12. Yusuf/Prophet Joseph

I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah

The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.

12:01
Alif. Lam. Ra’.
These are the Messages of the Clear Book – The Qur’an.

12:02
Truly WE have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an,
so that you people may understand its meaning, and message and practice it.

12:03
WE are now going to recount to you the best of narratives of the ancient past in what WE have revealed on to you – of this Qur’an,
though before it, you were indeed of the unaware of the details of this narrative.

12:04
It is a narrative of the occasion when Joseph said to his father:
‘O my dear father!
Truly, I saw in a dream eleven stars, and the sun, and the moon.
I saw them prostrating themselves before me.’

12:05
He said:
‘O my dear son!
Do not narrate your dream to your brothers, lest they hatch some plot against you out of jealousy.
Surely, Satan is a clear enemy to man’ and can incite them to do such a thing.

12:06
‘In this way, your Rabb -The Lord is going to choose you O Joseph, as a Prophet,
and teach you the interpretation and explanation of the events/dreams,
and thus confer HIS Favors upon you and upon the Family of Jacob,
as HE conferred it before upon your forefathers, Abraham and Isaac.
Indeed, your Rabb - The Lord is All-Knowing, All-Wise.’

12:07
In fact, in this narrative of Joseph and his eleven brothers, there are lessons for those seeking answers.

12:08
Remember when they - Joseph’s older half-brothers - said:
‘In fact, Joseph and his full brother Benjamin are dearer to our father than we are, even
though we are a large group of ten.
Our father is definitely in the wrong’ in this matter.

12:09
Then one of the brothers suggested:
‘Kill Joseph or drive him away in some distant land, so that our father’s affection will be exclusively for you,
and thereafter your condition would be of virtuous people.’

12:10
However, one of them disagreed and said:
‘Do not kill Joseph, but throw him into the dark depth of a dead well.
And then some passing caravan can find him and take him away – if you are going to do’
anything.

12:11
They agreed with the idea and went to their father they said:
‘O our father!
Why do you not trust us with Joseph?
While we are, in fact, his well-wishers.’

12:12
‘Let him go out with us tomorrow to the desert to enjoy himself and play.
And we will definitely take care of him.’

12:13
He - father - said:
‘In fact, it saddens me to imagine that you will take him with you and I fear that a wolf might attack and eat him, while you may not be attentive to him.’

12:14
They replied:
‘If a wolf should attack and eat him, when we are there, a strong group of ten.
Surely, then, we will be losers,’ i.e., incapable of anything.
Thus, the father agreed to send off Joseph with them.

12:15
So, when they took him out, and they all agreed to throw him into the dark depth of a dead
well -
they did so after taking off his shirt.
And WE revealed on to him – Joseph:
‘You are going to tell them one day of their misdeed, though they will not realize’ who you are.

12:16
a. And at nightfall they came back home to their father, weeping with tears and crying in grief.

12:17
They cried:
‘O our father!

We went off racing with each other, and left Joseph behind to watch our things, when a
huge wolf attacked and ate him.
But you will not believe us even though we are telling the truth.’

12:18
And they brought Joseph’s shirt with stains of fake blood on it.
Their father looked at Joseph’s shirt, and noted stains of blood, but it was neither torn nor ripped from a struggle with the wolf, so he cried in agony:
It cannot be so!
‘Instead you have made up the story to cover up yourselves.
So patience is most fitting for me.
And Allah is The One to be sought for help against what you describe/allege.’

12:19
And a caravan from Midian on its way to Egypt passed by,
and they sent their water-boy to the well to fetch water.
And he let down his bucket into the well - Joseph clung to it and he was pulled out.
Seeing the boy instead, he exclaimed with joy:
‘What a good luck - here is a boy!’
And they hid him as an item of merchandise to sell,
though Allah was Well-Aware of what they were doing.

12:20
And they sold him for a small price - a few Dirham/Shillings,
for they took him – his worth - casually.

12:21
The one from Egypt who bought him said to his wife:
‘House him hospitably,
for he may be of benefit to us, or
we might even adopt him as a son.’
So this is how WE settled Joseph in the land so that WE may assign him OUR Mission and so WE may teach him the interpretation of events/dreams.
And Allah always prevails in HIS Decrees, though most people do not know that it is so.

12:22
And when he reached his maturity, WE granted him wisdom and knowledge.
Thus WE reward those who seek to excel in goodness.

12:23
But the woman/she in whose house he was, sought to seduce him.
And, one day, she closed the doors firmly and said:
‘O you!
Come on!’
He exclaimed:
‘Allah forbid!
In fact, your husband is my master and he has given me a good place to stay.
And I shall not betray his trust.
Surely those who act unfairly are never successful’ in the Sight of Allah.

12:24
But certainly, she was obsessed with him.
And he would have been obsessed with her too, if it had not been that he saw the indication from his Rabb - The Lord.
This was so that WE may avert both evil/lewdness and immorality from him.
Surely he was one of OUR devoted servants - devoted to purity in faith.

12:25
Both of them raced each other to the door, and she grabbed and tore his shirt from behind.
They both encountered her husband at the door.
She cried:
‘There can be no other penalty for a person who intended to do evil with your wife except for imprisonment or suffer a painful punishment.’
12:26
He - Joseph quickly clarified and said:
‘It was she who tried to seduce me.’
Just then one of those present, a member of her household witnessed and suggested:
‘If his shirt is torn from the front, then she is of the truthful, and he is of the liars.’

12:27
a. ‘But if his shirt is torn from behind, then she is a liar, and he is of the truthful.’

12:28
When he – her husband - saw his shirt torn from behind, he said:
‘Surely this is yours, woman’s cunning.
Certainly, great is your cunning!’

12:29
‘Ignore this matter, O Joseph.
And you – his wife - seek forgiveness for your sin!
Surely, you are of the sinful.’

12:30
The incident became public.
And some women of the notables in the city gossiped:
‘The wife of Aziz has been trying to seduce her attendant Joseph.
He must have captured her heart.
We think she is clearly in error.’

12:31
So when she heard their sly gossip, she sent for forty of them,
and prepared a banquet for them,
and gave each of them some citrons and a knife for paring fruit.
Then she called to Joseph:
‘Come out before them!’
When they saw him, they were so wonder-struck that they cut their hands.
They said:
‘Allah forbid!’
He is not a human being.
He is nothing but a splendid angel.’

12:32
She said:
‘This is the one you have been taunting me about!
I certainly did try to seduce him, but he withheld himself from me.
Yet in case he does not do what I ask him, he will definitely be imprisoned and become of
the disgraced.’

12:33
He - Joseph turned to his Rabb - The Lord in humility and made a plea:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Prison is preferable to me than what they are urging me to.
Unless YOU avert their guiles away from me, I may succumb and yearn towards them,
and thus become of the ignorant -’ a man of base desires having succumbed to such temptations.

12:34
Then his Rabb - The Lord responded to him and averted their guiles from him by stationing him in prison.
Surely, it is HE WHO is All-Hearing of all pleas and prayers, and HE is All-Knowing of everyone’s intentions.

12:35
And yet in spite of having seen these clear proofs of Joseph’s innocence,
they found it appropriate to imprison him for a while until the people ceased talking about the incident.
He was thus imprisoned.

12:36
And two young men entered the prison with him.
One of them said:
‘I saw myself in a dream pressing wine/grapes.’
And the other said:
‘I saw myself in a dream carrying bread on my head, and the birds pecking at it.’
They said:
Tell us the interpretation of this.’
In fact, we see you of the good persons.’

12:37
Joseph answered:
‘I will give you its interpretation before the next food you are served arrives.
This knowledge is one of the things my Rabb - The Lord has taught me.
I have given up the religion of a people who do not believe in Allah, and who deny the truth of coming of the Hereafter.’

12:38
‘And I follow the religion of my forefathers, of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.
We cannot ascribe any entity of worship to Allah.
This is among Allah’s Favors to us and to the people,
but most of the people are not grateful’ for this.

12:39
Tell me O Fellow-prisoners!
Is it better to worship a number of entities of worship, or just Allah, The One, The Overpowering?’

12:40
The entities that ‘you worship, apart from HIM, are nothing but names that you and your
forefathers have assigned, for which Allah has not sent down any authority –
while the authority belongs to Allah alone.
HE Commands you to submit in worship to no one apart from HIM.
This is the Ever-True Religion!
But most people do not understand’ out of their ignorance.

12:41
‘O Fellow-prisoners!
As for one of you, he will serve wine to his master,
and as for the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will peck at his head.
The matter about which both of you asked for my opinion is thus settled.’

12:42
And Joseph asked the person among the two he thought would be released:
‘Mention me to your master.’
And say to him that there is a young man in prison who has been wrongly imprisoned.
But Satan made him forget to mention him to his master.
And thus Joseph remained in jail for several years.

12:43
And one day the King of Egypt said to his courtiers:
‘I saw seven fat cows in a dream being eaten up by seven lean ones, and seven green ears
of corn and seven others dry/seared.
O Courtiers!
Tell me the significance of my dream, if you can interpret dreams.’

12:44
They said:
‘These were only confused dreams.
But we know nothing of the interpretation of such dreams.’

12:45
Then the one who had been released from prison from among the two, remembering Joseph
after quite a while, said:
‘I will give you its interpretation.
So let me go’ for it.

12:46
And coming to jail he said:
‘Joseph, O the truthful!
Tell us the interpretation of seven fat cows being eaten up by seven lean ones,
and seven green ears of corn and seven dry/seared,
that I may go back to the people, so they will know.’

12:47
He said:
‘You will sow for seven years consecutively as usual,
and what you reap, leave the corn in the ears, except the little which you may need for food.’
12:48
‘Then there will come seven years of hardship/famine,
which will consume the grain you had stored up for them, all except a little you may have preserved.’
12:49
a. ‘Then, after that, will come a year of rain, and people will press’ out wine and oil.

12:50
And the king said:
‘Bring him to me!’
So when the messenger came to him – Joseph, he said:
‘Go back to your master and ask him about the case of the women who had cut their hands?’
Surely my Rabb - The Lord Knew full well of their cunning’ as well as my innocence.
So the women were summoned.

12:51
He - the king confronted the women and questioned:
‘What was the affair of yours – when you tried to seduce Joseph?’
They said:
‘Allah forbid!’
‘We know no evil against him.’
The wife of Aziz said:
‘The truth has now come out.
It was I who tried to seduce him, but he is indeed a man of virtue.’
Joseph was then informed of this statement and ….

12:52
…. he remarked in the prison:
‘From this Aziz should know that I did not betray him in his absence,
and that Allah does not let the scheming of those who betray ever succeed.’

12:53
Joseph then humbled himself before Allah and said:
Yet I do not absolve myself, for the soul is ever prone to evil unless my Rabb - The Lord
has mercy.
Indeed, my Rabb - The Lord is both Forgiving and Merciful.’

12:54
The King established Joseph’s innocence and was impressed by his wisdom and self-respect when he did not rush to leave the prison and meet him.
And when the king heard this, he said:
‘Bring him to me!
I am going to take him for myself.’

Joseph was thus released from prison and absolved of all fabricated charges.
So when he had talked to him, he said:
‘Today you are established with us in service and you will be fully trusted’ in our system.

12:55
He - Joseph - said:
‘Appoint me to oversee the treasures of the land.
I am both a reliable custodian as well as knowledgeable’ of the relevant matters.

12:56
Thus WE established Joseph in the land of Egypt so that he could live in it wherever he wished.
WE confer OUR Favors upon whoever WE Please,
and WE do not allow the reward of those who seek excellence in virtue to go to waste.
Allah thus replaced Joseph’s hardship with ease, and blessed him with prestige and power.

12:57
a. But the reward of the Hereafter is indeed better for those who believe and are Allah- conscious.

12:58
And so the years of hardship and famine afflicted the Land of Canaan where Jacob lived
with his family.
The brothers of Joseph came to Egypt seeking grain supplies and arrived in his presence.
He recognized them immediately, though they did not recognize him at all.
Joseph commanded that they be given lodging and treated well.

12:59
When he had supplied them with their supplies, he said to them:
‘Bring me a brother of yours from your father.
Have you not seen that I have given full measure and that I provide the best hospitality?’

12:60
‘But if you do not bring him to me, there will be no supplies for you with me,
nor shall you come to my presence.’

12:61
They assured:
‘We will certainly request his father for him.
And we will surely do so.’

12:62
Then he quietly ordered his attendants:
‘Put their money back in their packs in such a manner that they may find it only on reaching home, and hopefully will come back again.’

12:63
When they returned to their father, they said:
‘O our Father!
Any future measure would be denied to us if we do not take Benjamin with us.
So send our brother with us so that we may bring more supplies.
We will certainly take good care of him.’

12:64
He replied:
‘Should I trust you with him - Benjamin - as I trusted you with his brother Joseph before?
But still, Allah is the Best of guardians, and
HE is the Most Merciful of the merciful.’

12:65
When they unpacked their bags, they found that their money had been returned to them.
They said:
‘O Our Father!
What more can we ask?
Look, even our money has been returned to us.
We shall go and bring a camel-load more of supplies for our family, and take good care of our brother.
That will be an easy’ quantity for the king to give.

12:66
He said:
‘I will not send him – Benjamin - with you until you swear by Allah that you will bring him back to me unless all of you are overtaken’ by misfortune.
And when they had sworn by Allah, he said:
‘Allah is the Witness to our conversation.’

12:67
And as they were leaving their father said to them:
‘O My Sons!
Do not enter the city through one gate but enter through different gates to avoid the evil- eye.
However, if anything should befall you from Allah, I will not be able to avert it, for all authority belongs to Allah.
In HIM, I put my trust, and in HIM alone the trusting should put their trust.’

12:68
And when they entered the city in Egypt as their father had instructed them, separately through separate gates,
nothing could avail them against the Will of Allah,
but it was only a desire Jacob had, for indeed he had knowledge, as WE had taught him,
though most people do not know.

12:69
When they came to the presence of Joseph, he took his brother Benjamin aside,
and whispered:
‘In fact, I am your brother Joseph.
So do not be distressed at what they have been doing’ to us in the way of jealousy and highhandedness.

12:70
When he had given them their supplies, he secretly placed the measuring cup in his real
brother’s saddlebag.
Then just as they were leaving, an announcer called out after them:

‘O men of the caravan!
Surely you are thieves!’

12:71
Turning towards them, they asked:
‘What is it that you have lost?’

12:72
They - the announcer and his companions - said:
‘We lost the king’s measuring cup.
Whoever comes up with it will be given an extra camel-load of supplies;
and I can assure you of that!’

12:73
They said:
We swear ‘by Allah.
You know we did not come to commit any crime in the land.
And we are certainly not thieves.’

12:74
They - the officials - asked:
‘What then should be the punishment in case you are liars?’

12:75
They said:
‘His punishment is that if it is found in anyone’s saddlebag, should be held in detention as punishment.
This is how we punish the wrongdoers.’

12:76
The brothers then let Joseph search for their bags.
So Joseph searched their bags before his brother’s bag,
then produced it - the measuring cup - from his brother’s bag.
That is how WE planned an excuse for Joseph,
for under the law of the king he could not detain his brother unless Allah so willed.
WE elevate the status of whoever WE Will…..
over every person of knowledge, there is The One All-Knowing - Allah.

12:77
They – Joseph’s brothers - said:
‘If he has stolen no wonder, his brother Joseph too had stolen before.’
But Joseph kept this secret within himself and did not disclose it to them that he was Joseph.
He whispered within himself:
‘You are worse in the degree of evil, for Allah knows very well of the truth of what you are alleging’ about me.

12:78
They said:
‘O Aziz!
He has an aged father -

who finds solace in him from the anguish he feels for his dead son, and it will aggrieve him
immensely to part with him.
So detain one of us in his place.
Indeed, we see you are a kind person.’

12:79
He said:
‘Allah forbid that we hold anyone except the one with whom we found our item.
If we did otherwise, surely, then, we would be unjust.’

12:80
So when they despaired of persuading him, they went aside to confer privately.
The oldest of them - Reuben - said:
‘You know that your father has already taken a promise from you by the Blessed Name of
Allah,
and you had failed in your duty to Joseph before.
Therefore, I shall not leave this place unless my father permits me to return home,
or else Allah decides for me through the deliverance of Benjamin,
for HE is the Best of all judges’ to decide.

12:81
So go back to your father and tell him:
‘O Our Father!
Your son Benjamin stole.
We merely bear witness to only what we know for sure.
And we could not prevent/know the unknown.’

12:82
‘And ask from the people of that city – in Egypt - where we were,
and people of the caravan – Canaanites - with whom we have come back.
And, we are definitely truthful.’

12:83
The father cried out:
No! Your story is not true.
It cannot be so!
‘Instead, you have only made up a story to cover yourselves.
Anyhow, patience is best for me.
Allah may bring them all back to me.
Surely, it is HE WHO is All-Knowing and All-Wise.’

12:84
He turned away from them, saying:
‘Alas – my grief for Joseph!’
And he lost his eye-sight because of the anguish and grief that he was suppressing.

12:85
They said:
‘By Allah you will never stop thinking of Joseph till you exhaust yourself by grief or be of the dead.’

12:86
He replied:
‘I am only complaining of my grief and anguish to Allah.
And I know from Allah what you do not know.’

12:87
‘O my sons!
Go to Egypt in search of Joseph and his brother Benjamin there,
and do not despair of Allah’s Mercy.
Surely no one despairs of Allah’s Mercy, except for the people who are disbelievers.’

12:88
Then, when they returned to Egypt and entered his - Joseph’s - presence, they said:
‘O Aziz!
Grief has befallen us and our family.
We have brought but a little amount, but give us full measure, and be charitable to us.
Allah surely rewards the charitable.’

12:89
He - Joseph - said:
‘Do you realize what you did to Joseph and his brother Benjamin when you were ignorant?’

12:90
They said:
‘Is it really you, Joseph?!’
He said:
Yes, ‘I am indeed Joseph, and this is my brother Benjamin.
Allah has definitely been gracious to us by bringing us together.
Indeed, those who are virtuous and endure hardship, get their reward -
for, surely, Allah will never let the reward of those who do good go to waste.’

12:91
They said:
‘By Allah!
Allah has indeed preferred and favored you over us.
And we have certainly been sinful in treating you with contempt and disgrace.

12:92
He said:
There is ‘no blame on you today.
May Allah forgive you-
for HE is the Most Merciful of those who are merciful.’

12:93
‘Take this shirt of mine and put it on my father’s face,
his eye-sight will be restored.
And then bring your families to me – all together.’

12:94
As the caravan set out from Egypt for Canaan, their father exclaimed to those present at home:
‘Surely, I do indeed perceive the scent of Joseph – even though you may think me senile.’

12:95
They said:
‘By Allah!
Surely you are indeed still persisting in your old delusion’ – indeed you are senile!

12:96
Then, when it so happened that the bearer of the good news arrived,
and he put the shirt over his face,
so his eye-sight was restored.
He said:
‘Did I not tell you that I know from Allah what you do not know?’

12:97
They said:
‘O Our Father!
Seek forgiveness from Allah for us, for our sins.
Truly, we have been sinful.’

12:98
He replied:
‘I shall seek forgiveness for you from my Rabb - The Lord.
Surely, it is HE WHO is The Forgiving, The Merciful.’

12:99
When they entered into Joseph’s presence, he took his parents to himself,
and said:
‘Enter Egypt in peace - by the Will of Allah!’

12:100
He exalted his parents by his side on to the throne;
and they all fell down in prostration before him.
And he, Joseph, said:
‘O My Dear Father!
This is the fulfillment of my dream that I saw long before.
My Rabb - The Lord has made it all come true.
HE has been Gracious to me in
getting me out of the prison, and
bringing you out of the desert life to me,
even after the discord created by Satan between me and my brothers.
Surely, my Rabb - The Lord is Gracious to whoever HE Pleases.
Indeed, it is HE WHO is All-Knowing, All-Wise.’

12:101
‘O My Rabb - The Lord!
You have given me authority, and taught me the interpretation of and the ability to explain
events/ dreams.
O Originator of the celestial realm and the terrestrial world!
YOU alone are my Guardian in this world and in the realm of the Hereafter.
Let me die while in submission to YOU as a Muslim,
and place me among the righteous’ in faith, conduct, speech and to each other.

12:102
This is one of the narratives of the unknown, WE are revealing it on to you, O The Prophet.
You were not present with them when they agreed on their plan and were scheming against Joseph.

12:103
Yet most of the people are not going to believe,
no matter how eager you might be.

12:104
You are not asking them for any reward for it.
It - The Qur’an - is no less than a reminder for all Worlds – the world of humans and the world of jinn.

12:105
And how many wonders in the celestial realm and the terrestrial world do they pass by
every day!
Yet they turn away from it and do not acknowledge the Unique Creative Powers of Allah.

12:106
And most of them do not believe in Allah except that,
they also ascribe other entities to HIM.

12:107
Do they consider themselves secure that an overwhelming punishment of Allah will not come upon them,
or that the Last Hour will not come upon them suddenly/unexpectedly, while they remain unaware of its timing?

12:108
Say O The Prophet:
‘This my way.
I call you to believe in Allah on the basis of evidence - as clear as sight – I and those who follow me.
All Glory be to Allah!
And I am not of the polytheists.’

12:109
And WE had not assigned any Messenger before you, O The Prophet, except the persons of those regions to whom WE sent OUR Revelations/Messages.
Do they not travel around the world and observe the fate of disbelieving people and polytheists before them?
Surely the Home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah in awe, reverence, and piety.
So would you not then understand and have faith?

12:110
Whenever the former Messengers despaired, and thought they had been belied and denied to such an extent that there could not be any possible acceptance of faith,
then OUR help came to them by way of eliminating the willful deniers, and WE saved whoever WE Pleased.
In fact, OUR Punishment will never be averted from the sinful people.

12:111
Certainly in their accounts of punishment is a lesson for people of understanding.
This proclamation – The Qur’an - is not a fictitious account, but a confirmation of Divine Books that were revealed before this.
The Qur’an is a clear account of everything that one needs for the proper observance of life,
and a source of guidance and mercy for a believing people - as they are the ones to benefit
from it.