وَجَآءَ إِخْوَةُ يُوسُفَ فَدَخَلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِ فَعَرَفَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُۥ مُنكِرُونَ
12:16.
Commentary:
The incident related in this verse pertains to the time when there was famine in the country and Joseph was at the height of his power.
The verse also provides the fourteenth point of resemblance between Joseph and the Holy Prophet. Joseph had risen to such eminence that his brothers could not recognize him because they could not imagine that he whom they had cast into a well and who was sold as a slave could rise to so eminent a position. Much in the same way, the Meccans marvelled at the power and prestige that the Holy Prophet had gained. This is apparent from the spontaneous expression of amazement and surprise by Abu Sufyan, a Meccan chief, at the remarks which Heraclius, the Christian Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, made when he received the Prophet’s epistle inviting him to accept Islam. Heraclius, after making some enquiries about the Holy Prophet from Abu Sufyan who then happened to be in Syria, said that if what Abu Sufyan had said regarding the Prophet was true, the latter would one day become master of the land under his feet. This remark about the Prophet spontaneously uttered by a mighty monarch filled Abu Sufyan with surprise and he exclaimed, 'The affair of the son of Abu Kabshah has indeed become great' (Bukhari, ch. on Jihad). Ibn Abi Kabshah was a term of contempt applied to the Holy Prophet by the Meccans.
12:16.