یُوۡسُفُ

1509

Important Words:

یوسف (Joseph) was the eleventh son of the Prophet Jacob, otherwise known as Israel, and the elder of the two sons of Rachel. The meaning given to the name is "shall add" i.e. "The Lord shall add to me another son" (Gen. 30:24). A somewhat detailed account of his life is given in the present Surah. It should, however, be added that Joseph possesses the unique characteristic among all Prophets of God that not only was he himself a Prophet of God but his father, Jacob, his grandfather, Isaac, and his great-grandfather, Abraham, were all God’s chosen Messengers. The Holy Prophetreferred to this characteristic of Joseph in one of his well-known sayings when, on being asked by some of his Companions as to who was the noblest of men, he is reported to have replied, "Truly the noblest of men is the Prophet Joseph who was the son, grandson and great-grandson of a Prophet of God" (Bukhari, Kitab Bad’ul-Khalq). It may also be noted here that, though Joseph was buried in Egypt, his remains were later removed by Moses to Palestine when the Israelites were commanded by God to leave Egypt (Enc. Bib.).

کوکبا (stars) is derived from کوکب (kaukaba) which means, it (iron) glistened; was lustrous, or bright. کوکب (kaukabun) of which the plural is کواکب means, a star; an asterism; a constellation; the source or spring of a well; the lustre or brightness of iron, etc.; a sword; a whiteness in the eye; a tract which differs in colour from the land in which it lies; a youth nearly of the age of puberty; also a youth who has attained the period of adolescence and whose face has become beautiful; the chief or lord, or prince and horseman, or cavalier of a people; an armed man; a mountain; a troop of horses; the greater or chief part of a thing; the flower or flowers of a garden, etc. (Lane).

Commentary:

With this verse begins the story of Joseph, and in this very verse two important differences in the accounts of the Bible and the Quran and in the manner of their narration have been brought to light. Firstly, the Biblical account begins with a description of the pedigree of Joseph, while the Quran leaves this unimportant detail to be filled up by historians and begins the actual narration with the dream of Joseph, which constitutes its pivot. The whole life of Joseph revolves round this dream. Thus the Quran has opened the narrative with a much better and more appropriate beginning than the Bible. Secondly, while describing the dream of Joseph, the Bible mentions the sun and the moon first and the eleven stars afterwards, as making obeisance to Joseph (Gen. 37:9), but the Quran reverses the order; and actual facts of history support the order followed by the Quran, for it was the brethren of Joseph (the eleven stars) who met him first and made obeisance to him and his parents came afterwards. The vision as given in the Quran was literally fulfilled in actual life.

The word ساجدین (making obeisance) in the verse does not mean that the brothers and parents of Joseph actually fell prostrate before him. The root-meaning of this word being "obedience" and "submission" (for which see 2:35), the expression signified only that they would become obedient to the authority of Joseph and so it actually came to pass, for the parents and brothers of Joseph came to reside in the land where Joseph held sway as a Minister of State. Thus it was that they became ساجد or obedient to him. The names of the eleven brothers of Joseph, as given in the Bible, are:Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

The incident of the vision related by Joseph to his father furnishes two points of resemblance between him and the Holy Prophet. Just as Joseph’s vision, which was his first revelation, foretold his future greatness; so the first revelation of the Holy Prophet in the Cave of Hira predicted that he was to become the most honoured man of the human race. In 96:2-5, containing the first revelation which the Holy Prophet received, he was told that God would make him the most honoured among mankind and through him would teach men things which they did not know before, and that he would be the most honoured man not only among his contemporaries but also among those who had gone before him as well as those who would come after him. In this way, he would not only be the chief among his own brethren or followers, but also among his spiritual forefathers, the Prophets of yore. This is why the Holy Prophet is reported to have said لوکان موسی و عیسی حیین لما وسعھما الااتباعی i.e. even if Moses and Jesus had been living, they could not have helped tendering their allegiance to me (Kathir. vol. 2, p. 246). He also said انا سید ولد آدم i.e. I am the chief of all the children of Adam (Tirmidhi, ch. on Manaqib).

The second point of resemblance between the Holy Prophet and Joseph mentioned in this verse is that, whereas Joseph related his vision to his father, the Holy Prophet, at the instance of his wife, Khadijah, related his first revelation to Waraqah bin Naufal, who was one of the elders of the family (Bukhari).

1533

Commentary:

Here again there is a difference between the Bible and the Quran. According to the Bible Joseph’s master believed the allegation of his wife to be true and held Joseph to be guilty and was angry with him (Gen. 39:19). But other verses of the Bible itself contradict this statement and support the Quran. In Genesis it is stated that when Joseph was sent to prison, its keeper committed all the prisoners to his care. The prison was under the charge of Potiphar, captain of the guard (Joseph’s master), nay, it was in Potiphar’s own house, as the following Biblical verses show: And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound (Gen. 40:2,3). Now it does not stand to reason that the keeper of the prison who was subordinate to Potiphar, Joseph’s master, should have given the latter a position of honour in the prison when his superior looked upon him as one who sought to commit an outrage upon his wife. Not only that but we find that Potiphar himself put two of Pharaoh’s officers, the chief of the butlers and the chief of the bakers in charge of Joseph while the former were sent to the same prison (Gen. 40:4). These facts clearly show that Joseph’s master believed him to be innocent of the heinous charge brought against him by his wife.

1550

Commentary:

The words, that I may return to the people so that they may know, show that the butler addressed them to Joseph with a view to inspiring hope in him that when he returned to the court with the interpretation, the people would realize that Joseph was a holy man and was innocent of the wicked charge imputed to him. The butler also meant by these words to offer an excuse for his failure so far to fulfil his promise to Joseph, which was that no favourable opportunity had yet offered itself to bring his case to the notice of the King and that it was only now that a suitable opportunity had presented itself.

1577

Commentary:

One sin leads to another. Joseph’s brothers had first sought to put him to death. Now quite unashamedly they hastened to accuse him of theft. Strangely enough, some commentators, instead of dismissing this baseless accusation as a malicious lie, start searching for some act of stealing in Joseph’s life and have gone so far as to declare that while a child he had stolen a few things from the house of his aunt.

The words, You seem to be in the worst condition, pathetically point to Joseph’s painful thought that, instead of repenting after their early lapse, his brothers had now become even more degenerate than before.

1590

Commentary:

The way in which Joseph referred to the past behaviour of his brothers, coupled with the repeated assurance of their father that Joseph was alive, did not take long in suggesting to them the idea that the high dignitary standing before them was no other than Joseph himself. So they asked in surprise, "Art thou Joseph?", upon which Joseph, not desiring to keep them in suspense any longer, at once revealed his identity to them. After having disclosed himself to them, he gently told them that one could not overcome difficulties by merely begging and suffering oneself to be degraded, but that the secret of all success lay in piety and patience, in hard work and in trusting in God Who was ever the Protecting Friend of the righteous.

3521

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that Prophets have been coming in the world from time immemorial but men are so constituted that whenever a Prophet came they rejected and opposed him and when he died they said that no more Prophets would come and that the door of revelation was shut forever. This attitude of disbelievers has led to the rejection of every Prophet.