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PROPHET YUSUF IN THE HOLY QURAN
IN THE NAME
OF ALLAH THE BENEFICENT THE MERCIFUL
We narrate to you the best of
narratives, by Our revealing to you this
Quran, though before this you were certainly
one of those who did not know.
When Yusuf said to his father: O my
father! surely I saw eleven stars and the sun
and the moon I saw them making obeisance
to me.
He said: O my son! do not relate your
vision to your brothers, lest they devise a
plan against you; surely the Shaitan (devil) is an
open enemy to man.
And thus will your Lord choose you
and teach you the interpretation of sayings
and make His favor complete to you and to
the children of Yaqoub, as He made it
complete before to your fathers, Ibrahim
and Ishaq; surely your Lord is Knowing,
Wise.
Certainly in Yusuf and his brothers
there are signs for the inquirers.
When they said: Certainly Yusuf and
his brother are dearer to our father than
we, though we are a (stronger) company;
most surely our father is in manifest error:
Slay Yusuf or cast him (forth) into
some land, so that your father's regard may
be exclusively for you, and after that you
may be a righteous people.
A speaker from among them said:
Do not slay Yusuf, and cast him down into
the bottom of the pit if you must do (it), (so
that) some of the travellers may pick him
up.
They said: O our father! what reason
have you that you do not trust in us with
respect to Yusuf? And most surely we are
his sincere wellwishers:
Send him with us tomorrow that he
may enjoy himself and sport, and surely we
will guard him well.
He said: Surely it grieves me that you
should take him off, and I fear lest the wolf
devour him while you are heedless of him.
They said: Surely if the wolf should
devour him notwithstanding that we are a
(strong) company, we should then certainly
be losers.
So when they had gone off with him
and agreed that they should put him down at
the bottom of the pit, and We revealed to
him: You will most certainly inform them of
this their affair while they do not perceive.
And they came to their father at
nightfall, weeping.
They said: O our father! surely we
went off racing and left Yusuf by our goods,
so the wolf devoured him, and you will not
believe us though we are truthful.
And they brought his shirt with false
blood upon it. He said: Nay, your souls have
made the matter light for you, but patience
is good and Allah is He Whose help is sought
for against what you describe.
And there came travellers and they
sent their waterdrawer and he let down his
bucket. He said: O good news! this is a
youth; and they concealed him as an article
of merchandise, and Allah knew what they
did.
And they sold him for a small price,
a few pieces of silver, and they showed no
desire for him.
And the Egyptian who bought him
said to his wife: Give him an honorable
abode, maybe he will be useful to us, or we
may adopt him as a son. And thus did We
establish Yusuf in the land and that We
might teach him the interpretation of
sayings; and Allah is the master of His
affair, but most people do not know.
And when he had attained his
maturity, We gave him wisdom and
knowledge: and thus do We reward those
who do good.
And she in whose house he was
sought to make himself yield (to her), and
she made fast the doors and said: Come
forward. He said: I seek Allah's refuge, surely
my Lord made good my abode: Surely the
unjust do not prosper.
And certainly she made for him, and
he would have made for her, were it not that
he had seen the manifest evidence of his
Lord; thus (it was) that We might turn away
from him evil and indecency, surely he was
one of Our sincere servants.
And they both hastened to the door,
and she rent his shirt from behind and they
met her husband at the door. She said: What
is the punishment of him who intends evil to
your wife except imprisonment or a painful
chastisement?
He said: She sought to make me yield
(to her); and a witness of her own family
bore witness: If his shirt is rent from front,
she speaks the truth and he is one of the
liars:
And if his shirt is rent from behind,
she tells a lie and he is one of the truthful.
So when he saw his shirt rent from
behind, he said: Surely it is a guile of you
women; surely your guile is great:
O Yusuf! turn aside from this; and (O
my wife)! ask forgiveness for your fault,
surely you are one of the wrongdoers.
And women in the city said: The
chiefs wife seeks her slave to yield himself
(to her), surely he has affected her deeply
with (his) love; most surely we see her in
manifest error.
So when she heard of their sly talk
she sent for them and prepared for them a
repast, and gave each of them a knife, and
said (to Yusuf): Come forth to them. So
when they saw him, they deemed him great,
and cut their hands (in amazement), and
said: Remote is Allah (from inperfection);
this is not a mortal; this is but a noble
angel.
She said: This is he with respect to
whom you blamed me, and certainly I sought
his yielding himself (to me), but he
abstained, and if he does not do what I bid
him, he shall certainly be imprisoned, and he
shall certainly be of those who are in a state
of ignominy.
He said: My Lord! the prison house is
dearer to me than that to which they invite
me; and if Thou turn not away their device
from me, I will yearn towards them and
become (one) of the ignorant.
Thereupon his Lord accepted his
prayer and turned away their guile from him;
surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
Then it occurred to them after they
had seen the signs that they should imprison
him till a time.
And I follow the religion of my
fathers, Ibrahim and Ishaq and Yaqoub; it
beseems us not that we should associate
aught with Allah; this is by Allah's grace upon
us and on mankind, but most people do not
give thanks:
O my two mates of the prison! are
sundry lords better or Allah the One, the
Supreme?
You do not serve besides Him but
names which you have named, you and your
fathers; Allah has not sent down any
authority for them; judgment is only Allah's;
He has commanded that you shall not serve
aught but Him; this is the right religion but
most people do not know:
And he said to him whom he knew
would be delivered of the two: Remember me
with your lord; but the Shaitan (devil) caused him to
forget mentioning (it) to his lord, so he
remained in the prison a few years.
And the king said: Surely I see seven
fat kine which seven lean ones devoured; and
seven green ears and (seven) others dry: O
chiefs! explain to me my dream, if you can
interpret the dream.
They said: Confused dreams, and we
do not know.the interpretation of dreams.
And of the two (prisoners) he who
had found deliverance and remembered
after a long time said: I will inform you of its
interpretation, so let me go:
Yusuf! O truthful one! explain to us
seven fat kine which seven lean ones
devoured, and seven green ears and (seven)
others dry, that I may go back to the people
so that they may know.
He said: You shall sow for seven
years continuously, then what you reap leave
it in its ear except a little of which you eat.
Then there shall come after that
seven years of hardship which shall eat away
all that you have beforehand laid up in store
for them, except a little of what you shall
have preserved:
Then there will come after that a
year in which people shall have rain and in
which they shall press (grapes).
And the king said: Bring him to me.
So when the messenger came to him, he
said: Go back to your lord and ask him, what
is the case of the women who cut their
hands; surely my Lord knows their guile.
He said: How was your affair when
you sought Yusuf to yield himself (to you)?
They said: Remote is Allah (from
imperfection), we knew of no evil on his
part. The chief's wife said: Now has the truth
become established: I sought him to yield
himself (to me), and he is most surely of the
truthful ones.
This is that he might know that I
have not been unfaithful to him in secret and
that Allah does not guide the device of the
unfaithful.
And I do not declare myself free,
most surely (man's) self is wont to command
(him to do) evil, except such as my Lord has
had mercy on, surely my Lord is Forgiving,
Merciful.
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And the king said: Bring him to me, I
will choose him for myself. So when he had
spoken with him, he said: Surely you are in
our presence today an honorable, a faithful
one.
He said: Place me (in authority) over
the treasures of the land, surely I am a good
keeper, knowing well.
And thus did We give to Yusuf power
in the land he had mastery in it wherever he
liked; We send down Our mercy on whom We
please, and We do not waste the reward of
those who do good.
And certainly the reward of the
hereafter is much better for those who
believe and guard (against evil).
And Yusuf's brothers came and went
in to him, and he knew them, while they did
not recognize him.
And when he furnished them with
their provision, he said: Bring to me a
brother of yours from your father; do you
not see that I give full measure and that I am
the best of hosts?
But if you do not bring him to me,
you shall have no measure (of corn) from
me, nor shall you come near me.
They said: We will strive to make his
father yield in respect of him, and we are
sure to do (it).
And he said to his servants: Put
their money into their bags that they may
recognize it when they go back to their
family, so that they may come back.
So when they returned to their
father, they said: O our father, the measure
is withheld from us, therefore send with us
our brother, (so that) we may get the
measure, and we will most surely guard him.
He said: I cannot trust in you with
respect to him, except as I trusted in you
with respect to his brother before; but Allah
is the best Keeper, and He is the most
Merciful of the merciful ones.
And when they opened their goods,
they found their money returned to them.
They said: O our father! what (more) can we
desire? This is our property returned to us,
and we will bring corn for our family and
guard our brother, and will have in addition
the measure of a camel (load); this is an
easy measure.
He said: I will by no means send him
with you until you give me a firm covenant in
Allah's name that you will most certainly
bring him back to me, unless you are
completely surrounded. And when they gave
him their covenant, he said: Allah is the One
in Whom trust is placed as regards what we
say.
And he said: O my sons ! do not (all)
enter by one gate and enter by different
gates and I cannot avail you aught against
Allah; judgment is only Allah's; on Him do I
rely, and on Him let those who are reliant
rely.
And when they had entered as their
father had bidden them, it did not avail them
aught against Allah, but (it was only) a desire
in the soul of Yaqoub which he satisfied; and
surely he was possessed of knowledge
because We had given him knowledge, but
most people do not know.
And when they went in to Yusuf. he
lodged his brother with himself, saying: I am
your brother, therefore grieve not at what
they do.
So when he furnished them with their
provisions, (someone) placed the drinking
cup in his brother's bag. Then a crier cried
out: O caravan! you are most surely thieves.
They said while they were facing them:
What is it that you miss?
They said: We miss the king's
drinking cup, and he who shall bring it shall
have a camelload and I am responsible for
it.
They said: By Allah! you know for
certain that we have not come to make
mischief in the land, and we are not thieves.
They said: But what shall be the
requital of this, if you are liars?
They said: The requital of this is that
the person in whose bag it is found shall
himself be (held for) the satisfaction
thereof; thus do we punish the wrongdoers.
So he began with their sacks before
the sack of his brother, then he brought it
out from his brother's sack. Thus did We
plan for the sake of Yusuf; it was not
(lawful) that he should take his brother
under the king's law unless Allah pleased; We
raise the degrees of whomsoever We
please, and above every one possessed of
knowledge is the Allknowing one.
They said: If he steal, a brother of
his did indeed steal before; but Yusuf kept it
secret in his heart and did not disclose it to
them. He said: You are in an evil condition
and Allah knows best what you state.
They said: O chief! he has a father, a
very old man, therefore retain one of us in
his stead; surely we see you to be of the
doers of good.
He said: Allah protect us that we
should seize other than him with whom we
found our property, for then most surely we
would be unjust.
Then when they despaired of him,
they retired, conferring privately together.
The eldest of them said: Do you not know
that your father took from you a covenant in
Allah's name, and how you fell short of your
duty with respect to Yusuf before?
Therefore I will by no means depart from
this land until my father permits me or Allah
decides for me, and He is the best of the
judges:
Go back to your father
and say: O our father!
surely your son committed theft, and we do not bear witness
except to what we have known, and we could not
keep watch over the unseen:
And
inquire in the town in which we were and the
caravan with which we proceeded, and most surely we are
truthful.
He (Yaqoub)
said: Nay, your souls have made a
matter light for you, so patience is good; maybe Allah will
bring them all together to me; surely He is
the Knowing, the Wise.
And he
turned away from them, and said: O my sorrow
for Yusuf! and his eyes became white on account of the
grief, and he was a repressor (of grief).
They said: By
Allah! you will not cease to remember
Yusuf until you are a prey to constant disease or (until)
you are of those who perish.
He
said: I only complain of my grief and sorrow to
Allah, and I know from Allah what you do not know.
O my
sons! Go and inquire respecting Yusuf and his
brother, and despair not of Allah's mercy; surely none
despairs of Allah's mercy except the unbelieving people.
So when they
came in to him, they said: O chief!
distress has afflicted us and our family and we have
brought scanty money, so give us full measure and
be charitable to us; surely Allah rewards the charitable.
He said: Do
you know how you treated Yusuf and his
brother when you were ignorant?
They
said: Are you indeed Yusuf? He said: I am
Yusuf and this is my brother; Allah has indeed been
gracious to us; surely he who guards (against
evil) and is patient (is rewarded) for surely Allah does
not waste the reward of those who do good.
They said: By
Allah! now has Allah certainly chosen
you over us, and we were certainly sinners.
He said:
(There shall be) no reproof against you
this day; Allah may forgive you, and He is the most
Merciful of the merciful.
Take this my
shirt and cast it on my father's face,
he will (again) be able to see, and come to me with all
your families.
And
when the caravan had departed, their father
said: Most surely I perceive the greatness of Yusuf, unless
you pronounce me to be weak in judgment.
They
said: By Allah, you are most surely in your
old error.
So when
the bearer of good news came he cast it on
his face, so forthwith he regained his sight. He said: Did
I not say to you that I know from Allah what you do not
know?
They
said: O our father! ask forgiveness of our
faults for us, surely we were sinners.
He said: I
will ask for you forgiveness from my
Lord; surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
Then when
they came in to Yusuf, he took his
parents to lodge with him and said: Enter safe into Egypt,
if Allah please.
And he
raised his parents upon the throne and they
fell down in prostration before him, and he said: O my
father! this is the significance of my vision of old; my
Lord has indeed made it to be true; and He was indeed kind
to me when He brought me forth from the prison and brought
you from the desert after the Shaitan had sown dissensions
between me and my brothers, surely my Lord is benignant to
whom He pleases; surely He is the Knowing, the Wise.
My Lord! Thou
hast given me of the kingdom and
taught me of the interpretation of sayings: Originator of
the heavens and the earth! Thou art my guardian in this
world and the hereafter; make me die a muslim and join me
with the good.
The Holy Quran:12/ 3...101 |
