YUSUF 12

Chapter 12

Yusuf – (A Messenger of God)

Total Verses: 111

The story of Yusuf, a messenger of God, is narrated in detail, in this chapter. The narration in full account, of the story of a single individual, is done only in this chapter. Hence, this chapter is named Yusuf. Allah Himself, mentions it in this beginning of this chapter, as a beautiful story.

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent and the most Merciful.

1. Alif, Lam, Ra² .These are verses of the clear Book.

2. Indeed, We reavealed²²⁷this Quran in Arabic⁴⁸⁹ language so that you will understand.

3. We narrate to you (O Muhammad) a very beautiful story through the revelation of this Quran to you. Before this, you were not aware of this.

4. Remind, what Yusuf said to his father, ”O my father, I saw (in the dream) eleven stars the sun and the moon. I saw them prostrating to me.”

5. He said, “O my dear son, do not reveal your dream to your brother. They will plot severely against you. Indeed, Shaitan is an open enemy to man.”

6. (And also said), “Thus your God will select you and teach you interpretation of (various) news. He will fulfill His favour on you and the family of Yaqub, as He has fulfilled His promise on your (fore) father Ibrahim and Isac before. Indeed, your God is Knowing and Wise.

7. There are certainly many evidences in Yusuf and his brothers, to those who ask (for explanation).

8. Remind²²⁸, what (his brothers) said, “Even though we are (in a large number) a large group, Yusuf and his brothers are very dearer to our father than us. Indeed, our father is in clear error.”

9. (Also said), “Kill Yusuf or throw him in some (other) land. Your father’s affection will be on you. Then, you can become good people.”

10. On of them said, “If whatever may want to do but do not kill Yusuf. You throw him in to a deep well. Some travelers will pick him up.”

11. They said, “O our father, why don’t you believe us in the matter of Yusuf? We are his well wishers.”

12. Also said, “Tomorrow you send him with us. He will eat well and play. And indeed we are his protectors.”

13. He said, “Indeed, it will make me sad that you take him with you. I fear that wolf may eat him when you do not watch him.”

14. They said, “Then indeed, we would be losers if a wolf eats him while we are in a group.”

15. They decided unanimously to throw him into a deep well, when they took him with them. We informed Yusuf without their knowing, “At a (later period) you would surely tell them about their matter of theirs.”

16. They came to their father at night weeping.

17. And said, “O our father, indeed, we ran competing with one another. We left Yusuf near our things. Then a wolf ate him. You would not believe us even when we were speaking the truth.”

18. And they brought his shirt with false blood. He said, “Your minds have shown your deeds as good. I adopt good patience. In the matter that you mention help can be sought only with Allah.”

19. And a (caravan) group of travelers came. They sent the water carrier. He dropped the bucket (into the well). He said, “Here is a good news. Here is a boy”. They took him as a (part of their) merchandise and hid him. Allah is Knowing what they did.

20. And they sold him at a cheap price for a few silver coins, which can be counted easily. In his matter they were without greed for money.

21. And one who purchased him in Egypt said to his wife, “Treat him with respect. He may be useful to us or we can adopt him as our son.” Thus We provided facilities in that land for Yusuf. We taught him interpretation for (various) news. Allah is successful in his matter but most of them do not know.

22. And I gave power and education to him, when he reached maturity. Thus We give reward for those who do good.

23. And in her house, where he remained, she tempted him. She also closed the doors and said, ‘Come’. For that he said, “I seek protection from Allah. Indeed, it is He who is my God. He has given me a beautiful living place. Indeed, those who have caused injustice will not succeed.”

24. And she certainly desired him. He also desired her. If he had not seen the sign of Allah (he would have wronged). Thus, We removed from him bad and shameful acts. He was one of our selected servants.

25. And both of them razed towards the door. She tore his shirt from behind. Then both of them saw her husband near the door. She said, “What punishment will there be for the one who thought of doing a bad deed to your wife, except imprisonment or painful suffering?”

26, 27. He said, “It was only she who tried to tempt me.” A person from her family gave witness²⁶. (The person said), “If his shirt is torn from the front, then she has told the truth and he is a liar. If his shirt is torn from behind then she has told a lie and He is truthful.”

28. When he (her husband) saw that his shirt is torn in the back, he said, “Indeed, it is only your plot. Indeed the plot of the woman is very great (deep).”

29. He said to Yusuf, “O Yusuf, ignore this” and to his wife he also said, “Seek forgiveness for your sins. Indeed you are the sinner.”

30. And the women in the city said, “The wife of the minister has tried to tempt her slave. That slave had attracted her by love. Indeed, we consider her to be in clear error.”

31. When she heard of their scheme, she sent for them. She also prepared a feast for them. She gave each of them a knife. She said (to Yusuf), “Go towards them.” When they saw him they were stunned. They cut their hands. They said, “Allah is Pure10 (from all the weaknesses). He is not at all a man. He is nobody but a noble angel.”

32.She said, “you blamed me only about him, I only tried to tempt him. He refused. He will be jailed if he does not do what I order. He will be humiliated.”

33.(He)said,”My God, jail is dearer to me than the invitation of this women. If you do not save me from their scheme, I may incline towards them and will become a fool”.

34. God accepted his prayer. He saved him from their plot. Indeed, He is the Hearing and the Knowing.

35. Even then they saw through the evidence(that he is not a sinner), it occurred to them, ”They should surely jail him for a fixed period.⁴¹¹ ”

36. Two young men went to jail with him. One of them said, ”Indeed, I saw ( a dream) in which I find myself crushing(preparing) wine.” The other said,” I saw a (dream) in which I was indeed carrying bread on my head of which birds were eating.” (They said), “Tell us of its interpretation. Indeed, we see you as one who has been doing good.”

37. He said, “(In the dream) what ever food you may be given, I will inform you about its interpretation, before it happens. My God has taught me this.¹²² Indeed, I left the religion of the people who do not believe and reject the here-after.”

38. And(he said), “I follow the religion of my fore-fathers Ibrahim, Isãc and yaqūb. We should not associate anything to Allah. This is  the favour given to me and the mankind by Allah. But, most of the people do not thank.”

39. (He)said,” O my companions of the jail, are many gods better or Allah the only one, the Master?”

40.(He)also said, ”whatever you worship other than Him, are only names. You and your fore-fathers named them. Allah has not given any signs about it. Power is for nobody except Allah. He has ordered, ‘Do not worship anybody except him.’ This is the right religion. But, most of the people do not understand. ”

41. (He)said, “O my companions of the jail, one of you will give wine to your master. The other will be crucified. His head will be eaten by the birds. The matter about which you ask for interpretation has been decided.”

42. And to the one between the two, whom he thought(that he) would be released, yusūf said, “ Tell your master about me.” Shaitãn made him forget to mention it to his master. So, he remained in the jail for many years.²³⁰

43. And the king said, “Indeed I saw(in a dream), seven fat bulls are eaten by seven lean bulls, seven green shoots and other dried shoots. O courtiers, if you are interpreters of dream then give interpretation to my dream.”

44. They said, “This is a meaningless dream. We do not know the interpretation for a meaningless dream.”

45. One of the two, who was released(earlier), remembering(it) after a long time, said, “I give you the interpretation. Send me.”

46. (He said), “O Yūsuf, O man of truth, give us interpretation, to(the dream of) the seven fat bulls which are eaten by seven lean bulls and  the seven green shoots and the other dried shoots. I have to go back to the people (with this interpretation). They will understand.”

47. (Yūsuf said), “You will cultivate continuously for seven years. From what you have harvested except a little(measure) for you to eat, you will leave others with their shoots.”

48. (He) also said, “Thereafter, seven (years) of drought will come. That will eat away everything that you have already stored for them except a little.”

49.(He) said, “Thereafter, the year of rainy season will come to the people. That year (they) will crush fruit juice.”

50. And when the king (heard this) said, “Bring him to me.” The courier (of the king) came to him. To that Yūsuf said, “You go to your master and ask, what is the state of the women who cut their hands? My God is aware of the plot of those women.”

51.(The king) enquired (the women), “what happened to you when you tried to tempt Yūsuf? To that, they said,” Allah is pure (from all weaknesses)¹⁰.we knew no immorality in him.”The Wife of the minister said, now the truth is revealed. Only I tried to tempt him. And indeed, he is truthful.”

52.(And Yūsuf said), ”Thus , I asked for the enquiry in order (to prove)that in his(minister) absence I did not betray him and to make him understand that Allah will not guide the plot of the betrayors²³².

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53. (He also said), ”And I do not argue that my mind is pure. Indeed, my mind incites only more evil, except the mercy given by my God. Indeed, my God is Forgiving, most Merciful.”

54. And the king said, “Bring him to me. I choose him for myself. When the king spoke to him, he said, “ Indeed, this day, you have a permanent place with me and also a trustworthy person.”

55. He said,” Appoint me the authority of the treasuries of this earth (place). I have knowledge; indeed, I will safe-guard-carefully²³³”.

56. And thus , We gave power to Yūsuf to live in which ever place on this earth. We will give Our mercy to whom We want. We will not waste the reward of those who do good.

57. And for those who believe and fear (God), the reward in the hereafter is the best.

58. And the brothers of Yūsuf also came and met him. He has recognized them. They could not recognize him.

59. And when he gave them there provisions, he said,” you bring your brother from your father²²⁸. Do not you see I give full measure? I am a good hospitable person.”

60. (He) also said, “If you do not bring him, you have no food for you from me“.

61. They said , ”We will try to persuade his father about him. And indeed, we will do(it)”.

62. Yūsuf told his servant,” Keep the goods they have brought in their baggage itself. After seeing that they may come again when they go to their family members”.

63. When they went to their father they said, “O father (henceforth), good material are stopped for us. So send with us our brother. We will get food materials. And indeed, we will protect him.”

64. He said, “Will I believe you in his matter as I have believed in the matter of his brother before? Allah is the best Protector. He is most Merciful of the merciful.”

65. And when they opened their baggage, they saw that their goods had been returned to them. (They) said, “O our father, we have not done injustice. Here our goods have returned to us. We will get food for our family members. We will also protect our brother. We will get one more measure of a camel’s load. It is only an easy quantity.”

66. (Yacūb) said, “If you do not give me a promise in the name of Allah that you will bring him back unless anything happens to all of you, I will not send him with you.” When they gave the promise (he) said, “Allah is the Custodian for what we have talked.”

67. (He) said, “O my sons do not enter through one gate. Enter through different gates. I cannot protect you from Allah, even to a smaller extent²³⁵. Power is only with Allah. I have relied only on Allah. Those who rely, only rely on Him.”

68. When they entered as they have been ordered by their father, except that Yacūb fulfilled the need arose in his mind, (their entry through different gates) did not protect them from Allah. Indeed, He was knowledgeable because of what We had taught him. But most of the people do not know.

69. And when they went to Yūsuf, he took his brother (alone) and said, “Indeed, I am your brother. Do not be concerned about what they did.”

70. When he prepared them with their goods, He kept the measuring vessel in the baggage of his brother. Then, an announcer called out, “O the people of the camels (caravan), (indeed) you are thieves.”

71. While approaching towards them they asked, “What have you lost?”

72. (They) said, “We lost the measuring vessel of the king. The one who brings it will have camel’s load (of corn). I am responsible for that.”

73. They said, “We have not come to spread corruption on the earth. You know on the promise of Allah that we are not thieves.”

74. They ask, “If you are liars, then what is the punishment for this?”

75. They said, “To arrest the one, in whose baggage it is found, is the suitable punishment. Thus, we punish those who cause injustice.”

76. He started checking their baggage, before (checking) his brother’s baggage. They he took it out from his brother’s baggage. Thus We gave a plan to Yūsuf²³⁶. He could not have taken his brother except that Allah wanted, according to the law of the king²³⁷. We increase the degrees to whom We want. There is a person of knowledge over and above every person of knowledge.

77. They said, “If he has stolen, then his brother also²²⁸ had stolen before him.” Yūsuf, without revealing the matter to them (that, that brother is himself), kept it in his mind. He said, “You are very bad. Allah is well Knowing of what you say.”

78. They said, “O minister, he has a father who is old. So, instead of him you hold one of us. Indeed, we see you as a doer of good.”

79. He said, “We seek refuge from Allah for holding anything other person other than the one, from whom we took our thing. Indeed, if we do it we would have caused injustice.”

80. They consulted among themselves alone, when they lost hope in his matter. The eldest from them said, “Do not you know that your father took a promise from you in the name of Allah? You transgressed in the matter of Yūsuf before. So, I am going to stay in this place until my father gives me permission or Allah gives Judgment to me. He is the best of the judges.”

81. Go to your father and say, “O our father, your son has stolen. We testify to what we know. We are not aware of the hidden.”

82. (They said to their father), “And you enquire with the people of the place, where we remained, and with the people (caravan) of the camels. We only told the truth.”

83. His (father) said, “Not so, your minds have tempted you to do something. So I adopt good patience. Allah may bring them to me all together. Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise.”

84. And he turned away from them. (He) said, “O my grief over Yūsuf.” His eyes became pale with grief. He has been a suppressor of his (grief).

85. They said, “By Allah’s promise, (it seems) you will be remembering Yūsuf until your body becomes lean or till you die.”

86. He said, “I complain my grief and sadness only to Allah. I know from Allah that which you do not know.”

87. (He) said, “O my sons, you go and search for Yūsuf and your brother well. Do not lose hope in Allah’s mercy. Indeed, nobody except the disbelieving people lose hope in the mercy of Allah⁴⁷¹.”

88. They came to him (Yūsuf). (They) said, “O minister, poverty has seized us and our family (members). We have brought only goods of low quality. So you give us food in full measure. You give us as charity. Allah rewards those who give charity.”

89. He asked, “When you were ignorant, do you know what you did to Yūsuf and his brother?”

90. They asked, “Are you indeed Yūsuf?” For that, he said, “I am Yūsuf. He is my brother. Allah has given us His blessing. Allah will not waste the reward of such people who fear (God), keep patience and do good.”

91. They said, “By Allah’s promise, Allah had selected you over us. We have committed sin.”

92. He said, “Today, there is no revenge against you. Allah will forgive you. He is the most Merciful of the merciful.”

93. (He also said), “Take this, my shirt, and place it on my father’s face. He will regain his sight. You bring all you family members with you to me.”

94. When they caravan (the people of camels) departed their father said, “Indeed, I feel Yūsuf’s smell. (I wish) that you refrain from blaming me.”

95. His (family members) said, “By Allah’s promise, indeed, you are in the (same) old wrong decision” and the bringer of good news came and placed it (the shirt of Yūsuf) on his face. Immediately, he got back his sight. He said, “Did I not say to you that I know that which you do not know from Allah.”

97. For that, they said, “O our father, ask for forgiveness of our sins. Indeed, we have committed sin.”

98. He said, “I will ask for forgiveness from my God for you, later. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the most Merciful.”

99. And When they met Yūsuf, he honoured his mother and father. He said, “ If Allah wants you enter into Egypt without any fear.”

100. And he made his parent sit on the throne. All of them bowed to him¹¹. And he said , “ O my father, this is the interpretation of the dream I had seen. My God has made that true. He did me great help when he brought me out of the jail, after shaitan had caused a division between me and my brothers. He (God) has brought you from the place( Village ). Indeed, my God does what he wants subtly. He is the Knowing and the Wise.”

101. (And also said),” O my God, you have given me (some) authority. You have taught me the interpretation of various news . O Creator of the heavens⁵⁰⁷ and the earth, You are only my protector in the world and in the hereafter. Take hold of me(in the state) of a muslim. You join me with the good.

102. This ( O Muhammad), are hidden things. We reveal them to you. You were not with them when all of them plotted against Yūsuf.

103. And even though you have a great desire, most of the people would not have believed.

104. And you have not asked for any reward from them. This is an advice for the people of the worlds.

105. And there are many a sign in the heaven⁵⁰⁷ and on the earth. They pass over them, turning away.

106. And majority of them do not believe in Allah except by associating (others to Allah).

107. Do they not have fear about the surrounding suffering of Allah coming to them and sudden arrival of that Hour¹, when they were not aware of it?

108. Say (O Muhammad), “This is my way. Myself and those who have followed me invite towards Allah by remaining in clear understanding. Allah is Perfect¹⁰. I am not a polytheist (who associates others to Allah).”

109. And before you, We sent only men as messengers from their respective places²³⁹. We informed them of the revelation. Do they not watch, what was the end of those who went before, by travelling in the land? The hereafter is the best for those who fear (God). Will you not understand?

110. Finally, Our help came to them when the messengers lost hope and thought that they had been rejected. Whoever He wanted were saved. Our suffering will not be removed from those who committed the crime.

111. In their news there is a lesson for a people of understanding. (This) is not an invented news. Instead, it confirms that which went before⁴ and explains (in detail) everything. This is a right way and mercy for the people who believe.