesses all attributes of perfection,

﴾the One﴿ in His essence, attributes and actions, and He has no partner in any of that.

﴾the Subjugator﴿ to Whose might and power all things submit; whatever He wills happens and whatever He does not will does not happen.

﴾.. .There is no living creature but He holds it [in His control] by its forelock... p (Hood 11: 56)

It is well known that One Who is like this is better than the various gods that are mere names and are not perfect at all and do not do anything. Hence Allah says:

tf All that you worship besides Him is no more than names you have named, you and your forefathers﴿ that is, you have invented names for them and called them gods, but they are nothing and possess no divine attributes whatsoever.

﴾for which Allah has not sent down any authority﴿; rather Allah has sent down authority to prohibit worshipping them and to highlight their false nature. Because Allah has not sent down any authority for them, there is no proof or evidence to support them.

Because all power belongs to Allah alone, He is the One Who commands and prohibits, prescribes laws and ordains rulings, and He is the One Who has ordained ﴾that you should worship none but Him. This is the right religion﴿ that is, the straight path that leads to all good, and all other religions are not true or straight paths; rather they are crooked and lead to all that is bad.

﴾but most people do not realise﴿ the true nature of things, otherwise the difference between worship of Allah alone, with no partner or associate, and ascribing partners to Him, is the clearest and most obvious of things. But because most people do not realise that, they do what they do of ascribing partners to Him. So Yoosuf (عليه السلام) called his two fellow prisoners to worship Allah alone and to be devoted solely to Him. It may be that they responded and submitted, and thus the blessing was completed for them, or it may be that they remained polytheists and thus proof was established against them. Then Yoosuf (عليه السلام) began to interpret their dreams, after he had promised to do so.

12:41. O my two fellow prisoners, as for one of you, he will pour wine for his lord to drink; as for the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will peck at his head. The matter you asked about has been decreed.

﴾0 my two fellow prisoners, as for one of you﴿ namely the one who dreamt that he was pressing grapes for wine, he will get out of prison and ﴾fhe will pour wine for his lord to drink﴿ that is, he would pour wine for his master whom he used to serve, which means that he would get out of prison.﴾as for the other﴿ namely the one who dreamt that he was carrying bread on his head, from which the birds were eating f﴾he will be crucified, and the birds will peck at his head﴿). So he interpreted the bread that the birds were eating as referring to the flesh of his head and his brain, and said that he would not be buried and therefore would not be protected from the birds; rather he would be crucified and placed somewhere where the birds would be able to eat him. Then he told them that this interpretation that he gave them would inevitably come to pass, and said:

﴾The matter you asked about has been decreed﴿) that is, the matter of which you are asking about the interpretation and meaning.

12:42. Yoosuf said to the one who he knew would be saved: Mention me to your master. But Shaytan made him forget to mention him to his master; thus Yoosuf remained in prison for a few more years.

﴾Yoosuf said to the one who he knew would be saved﴿) namely the one who dreamt that he was pressing grapes for wine: ﴾Mention me to your master﴿) that is, tell him about me and my story; perhaps he will feel sorry for me and will order my release. ﴾But Shaytan made him forget to mention him to his master﴿ that is, Shaytan caused the one who was saved to forget, and that was in order that the decree of Allah might be completed.

﴾thus Yoosuf remained in prison for a few more years﴿. The word translated here as da few﴿ refers to anything between three and nine. Hence it was said that he remained in prison for seven more years.When Allah wanted to complete His decree and willed that Yoosuf should be released from prison. He ordained means for that which caused Yoosuf to be released and to become prominent and attain high esteem; that was the king’s dream.

4 4$ 'iff VAt yit jSf^stjc&a

12:43. The king said: I saw [in a dream] seven fat cows being eaten by seven lean ones; and seven green ears of com and [seven] others that were dry. O chiefs, explain my dream to me, if you are able to interpret dreams.

12:44. They said: [These are] jumbled, confusing dreams, and we are not skilled in the interpretation of dreams.

12:45. The one [of the two prisoners] who had been saved, and who remembered [now], after a while, said: I will find out its interpretation for you, so give me leave to go [in search of it].

12:46. [He went to the prison and said:] O Yoosuf, O truthful one, explain to us [the dream of] seven fat cows being eaten by seven lean ones; and seven green ears of com and [seven] others thatwere dry, so that I may go back to the people and they may know.

12:47. Yoosuf said: You will sow for seven years, as usual. But whatever grain you reap, leave it in the ear, except for a little that you will eat.

12:48. Then after that will come seven years of hardship [drought], which will consume what you had stored in advance, except a little that you will set aside.

12:49. Then after that will come a year in which the people will have rain, and in which they will press [grapes and olives].

When Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) willed that Yoosuf should be released from prison, He caused the king to see that strange dream, the interpretation of which applied to the entire nation, so that it might be interpreted by Yoosuf and so that his virtue might be made manifest and his knowledge become widely known, and thus he might be raised in status. As it was the king who decided about his subjects’ affairs, it was appropriate that he was the one to see the dream, because the affairs of the subjects are connected to the king.

The king saw a dream that alarmed him, so he gathered together all the people of knowledge and wisdom in his nation and said:

﴾I saw [in a dream] seven fat cows being eaten by seven lean ones﴿. This was something very strange, to see seven lean and emaciated cows, who had lost their strength, eating seven fat ones who would have been very strong.

And﴿ I saw «[seven green ears of com﴿ being eaten by seven others ﴾that were dry. O chiefs, explain my dream to me﴿ because the interpretation of all of these things points to one thing ﴾fif you are able to interpret dreams﴿. But they were confused and did not know how to interpret it or what it meant.

﴾They said: [These are] jumbled, confusing dreams﴿ that is, dreams that do not mean anything and for which there is no interpretation.

This was a statement about something of which they had no knowledge, so they excused themselves, then they said: ﴾fand we are not skilled in the interpretation of dreams﴿ that is, we only interpret true dreams; as for jumbled dreams that come from the Shaytan or from the ruminations of one’s own mind, we cannot interpret them.

Thus they combined ignorance with an affirmation that these were jumbled, confusing dreams, which stemmed from self-admiration, because they did not say, “We do not know how to interpret it.” This is an attitude that is not appropriate for people of religious commitment and wisdom. This was also a sign of Allah’s kindness towards Yoosuf (SlO, because if he had interpreted this dream from the outset - before it was discussed with the chiefs of their people and their scholars, who were unable to interpret it, that would not have had the same impact. But because the king asked them first, and they failed to give him an answer, he was very concerned and worried about it. Then Yoosuf interpreted it, and that had a great impact on them. This is similar to the way in which Allah showed Adam to be superior to the angels because of the knowledge he had, after He asked them and they could not answer, then He asked Adam, and Adam taught them the names of all things. Thus his superiority became apparent. Similarly the superiority of the best of creation, Muhammad (ﷺ), will become apparent on the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will inspire humankind to seek the intercession of Adam, then Nooh, then Ibraheem, then Moosa, then ‘Eesa (peace be upon all of them), but they will offer their apologies; then they will come to Muhammad (ﷺ) and he will say: «I am able for it,» (Bukhari), then he will intercede for all of humankind and will attain that station of praise and honour for which he will be envied by the first and the last.

Glory be to the One Who is kind in subtle ways; how subtle is the way in which He causes blessings to reach His chosen ones and close friends.

﴾The one [of the two prisoners] who had been saved﴿ that is, the one of the two young men who had dreamt that he was pressing grapes for wine; he was the one whom Yoosuf had asked to mention him to his master tfand who remembered [now], after a while﴿ that is, he remembered Yoosuf and how he had interpreted the two dreams, and what he had asked him to do; and he realised, after several years, that Yoosuf would surely be able to interpret this dream. So he said:

﴾I will find out its interpretation for you, so give me leave to go [in search of it]﴿ that is, let me go to Yoosuf and ask him about it.

So they gave him permission and he went to him, but Yoosuf did not rebuke him for forgetting him; rather he listened to his questions and answered them. The young man said:

﴾0 Yoosuf, O truthful one﴿ that is, one who is very truthful in word and deed

﴾explain to us [the dream of] seven fat cows being eaten by seven lean ones; and seven green ears of com and [seven] others that were dry, so that I may go back to the people and they may know﴿ for they are very eager to find out about the interpretation of this dream, and they are very concerned about it.

Yoosuf interpreted the seven fat cows and the seven green ears of com as referring to seven years of abundance, and the seven lean cows and the seven dry ears of com as referring to seven years of drought. The connection to abundance and drought - and Allah knows best - is that agriculture is based on that; if there is abundant rain, the crops will be good and there will be an abundant yield, but if there is a drought, then it will be the opposite of that.

Cattle (oxen) were usually used to till the soil and to irrigate it. The ears of com referred to are the most common and best kind of staple food. The dream was interpreted in this manner because there is a connection. So he combined interpretation of the dream with advice to the people as to what they should do and what preparations theyshould make during the years of abundance for the years of drought, and said:

﴾You will sow for seven years, as usual﴿ that is, seven consecutive years

﴾But whatever grain you reap﴿ of those crops ﴾leave it in the ear﴿ because that will better preserve it and you will be less likely to eat it.

﴾except for a little that you will eat﴿ that is, you should also pay attention to how much you eat during these years of abundance; let it be little, so that what you save will become of significant benefit and will have a good impact.

﴾Then after that﴿ that is, after the seven plentiful years ﴾will come seven years of hardship [drought]﴿ that is, severe drought ﴾which will consume what you had stored in advance﴿ that is, which will use up all that you had stored, even if it was a great quantity ﴾except a little that you will set aside﴿ that is, that you will keep and not use up during the hard years.

﴾Then after that﴿ that is, after the seven hard years ﴾will come a year in which the people will have rain, and in which they will press [grapes and olives]﴿ that is, there will be a great deal of rain and the streams will flow and the yield will increase and be abundant, and will give more than the people need, so that they will press the grapes and other crops that are surplus to what they eat. Perhaps the way in which he worked out that there would be that year of plenty, even though there was no clear indication of it in the king’s dream, was that the seven years of hardship must be followed by a year in which hardship would come to an end. It is well known that a drought that lasted for seven consecutive years could only be followed by a year of great abundance, otherwise his plan would not work out. When the messenger went back to the king and the people, and told them about Yoosuf s interpretation of the dream, they were amazed and they rejoiced greatly.

12:50. So the king said: Bring him to me. But when the messenger came to him, Yoosuf said: Go back to your master and ask him: What about the women who cut their hands? For verily my Lord has full knowledge of their cunning.

12:51. The king said to the women: What happened when you tried to seduce Yoosuf? They said: Allah forbid! We know of no evil on his part. The wife of al-‘Azeez said: Now the truth has come to light. It was I who tried to seduce him; verily he was telling the truth.

12:52. Thus he will know that I did not betray him in his absence, for Allah will never allow the plans of the treacherous to succeed.

﴾So the king said﴿ to those who were with him: ﴾Bring him to me﴿ namely Yoosuf; that is, they were to release him from prison and bring him to the king. When the messenger came to Yoosuf and ordered him to appear before the king, Yoosuf refused to hasten to leave the prison until his innocence had been established completely. This was indicative of his patience, mature thinking and complete wisdom.

Hence he said to the messenger: ﴾Go back to your master﴿ namely the king

﴾and ask him: What about the women who cut their hands?﴿ That is, ask him what happened with them, for what really happened with them is clear and obvious.tfFor verily my Lord has full knowledge of their cunning﴿.

So the king summoned the women and said: ﴾What happened when you tried to seduce Yoosuf?﴿ Did you see any suspicious behaviour on his part?

But the women declared him to be innocent and said: ﴾Allah forbid! We know of no evil on his part﴿ that is, we know of no evil, small or great, on his part. Thus it was established that there was no longer any reason to be suspicious of him or his good character, and there was nothing left of the matter to be examined except what the wife of al-‘Azeez had to say.

﴾The wife of al-‘Azeez said: Now the truth has come to light﴿ that is, now the truth has become clear after we accused him and cast aspersions on him that led to his being put in prison.

﴾It was I who tried to seduce him; verily he was telling the truth﴿ in what he said, and he was innocent.

﴾Thus﴿ as a result of my confession that it was I who tried to seduce Yoosuf, ﴾he will know that I did not betray him in his absence﴿.

It may be that what she meant was her husband; that is, he will know, as I have admitted that I am the one who tried to seduce Yoosuf, that I did not betray him in his absence. In other words, nothing happened on my part except an attempt at seduction, but I did not betray him in bed.

Or it may be that what she meant was: so that Yoosuf would know, as I have admitted that I was the one who tried to seduce him and that he was telling the truth, that I did not betray him when he was away from me.

﴾for Allah will never allow the plans of the treacherous to succeed﴿ for the betrayal and plot of every betrayer will inevitably backfire on him, and he will inevitably be found out.

Then, because these words were a kind of self-praise and may imply that she was suggesting that she did nothing wrong with regard to the story of Yoosuf, she added a remark to correct that impression.

12:53. Nor do I absolve my own self [of blame], for verily the human soul constantly prompts one to do evil, except for those on whom my Lord bestows His mercy. Verily my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.^{1The meanings of the verses of the Qur’an in this book (with some minor changes to the punctuation) have been translated by the translator. (Editor)}

12:54. The king said: Bring him to me, so that I may appoint him [as an adviser] solely for me. Then when he had spoken with him, he said: Verily from this day you will be in a position of high standing with us, and entrusted with our affairs.

12:55. Yoosuf said: Put me in charge of the storehouses of the land; indeed I will manage them carefully and wisely.

12:56. Thus We established Yoosuf in the land, so that he was free to do therein whatever he willed. We bestow Our mercy uponwhomever We will, and We will not cause the reward of those who do good to be lost.

12:57. But verily the reward of the hereafter is better, for those who believe and are mindful of Allah.

Having admitted that she did indeed try to seduce Yoosuf (‘alayhi as-salam - peace be upon him) and affirmed that she did not in fact betray her husband (as the seduction attempt failed), the wife of al-‘Azeez countered any possible impression of self-praise on her part by saying:

tfNordo I absolve my own self [of blame])﴿ that is, I do not absolve myself of the attempt at seduction, or of wanting that and being very eager and scheming to attain it

﴾for verily the human soul constantly prompts one to do evil﴿ that is, it is always prompting one to do evil, such as shameful deeds and other sins, for it is the vehicle of the Shaytan, through which he gains access to people ﴾except for those on whom my Lord bestows His mercy﴿ and saves such a one from his soul that prompts him to do evil, until his soul becomes content with its Lord, submits to the call of guidance and resists the caller of doom. That does not come from the soul itself; rather it is by the grace and mercy of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta ‘ala - Glorified and Exalted is He) towards His slave.

﴾Verily my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful﴿ that is, He is Oft- Forgiving to the one who commits sins if he repents and turns back to Him

(fMost Merciful﴿ because He accepts his repentance and enables him to do righteous deeds. This is the correct view, that these are the words of the wife of al-‘Azeez, not the words of Yoosuf, as the context has to do with her words, because at that point Yoosuf was still in prison and was not present.

When the king and the people realised that Yoosuf was completely innocent, the king sent for him, saying:

﴾Bring him to me, so that I may appoint him [as an adviser] solely for me﴿ that is, so that I may appoint him to serve me only and bring him close to me. So they brought him, with honour and respect ﴾Then when he had spoken with him﴿, he was impressed with his words and thought even more highly of him. So he said to him: ﴾Verily from this day you will be in a position of high standing with us, and entrusted with our affairs﴿ that is, you will be well established and entrusted with secrets.

﴾Yoosuf said﴿, seeking that which was in the public interest: ﴾Put me in charge of the storehouses of the land﴿ that is, in charge of the treasury of the land, and the storehouse in which the yield of the land was kept, as a keeper and controller ﴾indeed I will manage them carefully and wisely﴿ that is, I will be careful with whatever I am put in charge of, so nothing will be lost of it inappropriately. I will monitor what comes in and what goes out, for I have knowledge of how to manage things, when to give and when to withhold, and how to handle all manner of things. This was not because Yoosuf was eager to be in a position of authority; rather he cared about the public interest, and he knew that he was competent and honest, and able to take good care of things, which they did not know.

Hence he asked the king to put him in charge of the storehouses of the land, and the king did that.

﴾Thus﴿ by means of what is mentioned above ﴾We established Yoosuf in the land, so that he was free to do therein whatever he willed﴿ of living a life of ease and abundance, and holding a position of high status

﴾We bestow Our mercy upon whomever We will﴿ that is, this was by the mercy of Allah to Yoosuf, that He bestowed upon him and decreed for him; it was not limited to worldly blessings.﴾and We will not cause the reward of those who do good to be lost﴿. Yoosuf was one of the most prominent of those who do good, so he would have good in this world and good in the hereafter. Hence Allah says:

fl'But verily the reward of the hereafter is better﴿ than the reward of this world tffor those who believe and are mindful of Allah﴿ that is, for those who combine mindfulness of Allah with faith.

It is through mindfulness of Allah and piety that prohibited matters, both major and minor sins, are given up, and it is through perfect faith that the heart believes in what Allah has commanded it to believe, and the actions of the heart (beliefs) and physical actions, both obligatory and recommended, follow that.

12:58. The brothers of Yoosuf came and presented themselves before him; he immediately recognised them but they did not recognise him.

12:59. When he had supplied them with their provisions, he said: Bring to me a brother of yours through your father; do you not see that I give full measure and am the best of hosts?

12:60. If you do not bring him to me, you will never again receive a single measure [of provisions] from me, nor will you come near me.

12:61. They said: We will try to persuade his father to let him go, and we will surely do it.

12:62. Yoosuf said to his servants: Put their trade goods [with which they had bartered] in their saddlebags so that they may discover them when they return to their people; perhaps they will come back.

12:63. When they returned to their father, they said: O our father, we have been denied any further provisions [unless we take our brother with us]; send our brother with us, so that we may get our measure [of provisions], and we will surely keep him safe.

12:64. Ya'qoob said: Am 1 to trust you with him as I once trusted you with his brother? But Allah is the best of guardians, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.

12:65. When they opened their baggage, they discovered that their trade goods had been returned to them. They said: O our father, what more could we ask? These trade goods of ours have beenreturned to us. We will get [more] provisions for our household, and take care of our brother, and receive an extra camel-load. That is an easy measure [to obtain].

12:66. Ya’qoob said: I will never send him with you unless you swear a solemn oath to me, by Allah, that you will surely bring him back to me, unless you are overwhelmed by circumstances. Then when they had sworn their solemn oath to him, he said: Allah is witness over what we say.

12:67. And he said: O my sons, do not enter [all] by one gate; enter by different gates. I cannot avail you anything against [the decree of] Allah; Allah’s decree alone prevails. In Him I put my trust, and in Him let all that trust put their trust.

12:68. Although they entered [the city] as their father had instructed them, it would not have availed them anything against [the decree of] Allah, yet a need in Ya’qoob’s soul was satisfied. Verily he was possessed of knowledge because of what We had taught him, but most people have no knowledge.

When Yoosuf (عليه السلام) took charge of the storehouses of the land, he managed them well. He grew a huge amount of crops throughout the land of Egypt during the years of abundance, and allocated large depots in which he collected a great deal of food, which he kept and managed in the best manner. Then when the years of drought began, and the drought spread as far as Palestine, where Ya’qoob and his sons lived, Ya’qoob sent his sons to Egypt for provisions.

﴾The brothers of Yoosuf came and presented themselves before him; he immediately recognised them but they did not recognise him﴿ that is, they did not realise who he was.

﴾When he had supplied them with their provisions﴿ that is, when he had weighed out for them as he weighed out for others; it was part of his good management that he did not give any individual more than one camel load. He had asked them about their situation.and they told him that they had a brother who was with his father, namely Binyameen.

﴾fhe said﴿ to them: ﴾Bring to me a brother of yours through your father﴿ - he encouraged them to bring him, and said:

﴾do you not see that I give full measure and am the best of hosts﴿ in generosity towards my guests?

Then he warned them of the consequences if they did not bring him: ﴾If you do not bring him to me, you will never again receive a single measure [of provisions] from me, nor will you come near me﴿. That was because he knew that they had no choice but to come to him, and that would make them bring their brother.

﴾They said: We will try to persuade his father to let him go﴿ - this indicates that Ya‘qoob (slO was very attached to Binyameen and could not bear to be apart from him, for he found consolation in him after the loss of Yoosuf. Therefore he needed to be persuaded to send him with them.

﴾fand we will surely do it﴿ that is, what you have instructed us to do.

﴾Yoosuf said to his servants: Put their trade goods﴿ that is, with which they had bought their provisions

﴾fin their saddlebags so that they may discover them﴿ that is, the trade goods

﴾when they return to their people; perhaps they will come back﴿ - that was because he felt uncomfortable taking the trade goods in return for the provisions. What appears to be the case is that he wanted to encourage them by showing generosity towards them, by giving them full measure and then by returning their trade goods to them without them realising.

﴾When they returned to their father, they said: O our father, we have been denied any further provisions﴿ that is, if you do not send our brother with us.﴾send our brother with us, so that we may get our measure [of provisions]﴿ that is, let that be a means of us getting our measure of provisions. Then they promised to take care of him, as they said: ﴾and we will surely keep him safe﴿ from any harm that may befall him.

﴾Ya‘qoob said: Am I to trust you with him as 1 once trusted you with his brother?﴿ That is, you previously gave me a stronger promise than this to keep Yoosuf safe, yet you did not fulfil the promise you made. Therefore I do not trust your promise; rather I trust Allah (سبحانه وتعالى).

﴾But Allah is the best of guardians, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy﴿ that is, He knows my situation and I hope that He will have mercy on me, so He will protect him and bring him back to me. It was as if these words softened his heart to the idea of sending Binyameen with them.

Moreover, ﴾When they opened their baggage, they discovered that their trade goods had been returned to them﴿. This indicates that they were aware that Yoosuf had returned them deliberately and that he wanted them to keep them. So they said to their father, encouraging him to send their brother with them: ﴾(0 our father, what more could we ask?﴿ That is, what further kindness could we seek, when he has given us full measure and has returned our trade goods to us as a goodwill gesture, which is indicative of his sincerity and good attitude?

﴾These trade goods of ours have been returned to us. We will get [more] provisions for our household﴿ that is, if we take our brother with us, he will be a means of us being given provisions, so we will get more provisions for our household and we will bring them what they need of food

﴾and take care of our brother, and receive an extra camel-load﴿ if he goes with us, for Yoosuf gives each person a camel load.

﴾That is an easy measure﴿ that is, it is easily obtained, because it will not take any longer than usual and there is a clear interest in doing so.

﴾Ya‘qoob said﴿ to them: ﴾I will never send him with you unless you swear a solemn oath to me, by Allah, that you will surely bring him back to me, unless you are overwhelmed by circumstances﴿ that is, unless something happens to you that you have no power to deal with and cannot ward it off.

﴾Then when they had sworn their solemn oath to him﴿ pledging to do as he asked

﴾he said: Allah is witness over what we say﴿ that is, His witness over us is sufficient, and His care will suffice us. When he sent Binyameen with them, he advised them that when they reached Egypt: ﴾do not enter [all] by one gate; enter by different gates﴿. That was because he feared the evil eye, as they were so many and good-looking, for they were all the sons of one man.

﴾I cannot avail you anything against [the decree of] Allah﴿ for His decree will inevitably come to pass

﴾Allah’s decree alone prevails﴿ that is. His will and decree and His command, for whatever He decrees and rules will inevitably happen ﴾In Him I put my trust﴿ that is, I rely upon Allah, not on my advice to you of taking certain measures

﴾and in Him let all that trust put their trust﴿ for by doing so, all aims will be achieved and all harm will be warded off.

When they left and ﴾they entered [the city] as their father had instructed them﴿, that action ﴾would not have availed them anything against [the decree of] Allah, yet a need in Ya'qoob’s soul was satisfied﴿ which was the result of compassion and love for his children; therefore by giving them this advice, he put his mind at rest.

This was not due to any lack of knowledge on his part, for he was one of the noble Messengers and devoted scholars. Hence Allah says of him: ﴾Verily he was possessed of knowledge﴿ that is, he had great knowledge﴾because of what We had taught him﴿ that is, he did not acquire knowledge by his own strength; rather it was by the grace of Allah Who taught him

﴾but most people have no knowledge﴿ of the consequences and subtleties of things This applies to the knowledgeable among them; some knowledge may be hidden from them and they may be unaware of some rulings and requirements.

'y!ls (g) s^3jjiiS

12:69. When they came into Yoosuf’s presence, he lodged his brother with himself [and said]: Verily I am your brother, so do not be saddened by their past actions.

12:70. Then when he had given them their provisions, he placed the drinking-cup in his brother’s saddlebag. Then a crier called out: O people of the caravan, you are thieves!

12:71. They said, turning towards them: What have you lost?

12:72. They said: We have lost the king’s goblet. Whoever brings it will have a camel-load [of provisions, as a reward]; I guarantee it.

12:73. [The brothers] said: By Allah, you know that we did not come to cause mischief in the land, and we are not thieves.

12:74. [The Egyptians] said: Then what should the penalty for this be, if you are [found to be] lying?

12:75. They said: The penalty should be that the one in whose saddlebag it is found should be enslaved in recompense thereof. Thus do we punish wrongdoers.

12:76. So he began with their baggage before his brother’s baggage, then he took it [the goblet] out of his brother’s baggage. Thus We devised a plan for Yoosuf, for he could not have detained his brother under the king’s law, unless Allah so willed. We raise in status whomsoever We will; above each one who is possessed of knowledge is one more knowing.

12:77. They said: If he steals, there was a brother of his who stole before him. But Yoosuf kept his thoughts to himself and did not disclose anything to them. He said [to himself]: You are in a worse position; and Allah knows best the truth of what you say.

12:78. They said: O ruler of the land, verily he has a father who is elderly and venerable; take one of us, instead of him, for indeed we see that you are a kind man.

12:79. Yoosuf said: Allah forbid that we should take any but the man with whom our property was found, for in that case we should surely be unjust.

﴾When they﴿ that is, the brothers

﴾came into Yoosuf’s presence, he lodged his brother﴿, namely his full brother, Binyameen, whom he had instructed them to bring, ﴾with himself﴿ and made him join him; he singled him out from among his brothers and told him the real situation.

tf[and said]: Verily I am your brother, so do not be saddened﴿ that is, grieved ﴾by their past actions﴿, for the outcome will be good for us. Then he told him what his plan was and the trick he wanted to use so that he would stay with him until the matter was concluded.

﴾Then when he had given them their provisions﴿ that is, when he had weighed out provisions for each of his brothers, including this brother,

﴾he placed the drinking-cup﴿ which was a vessel from which he drank, and also used for measuring in his brother’s saddlebag. Then﴿ they loaded up their luggage, but when they set out, ﴾a crier called out: O people of the caravan, you are thieves!Perhaps this caller did not know what was really going on.

﴾They﴿ namely the brothers of Yoosuf ﴾said, turning towards them﴿ in order to dispel suspicion, for the thief does not care about anything except getting away from the one from whom he stole, so that he can get away with his theft. But these people turned and came towards them, because they had no concern except to dispel the accusation that had been made against them, so they said: ﴾What have you lost?﴿ And they did not say, “What have we stolen from you?” because they were certain that they were innocent of theft.

t-fThey said: We have lost the king’s goblet. Whoever brings it will have a camel-loadji﴿ that is, as a reward for finding it guarantee it﴿ - this was said by the caller who was looking for it.

﴾[The brothers] said: By Allah, you know that we did not come to cause mischief in the land﴿ by committing all kinds of sins ﴾and we are not thieves﴿, for stealing is one of the worst kinds of causing mischief in the land. They only swore because they were confident that the Egyptians were aware that they were not causing mischief and were not thieves, as they knew them very well and were aware that they were people of dignity and piety, who could not have committed this theft; those who accused them knew that they could not have done that. This is a more eloquent way of refuting the accusation than saying, “By Allah we did not cause mischief in the land and we did not steal anything.”

﴾[The Egyptians] said: Then what should the penalty for this be, if you are [found to be] lying?﴿ and if it is found in your possession.

﴾They said: The penalty should be that the one in whose saddlebag it is found should be enslaved in recompense thereof﴿ that is, the one in whose saddlebag it is found should become the slave of the owner of the stolen item. According to their religion, if the thief was proven to be guilty, he would become the property of the owner of the stolen wealth. Hence they said: ﴾Thus do we punish wrongdoers﴿.

﴾So he﴿ the inspector ﴾began with their baggage before his brother’s baggage﴿, so that there would be no suspicion that it had been done deliberately. When he did not find anything in their baggage, ﴾then he took it [the goblet] out of his brother’s baggage﴿. It does not say “he found it” or “his brother stole it”, so as to reflect the reality of the situation.

Having described how Yoosuf accomplished what he wanted to do of keeping his brother with him in such a way that his other brothers would not realise it, Allah says: ﴾Thus We devised a plan for Yoosuf﴿ that is, We made easy for him this plan which enabled him to achieve something that was not blameworthy

﴾for he could not have detained his brother under the king’s law﴿ because there was nothing in that law that allowed enslavement ofthe thief; rather they had some other penalty in such cases. Therefore if the ruling had been referred to the king’s law, Yoosuf would not have been able to keep his brother with him. But he made the ruling come from them, so that he might achieve his aim.

﴾We raise in status whomsoever We will﴿ by means of beneficial knowledge and knowledge of ways and means of achieving desired goals, as We raised Yoosuf in status

﴾above each one who is possessed of knowledge is one more knowing﴿. Above each one who has knowledge is one who is more knowledgeable than him, until knowledge ends with the Knower of the unseen and the seen.

When the brothers of Yoosuf saw what happened, ﴾They said: If he﴿ - namely this brother - ﴾steals﴿, there is nothing surprising about that, because ﴾there was a brother of his who stole before him﴿. They were referring to Yoosuf (ilO; what they meant by saying this was to declare their own innocence. In other words: this one and his brother may commit acts of theft, but they are not our full brothers.

These words implied a great deal of disparagement, but Yoosuf kept his thoughts to himself ﴾and did not disclose anything to them﴿ that is, he did not respond to their words in a way that would be displeasing to them; rather he restrained his anger and kept it to himself.

t﴾He said [to himself): You are in a worse position﴿ because you blamed us when you are worse than us in that regard tfand Allah knows best the truth of what you say﴿ that is, He knows better than others, as you are accusing us of theft when Allah knows that we are innocent.

Then they tried to appease him, hoping that he would let their brother go with them. ﴾-(They said: O ruler of the land, verily he has a father who is elderly and venerable﴿ and he cannot bear to be apart from him; it is too difficult for him to be separated from him.4take one of us, instead of him, for indeed we see that you are a kind man﴿, so be kind to us and to our father by doing that.

But ﴾Yoosuf said: Allah forbid that we should take any but the man with whom our property was found﴿ that is, this would be wrongdoing on our part, if we were to punish an innocent person for the crime of the one with whom we found our property. He did not say “the one who stole”, in order to avoid lying.

﴾for in that case﴿, if we punished someone other than the one in whose saddlebag it was found

﴾we should surely be unjust﴿ as we would be imposing punishment on one who was innocent.

$ tiije 4 jw

12:80. When they despaired of him [responding to their request], they conferred privately. The eldest of them said: Do you not know that your father took a solemn oath from you, by Allah, and before this you failed with regard to Yoosuf? Therefore I will not leave this land until my father gives me leave or Allah decides for me, and He is the best to decide.

12:81. Go back to your father and say: O our father, indeed your son has committed theft; we can only tell you what we saw and we could not guard against what we could not foresee.

12:82. Ask in the town where we have been and ask the caravan in which we returned; we are indeed telling the truth.

12:83. Ya‘qoob said: Nay; rather your souls have tempted you to do something evil. But I will bear this patiently, and in good grace. Perhaps Allah will bring them all back to me, for verily He is the All-Knowing, Most Wise.

When the brothers of Yoosuf despaired of him allowing them to take their brother back with them,

﴾they conferred privately﴿ that is, they got together on their own, with no one else present, and started to discuss the issue amongst themselves.

﴾The eldest of them said: Do you not know that your father took a solemn oath from you, by Allah﴿ that you would look after him and that you would bring him back, unless you were overwhelmed by circumstances?

﴾and before this you failed with regard to Yoosuf﴿. So you did two things: your previous failure with regard to Yoosuf, and your failure to bring his brother back later on. I am too ashamed to face my father, ﴾Therefore I will not leave this land﴿ that is, I will stay in this land and will remain here

﴾until my father gives me leave or Allah decides for me﴿ that is. He decrees that I should come on my own or with my brother ﴾and He is the best to decide﴿.

Then he advised them what to say to their father. He said: ﴾Go back to your father and say: O our father, indeed your son has committed theft﴿ that is, he has been detained for theft and we could not bring him to you despite our best efforts. We are not telling you about something of which we have no knowledge; rather we can only tell you what we saw, because we saw the goblet taken out of his saddlebag ﴾and we could not guard against what we could not foresee﴿ that is, if we had known what we could not foresee, we would not have beeneager and we would not have insisted that he should go with us, and we would not have given you our solemn oath. But we did not think that the matter would end like this.

﴾Ask﴿ if you doubt what we say ﴾in the town where we have been and ask the caravan in which we returned﴿ for they are aware of what we are telling you ﴾we are indeed telling the truth﴿ and we are not lying or changing the story; rather this is what really happened.

When they went back to their father and told him this news, he was very upset; his grief intensified and he accused them again about this matter, as he had accused them in the first case.

﴾Ya'qoob said: Nay; rather your souls have tempted you to do something evil. But I will bear this patiently, and in good grace﴿ that is, he resorted to patience and good grace that is not accompanied by discontent, panic or complaints to people. Then he began to hope for relief, when he saw that things had got worse and his distress had become severe. Therefore he said: ﴾Perhaps Allah will bring them all back to me)* namely Yoosuf, Binyameen and their eldest brother who had stayed in Egypt.

﴾ff°r verily He is the All-Knowing﴿ Who knows my situation and my need for His relief and favour, and my desperate need for His kindness ﴾Most Wise﴿ Who has decreed for everything a timescale and an end for all things, according to His divine wisdom.

12:84. And he turned away from them, and said: Alas for Yoosuf! And his eyes became white with grief, and he was burdened with silent sorrow.

12:85. They said: By Allah, you will not cease to remember Yoosuf until your health is ruined or you die.

12:86. He said: I only complain of my distress and sorrow to Allah, and I know from Allah what you do not know.

That is, Ya‘qoob (عليه السلام) turned away from his sons after they told him this news, and he was very sad and grieved. His eyes turned white because of the grief and sorrow in his heart that caused him to weep a great deal.

?fand said: Alas for Yoosuf! )? That is, his old and deep-rooted sorrow and longing, that had remained hidden, now rose to the surface and this calamity, which was minor in comparison to the first calamity, reminded him of that earlier calamity. His sons, who were surprised at his state, said to him:

﴾By Allah, you will not cease to remember Yoosuf﴿ that is, you keep on remembering Yoosuf in all situations

﴾until your health is ruined﴿ that is, until you lose all power and become unable to move or talk e﴾or you die﴿.

?﴾He﴿﴿ that is, Ya‘qoob ﴾said: I only complain of my distress and sorrow﴿ that are in my heart ?fto Allah﴿ alone, not to you or to any other people. So say whatever you want.

﴾fand I know from Allah what you do not know﴿, that He will return them to me and I will have the joy of being reunited with them.

12:87. 0 my sons, go and seek news of Yoosuf and his brother, and do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Verily no one despairs of the mercy of Allah but the disbelieving people.

12:88. When they came into his presence, they said: O ruler of the land, hardship has befallen us and our family, and we have brought merchandise of scant worth. So give us full measure, and be charitable to us, for Allah rewards the charitable.

Ya‘qoob (عليه السلام) said to his sons: ﴾fO my sons, go and seek news of Yoosuf and his brother﴿ that is, try hard to look for them ﴾and do not despair of the mercy of Allah﴿ for hope makes a person try hard to achieve what he hopes for, whereas despair leads to apathy and giving up. The best that people can hope for is the grace, kindness and mercy of Allah.

﴾Verily no one despairs of the mercy of Allah but the disbelieving people﴿ for - because of their disbelief - they think it unlikely that He will bestow mercy upon them and they think His mercy is far off, so do not be like the disbelievers.

This indicates that a person’s hope of the mercy of Allah will be commensurate with the level of his faith.

So they went, and t﴾When they came into his presence﴿ that is, when they entered upon Yoosuf ﴾they said﴿, beseeching him:

﴾fO ruler of the land, hardship has befallen us and our family, and we have brought merchandise of scant worth. So give us full measure, and be charitable to us﴿ that is, we and our family are in desperate need ffand we have brought merchandise of scant worth﴿ that is, merchandise that no one is interested in and is of little value﴾So give us full measure﴿ that is, even though the goods we offer do not match what we seek, be charitable to us by giving more than is our due tffor Allah rewards the charitable﴿) in this world and the hereafter.

When they had finished their plea for help and expressed how desperate they were, Yoosuf was very moved and felt sorry for them, and he told them who he was and rebuked them.

12:89. He said: Do you know what you did to Yoosuf and his brother, when you were ignorant?

12:90. They said: Could it be that you are Yoosuf? He said: I am Yoosuf, and this is my brother. Allah has indeed been gracious to us. Verily, whoever fears Allah and is patient, Allah will not cause the reward of those who do good to be lost.

12:91. They said: By Allah, verily Allah has favoured you above us, and we were indeed in the wrong.

12:92. He said: There is no reproach against you this day. May Allah forgive you, for He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.

﴾He said: Do you know what you did to Yoosuf and his brother﴿ - as for Yoosuf, it is clear what they did to him; as for his brother, itmay have been - and Allah knows best - what they said about him: ﴾flf he steals, there was a brother of his who stole before him﴿ (12: 77), or it may have been the incident that separated him from his father, of which they were the cause.

﴾when you were ignorant﴿ this is a kind of excuse for their misbehaviour, attributing it to their ignorance, or it may be a rebuke to them, because they did the deeds of ignorant people even though that was not befitting for them.

They realised that the one who was addressing them was Yoosuf, and they said: ﴾Could it be that you are Yoosuf? He said: I am Yoosuf, and this is my brother. Allah has indeed been gracious to us﴿) by blessing us with piety and fear of Allah, and establishing us in the land. That is because ﴾Verily, whoever fears Allah and is patient﴿) that is, he avoids doing what Allah has prohibited and is patient in bearing pain and calamity and in complying with the commands,

﴾Allah will not cause the reward of those who do good to be lost﴿) for these things are part of doing good, and Allah will not cause the reward of those who do good to be lost.

﴾They said: By Allah, verily Allah has favoured you above us﴿) that is, He has favoured you above us in terms of sublime characteristics and attitude, and beautiful traits, but we mistreated you in the worst manner, and we strove to cause you harm and keep you away from your father. But Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) favoured you and enabled you to attain what you wanted

﴾and we were indeed in the wrong﴿ - this was a clear and blunt admission on their part of the offence that they had committed against Yoosuf.

But Yoosuf (H50 said to them, out of generosity and kindness: ﴾There is no reproach against you this day﴿) that is, I will not reproach you or blame you﴾May Allah forgive you, for He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy﴿. So he forgave them completely, without shaming them by mentioning their previous sins, and he prayed for forgiveness and mercy for them. This is the ultimate kindness and goodness that only comes from the best of people, the elite of the chosen.

12:93. Take this shirt of mine and place it over my father’s face; he will recover his sight. Then come [back] to me with all of your family.

12:94. When the caravan set out, their father said: Verily I can smell the fragrance of Yoosuf, even though you may think me senile.

12:95. They said: By Allah, you are still lost in your old delusions!

12:96. Then when the bearer of glad tidings came, he placed [the shirt] over his face, and he [immediately] recovered his sight. He said: Did I not say to you, I know from Allah what you do not know?

12:97. They said: Our father, pray to Allah to forgive us our sins, for we were indeed in the wrong.

12:98. He said: I shall ask my Lord to forgive you, for verily He is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Yoosuf (عليه السلام) said to his brothers: ﴾Take this shirt of mine and place it over my father’s face; he will recover his sight﴿ because every disease is treated with its opposite; this shirt held traces of the fragrance of Yoosuf, grief and longing for whom had taken deep root in his father’s heart, to an extent known only to Allah, but when his father smelled it, his heart found relief and his sight was restored. There was divine wisdom in that which people do not fully understand, but Yoosuf was aware of that.

﴾Then come [back] to me with all of your family﴿ that is, your children and your clan, and all those who are connected to you, so that the reunion will be complete and hardship and lack of provision will be removed from you.

﴾When the caravan set out﴿ from Egypt, heading towards Palestine, Ya’qoob smelled the fragrance of the shirt and said: ﴾Verily I can smell the fragrance of Yoosuf, even though you may think me senile﴿ that is, you make fun of me and think I do not know what I am saying. That is because he realised that they were surprised at what had happened to make him say that, and what he expected from them did indeed happen, as they said:

﴾By Allah, you are still lost in your old delusions!﴿ That is, you are still like one who is lost at sea, and you do not know what you are saying.

﴾Then when the bearer of glad tidings﴿ that Yoosuf and his brothers and their father would soon be reunited ﴾came, he placed [the shirt] over his face, and he [immediately] recovered his sight﴿ that is, his sight was restored, after his eyes had turned white with grief, and he said to those of his children and his family who were present, who had rejected his view and been surprised at it, triumphantly rejoicing in the blessing that Allah had bestowed upon him: ﴾]Did I not say to you, I know from Allah what you do not know?﴿, as I was hoping to meet Yoosuf, and I was expecting relief from worry, distress and grief.

Then they admitted their sin, and rightfully so: ﴾They said: Our father, pray to Allah to forgive us our sins, for we were indeed in the wrong﴿ when we did what we did to you.

﴾He said﴿ hastening to respond to their request: ﴾I shall ask my Lord to forgive you, for verily He is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful﴿ and I hope that He will forgive you and have mercy upon you, showering His mercy upon you. It was said that he delayed seeking forgiveness for them until the time just before dawn, which is the best time to pray for forgiveness and the time when such prayer is more likely to be answered.

12:99. Then when they came into Yoosuf’s presence, he lodged his parents with himself and said: Enter Egypt, if Allah wills, safe and secure.

12:100. He seated his parents in the highest place of honour, and they fell down in prostration before him. He said: O my father, this is the fulfilment of my dream of old. My Lord has made it come true. He has indeed been gracious to me, when He rescued me from prison and brought you here from the desert, after Shaytan had sown discord between me and my brothers. Verily my Lord is gracious to whomever He will, for He is the All-Knowing, Most Wise.

﴾Then when﴿ Ya‘qoob and his sons, and all their families, had made preparations and travelled from their land to go and join Yoosuf in Egypt and live there, when they reached him and ﴾came into Yoosuf’s presence, he lodged his parents with himself)* that is, he made them join him and he singled them out to be close to him, showing them a great deal of respect, kindness, honour and veneration tjand said﴿ to all of his family: ﴾Enter Egypt, if Allah wills, safe and secure﴿ from all harm and fear. So they entered Egypt in that happy state and were delivered from hardship and misery, and they attained happiness and joy.

﴾He seated his parents in the highest place of honour﴿ that is, on the king’s throne, where al-‘Azeez sat

﴾and they fell down in prostration before him﴿ that is, his father, his mother and his siblings fell down in prostration before him by way of respect and honour.

4He said﴿, when he saw that and he saw them prostrating to him: my father, this is the fulfilment of my dream of old﴿ when he saw eleven stars and the sun and moon prostrating to him. This was the fulfilment of that dream, when it finally came to pass.

﴾My Lord has made it come true﴿ and He did not make it a jumbled, confusing dream.

﴾He has indeed been gracious to mej﴿ and very kind ﴾when He rescued me from prison and brought you here from the desert﴿. This is an example of his gentle and eloquent talk, as he mentioned his situation in prison, but he did not mention his situation in the well, because he had completely forgiven his brothers. Therefore he did not mention their wrongdoing and he described their coming from the desert as being an example of Allah’s kindness to him.

He did not say: Hunger and hardship have brought you here, and he did not say: Allah has been gracious to you. Rather he said: ﴾He has indeed been gracious to me﴿, pointing out that the divine kindness was directed to him. Blessed be the One Who bestows His mercyupon whomever He will of His slaves, and He grants mercy to them from Him, for He is the Bestower.

Rafter Shaytan had sown discord between me and my brothers﴿. He did not say: The Shaytan misled my brothers; rather it was as if the sin and ignorance were on both parts. Praise be to Allah Who humiliated and defeated the Shaytan and brought us together after this difficult separation.

﴾Verily my Lord is gracious to whomever He will﴿ He causes His kindness to reach His slave from where he does not expect it, and He causes him to attain high status by means of things that he dislikes ﴾for He is the All-Knowing﴿ Who knows the visible and hidden aspects of all things and the secrets in people’s hearts.

﴾Most Wise﴿ in doing what is appropriate and causing events to occur at decreed times.

12:101. O my Lord, You have indeed given me some authority and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams. O Originator of the heavens and the earth. You are my Protector in this world and in the hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim [submitting to Your will], and join me with the righteous.

When Allah gave Yoosuf power and authority in the land, and reunited him with his parents and brothers, and after Allah granted him great knowledge, he said, acknowledging with gratitude the blessing of Allah and asking Him to make him steadfast in Islam:t﴾0 my Lord, You have indeed given me some authority﴿ - as he was put in charge of the storehouses of the land, to manage as he saw fit, and he was an important adviser to the king ﴾and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams﴿ - the Arabic wording may refer to the interpretation of the revealed Books, as well as the interpretation of dreams and other kinds of knowledge ijO Originator of the heavens and the earth, You are my Protector in this world and in the hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim [submitting to Your will]﴿ that is, make me always adhere to Islam and be steadfast therein, until You cause me to die as a Muslim. This supplication was not by way of seeking to hasten death.

﴾and join me with the righteous﴿ namely the Prophets, the righteous, the pure and the chosen.

O-r

12:102. This is an account of the unseen [the distant past], which We reveal to you [O Muhammad]; you were not with them when they agreed upon their plot and they were scheming.

When Allah told this story to Muhammad {salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam - blessings and peace be upon him), Allah said to him: ﴾This﴿ namely the story that We have related to you ﴾is an account of the unseen [the distant past]﴿. Were it not for Our sending revelation to you, this great story could not have reached you, because you were not present with them ﴾when they﴿ namely the brothers of Yoosuf ﴾agreed upon their plot and they were scheming﴿ against him, when they pledged to separate him and his father, and they were in asituation where no one could see them except Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and no one could know about it unless Allah informed him of it.

This is like what Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) said when He told the story of Moosa and what happened to him, and mentioned the situation that people had no way of knowing except by His revelation:

﴾You were not there on the western side [of the mountain] when We decreed for Moosa the commission, nor did you witness that event.﴿

This is the clearest indication that what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) brought is true.

12:103. But most of humankind will not believe, no matter how eagerly you desire it.

12:104. No reward do you ask of them for this. It is but a reminder to the worlds.

12:105. How many are the signs in the heavens and the earth which they pass by without paying them any heed!

12:106. And most of them believe not in Allah except that they ascribe partners to Him.

12:107. Do they feel secure that the overwhelming scourge of Allah’s punishment will not come upon them, or that the Hour will not come upon them suddenly when they least expect it?

Here Allah (ig) says to His Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ): ﴾But most of humankind will not believe, no matter how eagerly you desire it﴿, for their thoughts and aims have become corrupt, so the eagerness of those who would sincerely advise them is of no avail, even if there are no impediments to guidance, in the sense that those would-be advisers are teaching them and calling them to that which is good for them and will ward off harm from them without asking for any reward or compensation, and even if they establish all evidence and proof that points to the truthfulness of their message. Hence Allah says:

﴾No reward do you ask of them for this. It is but a reminder to the worlds﴿ so that they may remember that which will benefit them and thus do it, and that which will harm them and thus refrain from it.

﴾How many are the signs in the heavens and the earth﴿ that point to the oneness of Allah ﴾which they pass by without paying them

Yet despite that, even if there is some belief on the part of some of them, ﴾most of them believe not in Allah except that they ascribe partners to Him﴿. Even if they affirm the Lordship of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and acknowledge that He is the Creator, Provider and Controller of all things, they still ascribe partners to Allah in His divinity and oneness. For those who have reached this state (of ascribing partners to Allah), there is nothing left for them but that the punishment should befall them and come upon them suddenly whilst they feel safe. Hence Allah says:

﴾Do they feel secure﴿ that is, do those who do these deeds and turn away from the signs of Allah feel safe ﴾that the overwhelming scourge of Allah’s punishment will not come upon them﴿ that is, a punishment that will overwhelm them all and eradicate them ﴾for that the Hour will not come upon them suddenly when they least expect it﴿ that is, for they deserve that, so let them repent to Allah and refrain from anything that may be a cause of their punishment.

12:108. Say [O Muhammad]: This is my way; I call to Allah on the basis of clear evidence - 1 and those who follow me. Glory be to Allah! And I am not one of those who ascribe partners to Allah.

12:109. We did not send before you any but men to whom We gave revelation, from among the people of the cities. Have they not travelled in the land and seen what was the fate of those who came before them? But the abode of the hereafter is better for those who fear Allah. Will you not then understand?

Here Allah says to His Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ): ﴾Say﴿ to the people

﴾This is my way﴿ that is, my way to which I call; it is the way that leads to Allah and to paradise, the way that is based on knowledge of the truth, acting upon it and giving it precedence, and based on devoting worship to Allah alone with no partner or associate, ﴾fl call to Allah﴿ that is, I urge and encourage people to turn to their Lord, and I warn them against that which keeps them away from Him. Moreover, I do that ﴾on the basts of clear evidence﴿ for my religion, that is, on the basis of knowledge and certainty beyond any shadow of a doubt, about which there are no reservations. And, likewise, ﴾those who follow me﴿ also call to Allah as I do, on the basis of certainty. So ﴾Glory be to Allah﴿, and exalted be He far above what is attributed to Him that is not befitting to His Majesty or is contrary to His perfection.﴾S(And I am not one of those who ascribe partners to Allah﴿ in any of my affairs; rather I worship Allah, devoting my worship sincerely to Him alone.

﴾We did not send before you any but men﴿ that is, We did not send angels or any other type of creature, so why then do your people find it strange that you are sent as a Messenger, and claim that you are no better than them? But you have a good example in the Messengers who were sent before you.

﴾to whom We gave revelation, from among the people of the cities﴿ that is, they were not from the desert; rather they were from among the people of the cities, who are more rational and more mature in thinking, so that their case and their message would be clear.

﴾Have they not travelled in the land﴿ if they do not believe what you say ﴾and seen what was the fate of those who came before them﴿, and how Allah destroyed them for their disbelief; so beware lest you do what they did and thus the same fate befall you as befell them.

But the abode of the hereafter﴿ that is, paradise and what it contains of eternal delights

﴾fis better for those who fear Allah﴿ by obeying His commands and avoiding what He prohibits, for the delights of this world are imperfect, tainted and fleeting, whereas the delights of the hereafter are perfect, complete and never-ending; rather they are eternal and will forever increase and continue:

C-.a gift without end.﴿ (Hood 11: 108)

﴾Will you not then understand?﴿ that is, do you not have reason with which to give precedence to that which is better over that which is inferior?

12:110. Then when the Messengers despaired and [the people] thought that the promise [made to the Messengers] was false, Our help came to them, and those who We willed were saved. Our punishment is never averted from the transgressors.

12:111. In their stories there is a lesson for people of understanding. This [the Qur’an] is not a fabricated tale, but a confirmation of [the scriptures] that came before it, an explanation of all things, and guidance and mercy to people who believe.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us that He sent the noble Messengers, but the wicked transgressors disbelieved in them, and that Allah gave them respite so that they might believe; He continued to give them respite until they reached such a high degree of harshness towards the Messengers that the latter, despite their complete certainty and strong belief in the promise and warnings of Allah, began to feel a kind of despair and a kind of faltering in knowledge and certainty. When matters reached that state, ﴾Our help came to them, and those who We willed were saved﴿ namely the Messengers and their followers. ﴾Our punishment is never averted from the transgressors﴿ that is, Our punishment is never averted from those who committed offences and transgressed the limits set by Allah.

﴾Then man will have no power to help himself nor anyone to help

﴾In their stories﴿ that is, in the stories of the Prophets and Messengers with their people

﴾there is a lesson for people of understanding﴿ that is, they learn from them, as the stories speak of both good and bad people, and explain that those who do what they did will get what they got of honour or humiliation, respectively. They also learn from these storieswhat Allah has of attributes of perfection and great wisdom, and that Allah is the One Who alone should be worshipped, with no partner or associate.

﴾This [the Qur’an] is not a fabricated tale﴿ that is, the Qur’an - in which Allah tells you these stories of the unseen - is not fabricated tales

﴾but]i it is ﴾a confirmation of [the scriptures] that came before it﴿ namely the previous Books; it is in harmony with them and testifies to their truth

﴾fan explanation of all things﴿ that people need to know of the fundamental and minor issues of faith and of proof and evidence, ﴾and guidance and mercy to people who believe﴿) for they - because of what they gain from it of knowledge of the truth to which they give precedence - attain guidance, and by what they attain of reward in this world and the hereafter, they will also attain mercy.

Here we will list some of the lessons that may be derived from this great story, at the beginning of which Allah says: ﴾We relate to you [O Muhammad] the best of stories﴿) (12: 3) and He says: ﴾Verily in Yoosuf and his brothers there are lessons for those who enquire﴿) (12: 7) and at the end of this story. He says: ﴾In their stories there is a lesson for people of understanding﴿) (12: 111).

Here we will list some lessons other than those which have been mentioned above:

• This story is one of the best and clearest of stories, because it moves from one situation to another, from trial to trial, from trial to blessing, from humiliation to honour, from slavery to a position of authority, from separation and fragmentation to reunion and harmony, from sorrow to joy, from ease to hardship, from hardship to ease, from restriction to abundance, from denial to admission. Blessed be the One Who told the story and told it well, making it abundantly clear.• It shows that there is a basis for dream interpretation and that knowledge of dream interpretation is one of the important branches of knowledge that Allah gives to whomever He will among His slaves. What this knowledge is mostly based on is connection and similarity in names and attributes. In the dream that Yoosuf saw, the sun, moon and stars were prostrating to him, and the connection here was that these lights were the adornment and beauty of heaven, and the sky is useful because of them. Similarly, the Prophets and scholars are the adornment and beauty of the earth, and by them people are guided in the darkness as they are guided by the lights (of the heavenly bodies mentioned above). Moreover, his father and mother were his origin, and his brothers were branches that stemmed from them, so it was appropriate that the origin should be greater in illumination and size than that which stemmed from it. Therefore the sun represented his mother, the moon represented his father and the stars represented his brothers. Moreover, the Arabic word for sun (shams)^{1Wherever possible, Arabic terms have been translated into English. In cases where we have chosen to retain the Arabic, the transliterated word or phrase is shown in italics the first time it appears in the text. The term is also defined in the glossary found at the end of this book. (Editor)} is feminine, therefore it represented his mother. The words for moon (qamar) and stars (kawakib) are masculine, therefore they represented his father and his brothers. It is also appropriate that the one who prostrates respects and venerates the one to whom he prostrates, and the one who is prostrated to is respected and venerated. Therefore this indicated that Yoosuf would be respected and honoured by his parents and brothers, which necessitated that he would be chosen and favoured in terms of knowledge and attributes that would lead to him being thus venerated and respected. Hence his father said to him: ﴾Thus your Lord will choose you and teach you the interpretation of dreams and events﴿ (12: 6).

In the case of the dreams of the two young men, his interpretation with regard to the first dream, in which the person saw himself pressing grapes for wine, was based on the fact that the one who presses the grapes is usually a servant to someone else, and that pressing is done for the sake of another person. Therefore Yoosuf interpreted the dream as he did, and told him that he would pour wine for his master, which implied that he would get out of prison.

In the case of the one who dreamt that he was carrying bread on his head from which the birds were eating, he interpreted it as referring to the skin and flesh of his head, and his brains, and that what was carried would be exposed to the birds in such a way that the birds would be able to eat from his head. From his situation, he realised that he would be killed and crucified after his death, and his body would be left out for the birds so that they could eat from his head, which would only occur in the case of crucifixion after execution.

He interpreted the king’s dream of the cows and ears of com as referring to years of plenty and years of drought. The connection in this case is that the people’s situation and interests are tied to those of the king; if his situation is good or bad then their situation will be likewise. Similarly, the people’s well-being and livelihood is connected to the yield of crops.

With regard to cows (oxen), they are used to till the soil and bring water to it, and if the yield is good they grow fat, but if there is drought, they grow lean. In years of abundance the ears of com are plentiful and green, but at times of drought they are few and dry; they are the best crop that land may produce.

• This story offers evidence for the truthfulness of the prophethood of Muhammad (ﷺ), as he told this long story to his people, although he had not read the scriptures of earlier nations or studied with anyone. His people saw him living among them,morning and evening, and they knew that he was unlettered and could neither read nor write. But this story is in accordance with what is mentioned in the previous Books, although he was not with them when they agreed upon their plot and they were

• We should keep away from the causes of evil and conceal what we fear, because Ya'qoob said to Yoosuf: my son, say nothing of this dream to your brothers, lest they plot evil

• It is permissible to tell a person something that may upset him by way of advice, because Ya'qoob said to him: ﴾lest they plot evil against you﴿ (12: 5).

• The blessing that Allah bestows upon a person is also a blessing for anyone who is connected to him of the members of his household, his relatives and his friends, and they may get what he gets because of that, as Ya‘qoob said, explaining the dream of Yoosuf: ^Thus your Lord will choose you and teach you the interpretation of dreams and events, and He will complete His favour to you and to the family of Ya'qoob﴿ (12: 6). When the blessing was completed for Yoosuf, the family of Ya‘qoob also attained honour and power in the land, and were granted happiness and joy, and that was because of Yoosuf.

• Justice is required in all affairs, not only in the way in which the ruler treats his people or anything less than that; it is even required in the way a father treats his children in terms of love, giving of gifts, and so on. Not treating them equally will lead to trouble for the father and will cause problems. Therefore when Ya‘qoob gave precedence to Yoosuf in terms of love, and preferred him over his brothers, they did what they did, which led to bad consequences for themselves and for their father and brothers.• This story contains a warning of the bad consequences of sin, and that one sin may lead to many other sins; one sin cannot be committed unless many others were committed before it. When the brothers of Yoosuf wanted to separate him from his father, they used various kinds of tricks to achieve that; they told lies on several occasions, and they forged the evidence of the bloodstained shirt and came weeping in order to deceive their father. It is not far-fetched to say that perhaps they had discussed the matter a great deal, and perhaps that discussion continued until they met Yoosuf again, and the more they discussed it, the more lies and fabrications there were about what happened. This is the negative consequences of sin and the effects that result from it both before and after it is done.

• What matters is having a good end, not having a bad start. The sons of Ya'qoob (عليه السلام) did what they did in the beginning, which was one of the gravest and most blameworthy of deeds, but in the end they repented sincerely and attained complete forgiveness from their father and from Yoosuf, who prayed for forgiveness and mercy for them. If a person gives up his rights and forgives another, then Allah is the best of those who show mercy.

Therefore - according to the more correct opinion - they were Prophets, because Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾...We sent revelation to Ibraheem, Isma‘eel, Is-haq, Ya‘qoob and his sons...j﴿ (an-Nisa'4: 163)

This refers to the twelve sons of Ya‘qoob and their offspring. This is supported by the fact that Yoosuf saw them in his dream as bright stars, and stars give light and guidance, which are attributes of the Prophets; if they were not Prophets, then they were rightly guided scholars.

• In this story we also see that Allah blessed Yoosuf (عليه السلام) with knowledge, forbearance and noble characteristics; he calledpeople to Allah and to His religion, and he forgave his brothers who had wronged him, on his own initiative, and he completed that by not blaming or reproaching them. Then he honoured his parents greatly and treated his brothers - and indeed all people -with kindness.

• Some evils are less serious than others, and committing the lesser of two evils is preferable to committing the greater. When the brothers of Yoosuf agreed to either kill or banish him, one of them said: ﴾Do not kill Yoosuf; but if you must do something, throw him into the hidden depths of a well﴿ (12: 10). What he said was better than what the others said, and was less serious; because of it the major sin of his brothers was reduced in severity.

• If anything is passed from hand to hand (by buying and selling) and becomes part of people’s property, and it is not known that it was acquired unlawfully, there is no sin on the one who handles it by way of buying, selling, using or benefitting from it. Yoosuf’s brothers sold him in a haram transaction that was not permissible, then the caravan took him to Egypt where they sold him, and he remained with his masters as a slave and was well-treated by them. Allah called this transaction selling ﴾They [his brothers] sold him for a small price﴿ (12:20)\ even though it was haram on the part of Yoosuf’s brothers, it was permissible on the part of those who bought him.

• This soorah warns against being alone with women from whom temptation is feared, and it also warns against the type of love that may cause harm. The wife of al-‘Azeez did what she did because of being alone with Yoosuf, which persisted until she attempted seduction and then told lies about him, and he was imprisoned for a long time because of her.

• The inclination that Yoosuf felt towards the woman, which he then gave up for the sake of Allah, was a means of drawingcloser to Allah, because that inclination came from the soul that prompts evil, which is something natural in most people. But when he compared it with the love of Allah and fear of Him, love and fear of Allah overcame the inclinations and the whims and desires of the soul. Thus he was one:

. .who feared standing before his Lord and restrained himself from base desires.﴿ (an-Naziat 79: 40)

- and he was one of the seven whom Allah will shade in the shade of His Throne on the day when there will be no shade but His, one of whom is:

«A man who is called (to sin) by a woman of high status and beauty, but he says: I fear Allah.» (Bukhari and Muslim)^{2All hadiths in this text have been checked and verified by IIPH’s researchers. It is rare, but it does happen that a hadith is not verifiable within the timeframe of researching and editing the book. In that case, a decision is made by the editorial board as to whether or not to include the hadith. It is IIPH’s policy not to include weak hadiths or fabricated (fake) hadiths in our publications. If a weak hadith is included in any text, it is only because the author of the book discusses it as a weak hadith. (Editor)} Rather the inclination for which a person is to be blamed is that which persists and becomes resolve, and may lead to action.

• If faith enters a person’s heart and he is sincere towards Allah in all his affairs, then Allah will ward off from him, by means of his faith and sincerity, all kinds of evil and shameful deeds, and the means that lead to sin, as a reward for his faith and sincerity, because He says: ffand he felt inclined towards her; were it not that he saw a sign from his Lord [he would have succumbed]. Thus We averted from him evil and shameful deeds. Verily He was one of Our chosen slaves﴿ (12: 24).

• If a person sees a place in which there is temptation and the means that lead to sin, he should get as far away as possible, so that he will be able to be safe from sin. When the woman inwhose house Yoosuf was living wanted to seduce him, he tried to flee from her and ran to the door in order to save himself from her evil.

• Circumstantial evidence is to be resorted to when there is doubt or confusion. If a man and his wife dispute about the pots and vessels in the house, what is good for the man is his and what is good for the woman is hers, if there is no proof to indicate what belongs to whom. The same applies if there is a dispute between a carpenter and a blacksmith concerning the tools of their trades, when there is no proof; actions are to be based on seeing similarities and likenesses (and the tools that are appropriate to one of these crafts are to be given to the appropriate craftsman). The witness in the case of Yoosuf testified on the basis of circumstantial evidence, ruling on the basis of the tear in the chemise. Based on the fact that it was tom from the back, he deduced that Yoosuf was telling the truth and the woman was lying.

Another example of the application of this principle was that Yoosuf deduced from the fact that the goblet was found in the saddlebag of his brother that his brother had stolen it, without the proof of a testimony or confession. Based on that, if the stolen property is found in the possession of the thief, especially if he is known for stealing, then he is to be deemed a thief. This is stronger than testimony. By the same token, if a man vomits wine, then the hadd punishment is to be carried out on that basis, so long as there is no impediment to doing so. Hence Allah called this ruling a witness, as He said: ﴾A witness from her own household suggested﴿ (12: 26).

• The beauty that Yoosuf possessed was both outward and inward. As for his outward beauty, it caused the woman in whose house he was living to do what she did, and it caused the women whom she brought together when they criticised her for thatto cut their own hands and say: ﴾This is no mortal; this can be none but a noble angel!﴿ (12: 31). As for his inward beauty, it was his great dignity in refraining from sin, even though there were many motives for doing it, and the subsequent testimony to his innocence given by the wife of al-‘Azeez and the other women. Hence the wife of al-‘Azeez said: did indeed try to seduce him, but he resisted﴿ (12: 32), and later on she said: ﴾Now the truth has come to light. It was I who tried to seduce him; verily he was telling the truths (12: 51). And the women said: ﴾Allah forbid! we know of no evil on his part﴿ (12: 51).

• Yoosuf (عليه السلام) chose prison over sin. This is what a person should do if he is tested with the choice of two things - either committing sin or undergoing a worldly punishment; he should choose the worldly punishment over committing the sin which incurs a severe punishment in this world and the hereafter. Hence one of the signs of faith is that a person hates to go back to disbelief after Allah has saved him from it, as he would hate to be thrown into the fire.

• The individual should turn to Allah and seek His protection when faced with the temptation to sin, and he should say that he has no power or strength of his own, because Yoosuf (عليه السلام) said: ﴾Unless You protect me from their wiles, I may succumb and lapse into folly﴿ (12: 33).

• Knowledge and reason call a person to good and forbid evil, whereas ignorance and folly call a person to go along with his whims and desires even if they are harmful to himself.

• Just as the person should be a true slave to Allah at times of ease, he should also be a true slave to Him at times of hardship. Yoosuf (SlO kept calling people to Allah, and when he was put in prison he continued to do so. He called the two young men to affirm the oneness of Allah and he told them to give up ascribing partners to Him. As an example of his smartness,when he saw that they were open to his call - as they thought positively of him and said to him: ﴾we see that you are a man of virtue and knowledge﴿ (12:36), and they came to him so that he could interpret their dreams for them, and he saw that they were eager to learn their interpretation from him - he saw that as an opportunity and made the most of it. So he called them to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) before interpreting their dreams, as that would be more helpful in achieving his aims and goals. First of all he explained to them that what had brought him to the level of perfection and knowledge that they saw was his faith, his affirmation of Allah’s oneness and his shunning of the path of those who did not believe in Allah and the Last Day. This was an indirect call to them, then he called them directly, explaining what was wrong with polytheism and the proof against it, and the reality of pure monotheism and the proof for it.

• One should start with what is most important, then the next most important, and so on. If a mufti is asked a question, but the questioner needs to know something else more than he needs to know what he asked about, then the mufti should teach him what he needs to know before answering his question. This is a sign of sincerity and smartness on the part of the teacher, and indicates that his advice and teaching are good. When the two young men asked Yoosuf about their dreams, before he interpreted the dreams he called them to Allah alone, with no partner or associate.

• If a person finds himself faced with hardship and difficulty, there is nothing wrong with him seeking the help of anyone who has the ability to save him or to tell others about his situation. This is not regarded as complaining to other humans, because it is something normal; people usually seek one another’s help. Hence Yoosuf said to the young man who he thought would be saved: ﴾Mention me to your master﴿ (12: 42).• It should and must be confirmed that the teacher should be completely sincere in his teaching; he should not make it a means of attaining some financial gain, status or other benefit, and he should not refuse to teach or be insincere in teaching, if the questioner does not do what his teacher tells him to do. Yoosuf (عليه السلام) asked one of the two young men to mention him to his master, but he did not do so and he forgot, but when the need arose to ask Yoosuf, they sent that young man to him, and he came and asked him about the meaning of that dream. However, Yoosuf did not rebuke him or tell him off for not mentioning him sooner; rather he answered his question completely.

• The one who is asked should tell the one who is asking about that which will benefit him of matters connected to his question, and he should guide him to the way that will benefit him in both religious and worldly terms. This comes under the heading of perfect sincerity and smartness, and good advice. Yoosuf (عليه السلام) did not only interpret the king’s dream, he also - in addition to that - told them what they should do during those years of plenty, of collecting and storing up a great deal of food.

• A person is not to be blamed for trying to ward off accusations from himself and seeking to prove his innocence; rather he is to be commended for that, as Yoosuf refused to come out of prison until it became clear to them that he was innocent with regard to the women who had cut their hands.

• This story highlights the virtue of knowledge, namely knowledge of rulings, laws, dream interpretation, management and education; it indicates that knowledge is superior to having a good image, even if it is as beautiful as Yoosuf was. Because of his beauty, Yoosuf went through all these trials and was imprisoned, but because of his knowledge he attained honour and high status, and was established in the land. All that is goodin this world and the hereafter is the result and consequences of knowledge.

• Knowledge of dream interpretation is one of the branches of Islamic knowledge, and the person will be rewarded for learning and teaching it. Hence it is not permissible to try to interpret dreams without knowledge.

• There is nothing wrong with a person speaking of the qualities he has, of knowledge and deeds, if there is an interest to be served by that, he is not intending to show off, and he is not lying, because Yoosuf said: f﴾Put me in charge of the storehouses of the land; indeed I will manage them carefully and wisely﴿ (12: 55). Similarly, seeking a position of authority is not blameworthy if the one who seeks it will do his best to fulfil his duties towards Allah and towards His slaves. There is nothing wrong with seeking such a position if one is more qualified for it than others. What is blameworthy is seeking such a position when one is not qualified for it, or if there is someone else who is of the same calibre or better, or if one is not seeking thereby to establish the command of Allah. In all such cases it is not permissible to seek positions of authority.

• Allah is most generous, and He bestows good upon His slave in this world and the hereafter. There are two means of attaining good in the hereafter, namely faith and piety, and that is better than worldly reward and acquiring worldly possessions. The individual should remind himself and make himself long for the reward of Allah, and he should not feel sad if he sees worldly people and their pleasures when he himself is not able to have the same things; rather he should console himself by thinking of the reward of Allah in the hereafter and His great bounty, because Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says: ﴾But verily the reward of the hereafter is better, for those who believe and are mindful of Allah﴿ (12: 57).• There is nothing wrong with collecting and storing provision - if the intention is to give it back to the people without harming them - because Yoosuf instructed them to collect provisions and food during the years of plenty in preparation for the years of drought. This is not contrary to putting one’s trust in Allah; rather a person should put his trust in Allah whilst taking appropriate measures that will benefit him in both religious and worldly terms.

• Yoosuf managed things well when he was put in charge of the storehouses of the land, as their store of crops became so abundant that the people of neighbouring regions came to Egypt to seek provision from the Egyptians, because they knew that supplies were available, to the extent that he did not weigh out for anyone more than he needed for himself, or less, and no one who came was given any more than a single camel load.

• It is prescribed to be hospitable and honour one’s guests, and this is one of the ways of the Messengers, because Yoosuf said to his brothers: ﴾do you not see that I give full measure and am the best of hosts?﴿ (12: 59).

• Thinking negatively of someone - when there is circumstantial evidence that points to that - is not prohibited. Ya’qoob said to his sons, when he refused to send Yoosuf with them and they tried very hard to persuade him, then they came to him and told him that the wolf had eaten Yoosuf: ﴾Nay; rather your souls have tempted you to do something evil﴿ (12: 18). And he said to them concerning the other brother: Am I to trust you with him as I once trusted you with his brother?﴿ (12:64). Then when Yoosuf kept him (his brother) with him, and his brothers came to their father, he again said to them ﴾Nay; rather your souls have tempted you to do something evil﴿ (12: 83), even though they had not been negligent on the second occasion, they hadpreviously done something that caused their father to say what he did, and there was no blame on him for that.

• Using means to ward off the evil eye and other ills, or to remove them once they have occurred, is not prohibited; rather it is permissible even when nothing will happen except the divine will and decree, because the means are also part of the divine will and decree. That is because Ya’qoob instructed his sons: ﴾0 my sons, do not enter [all] by one gate; enter by different

• It is permissible to use tricks to attain one’s rights, and knowing hidden ways of achieving one’s aims is something that is praiseworthy. What is prohibited is using tricks to avoid obligations or commit prohibited acts.

• The one who wants to give a wrong impression to someone else in order to avoid disclosing something that he does not want to disclose may use vague words and vague actions that will prevent him from telling lies, as Yoosuf did when he put the goblet in his brother’s saddlebag, then brought it out in order to give the impression that he was a thief, but there was no proof except circumstantial evidence that would give a wrong impression to his brothers. After that he said: ﴾Allah forbid that we should take any but the man with whom our property was found﴿ (12: 79) and he did not say “the man who stole our property”. EJy the same token, he did not say “we found our property with him”; rather he used general words that might be applicable to him or to someone else. There is nothing wrong with that, as it is only giving an impression that he was a thief in order to achieve the desired result and to keep his brother with him. This wrong impression of his brother was corrected after matters had become clear.

• It is not permissible for a person to testify except on the basis of what he knows and is certain of, either because he saw it orbecause he heard it from someone whom he trusts and he feels at ease with it, because they said: ﴾fwe can only tell you what

• This was a great trial with which Allah tested His Prophet and chosen one Ya‘qoob (عليه السلام), as He decreed that he should be separated from his son Yoosuf, from whom he could not bear to be apart for even an hour, for doing so would grieve him deeply. The separation between them lasted for a long time, no less than thirty years, during which grief never left the heart of Ya‘qoob. ﴾And his eyes became white with grief, and he was burdened with silent sorrow﴿ (12: 84).

Then matters got worse when he was separated from his other son, the full brother of Yoosuf. Yet he was patient in bearing the decree of Allah, seeking reward from Him, as he had pledged to bear it patiently, and in good grace, and he undoubtedly fulfilled his pledge. This is not contrary to his words only complain of my distress and sorrow to Allah﴿ (12. 86), for complaining to Allah is not contrary to patience; rather what is contrary to it is complaining to people.

• Relief comes with difficulty, for with hardship comes ease. Therefore when Ya'qoob’s grief had gone on for a long time and had reached the ultimate point, and the family of Ya‘qoob were in a state of desperation (due to the famine), at that point Allah decreed relief, so the reunion came at the time of worst hardship and desperation. Thus they attained reward along with the joy of reunion. From this it is known that Allah tests His close friends with hardship and ease, in order to test their patience and gratitude and thus increase their faith, certainty and knowledge of Him.

• It is permissible for a person to tell others about what he is going through and what he is suffering of sickness, poverty and the like, not by way of discontent, because the brothers of Yoosufsaid: ﴾0 ruler of the land, hardship has befallen us and our family﴿ (12: 88), and Yoosuf did not object to them saying that.

• This soorah highlights the virtue of fearing Allah and being patient, and tells us that all good in this world and the hereafter is the result of fearing Allah and being patient, and those who attain these characteristics will have the best consequences, because Yoosuf said: ﴾Allah has indeed been gracious to us. Verily, whoever fears Allah and is patient, Allah will not cause the reward of those who do good to be lost﴿ (12: 90).

• The one whom Allah has blessed with ease after hardship, poverty and difficulty should acknowledge the blessing that Allah has bestowed upon him, and he should always remember his former situation so that he will give thanks to Allah every time he remembers it, because Yoosuf (عليه السلام) said: ﴾He has indeed been gracious to me, when He rescued me from prison and brought you here from the desert﴿ (12:100).

• Allah showed great kindness to Yoosuf, as He caused him to go through these situations and made him go through hardship and trials so that he might reach thereby the highest goals and the most sublime status.

• The individual should always beseech Allah to make him steadfast in his faith and he should take measures to achieve that, asking Allah to grant him a good end and perfect blessing, because Yoosuf (عليه السلام) said: 1(0 my Lord, You have indeed given me some authority and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams. O Originator of the heavens and the earth, You are my Protector in this world and in the hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim [submitting to Your will], and join me with the

This is what Allah has enabled me to list of the lessons that we learn from this blessed story. The one who reflects upon it will surely find others.

We ask Allah Bg) for beneficial knowledge and accented deeds, for He is Most Generous.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat Yoosuf.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.