Aif, Lam, Ra. These are the signs of the Manifest Book.
Indeed We have sent it down as an Arabic Quran so that you may exercise your reason.
We will recount to you the best of narratives in what We have revealed to you of this Quran, and indeed prior to it you were among those who are unaware [of it].
When Joseph said to his father, ‘Father! I saw eleven planets, and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrating themselves before me,’
he said, ‘My son, do not recount your dream to your brothers, lest they should devise schemes against you. Satan is indeed man’s manifest enemy.
That is how your Lord will choose you, and teach you the interpretation of dreams, and complete His blessing upon you and upon the house of Jacob, just as He completed it earlier for your fathers, Abraham and Isaac. Your Lord is indeed all-knowing and all-wise.’
In Joseph and his brothers there are certainly signs for the seekers.
When they said, ‘Surely Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than [the rest of] us, though we are a hardy band. Our father is indeed in manifest error.’
‘Kill Joseph or cast him away into some [distant] land, so that your father’s attention may be exclusively towards you, and thereafter you may become a righteous lot.’
One of them said, ‘Do not kill Joseph, but cast him into the recess of a well so that some caravan may pick him up, if you are to do [anything].’
They said, ‘Father! Why is it that you do not trust us with Joseph? We are indeed his well-wishers.
Let him go with us tomorrow so that he may eat lots of fruits and play, and we will indeed take [good] care of him.’
He said, ‘It really upsets me that you should take him away, and I fear the wolf may eat him while you are oblivious of him.’
They said, ‘Should the wolf eat him while we are a hardy band, then we will indeed be losers!’
So when they took him away and conspired to put him into the recess of a well, We revealed to him, ‘[A day will come when] you will surely inform them about this affair of theirs while they are not aware [of your identity].’
In the evening, they came weeping to their father.
They said, ‘Father! We had gone racing and left Joseph with our things, whereat the wolf ate him. But you will not believe us even if we spoke truly.’
And they produced sham blood on his shirt. He said, ‘No, your souls have made a matter seem decorous to you. Yet patience is graceful, and Allah is my resort against what you allege.’
There came a caravan, and they sent their water-drawer, who let down his bucket. ‘Good news!’ he said. ‘This is a young boy!’ So they hid him as [a piece of] merchandise, and Allah knew best what they were doing.
And they sold him for a cheap price, a few dirhams, for they set small store by him.
The man from Egypt who had bought him said to his wife, ‘Give him an honourable place [in the household]. Maybe he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as a son.’ Thus We established Joseph in the land and that We might teach him the interpretation of dreams. Allah has [full] command of His affairs, but most people do not know.
When he came of age, We gave him judgement and [sacred] knowledge, and thus do We reward the virtuous.
The woman in whose house he was, solicited him. She closed the doors and said, ‘Come!!’ He said, ‘God forbid! Indeed He is my Lord; He has given me a good abode. Indeed the wrongdoers are not felicitous.’
She certainly made for him; and he would have made for her [too] had he not beheld the proof of his Lord. So it was, that We might turn away from him all evil and indecency. He was indeed one of Our dedicated servants.
They raced to the door, and she tore his shirt from behind, and they ran into her husband at the door. She said, ‘What is to be the requital of him who has evil intentions for your wife except imprisonment or a painful punishment?’
He said, ‘It was she who solicited me.’ A witness of her own household testified [thus]: ‘If his shirt is torn from the front, she tells the truth and he lies.
But if his shirt is torn from behind, then she lies and he tells the truth.’
So when he saw that his shirt was torn from behind, he said, ‘This is [a case] of you women’s guile! Your guile is indeed great!
Joseph, let this matter alone, and you, woman, plead for forgiveness for your sin, for you have indeed been erring.’
Some of the townswomen said, ‘The chieftain’s wife has solicited her slave boy! He has captivated her love. Indeed we see her to be in manifest error.’
When she heard of their machinations, she sent for them and arranged a repast, and gave each of them a knife, and said [to Joseph], ‘Come out before them.’ So when they saw him, they marvelled at him and cut their hands [absent-mindedly], and they said, ‘Good heavens! This is not a human being! This is but a noble angel!’
She said, ‘He is the one on whose account you blamed me. Certainly, I did solicit him, but he was continent, and if he does not do what I bid him, surely he shall be imprisoned and humbled.’
He said, ‘My Lord! The prison is dearer to me than to what they invite me. If You do not turn away their schemes from me, I will incline towards them and become one of the senseless.’
So his Lord answered him and turned away their stratagems from him. Indeed, He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing.
Then it appeared to them, after they had seen all the signs [of his innocence], that they should confine him for some time.
There entered the prison two youths along with him. One of them said, ‘I dreamt that I am pressing grapes.’ The other said, ‘I dreamt that I am carrying bread on my head from which the birds are eating.’ ‘Inform us of its interpretation,’ [they said], ‘for indeed we see you to be a virtuous man.’
He said, ‘Before the meals you are served come to you I will inform you of its interpretation. That is among things my Lord has taught me. Indeed, I renounce the creed of the people who have no faith in Allah and who [also] disbelieve in the Hereafter.
I follow the creed of my fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is not for us to ascribe any partner to Allah. That is by virtue of Allah’s grace upon us and upon all mankind, but most people do not give thanks.
O my prison mates! Are different masters better, or Allah, the One, the All-paramount?
You do not worship besides Him but [mere] names that you and your fathers have coined, for which Allah has not sent down any authority. Sovereignty belongs only to Allah. He has commanded you to worship none except Him. That is the upright religion, but most people do not know.
O my prison mates! As for one of you, he will serve wine to his master, and as for the other, he will be crucified and vultures will eat from his head. The matter about which you inquire has been decided.’
Then he said to the one whom he knew would be delivered from among the two: ‘Mention me to your master.’ But Satan caused him to forget mentioning [it] to his master. So he remained in the prison for several years.
[One day] the king said, ‘I saw [in a dream] seven fat cows being devoured by seven lean ones, and seven green ears and [seven] others [that were] dry. O courtiers, give me your opinion about my dream, if you can interpret dreams.’
They said, ‘[These are] confused nightmares, and we do not know the interpretation of nightmares.’
Said the one of the two who had been delivered, remembering [Joseph] after a long time: ‘I will inform you of its interpretation; so let me go [to meet Joseph in the prison].’
‘Joseph,’ [he said], ‘O truthful one, give us your opinion concerning seven fat cows who are eaten by seven lean ones, and seven green ears and [seven] others dry, that I may return to the people so that they may know [the truth of the matter].’
He said, ‘You will sow for seven consecutive years. Then leave in the ear whatever [grain] you harvest, except a little that you eat.
Then after that there will come seven hard years which will eat up whatever you have set aside for them—all except a little which you preserve [for seed].
Then after that there will come a year wherein the people will be granted relief and provided with rains therein.
The king said, ‘Bring him to me!’ When the messenger came to him, he said, ‘Go back to your master, and ask him about the affair of women who cut their hands. My Lord is indeed well aware of their stratagems.’
The king said, ‘What was your business, women, when you solicited Joseph?’ They said, ‘Heaven be praised! We know of no evil in him.’ The prince’s wife said, ‘Now the truth has come to light! It was I who solicited him, and he is indeed telling the truth.’
[Joseph said], [‘I initiated] this [inquiry], that he may know that I did not betray him in his absence, and that Allah does not further the schemes of the treacherous.’
‘Yet I do not absolve my [own carnal] soul, for the [carnal] soul indeed prompts [men] to evil, except inasmuch as my Lord has mercy. Indeed my Lord is all-forgiving, all-merciful.’
The king said, ‘Bring him to me, I will make him my favourite.’ Then, when he had spoken with him, he said, ‘Indeed today [onwards] you will be honoured and trustworthy with us.’
He said, ‘Put me in charge of the country’s granaries. I am indeed fastidious [and]well-informed.’
That is how We established Joseph in the land that he may settle in it wherever he wished. We confer Our mercy on whomever We wish, and We do not waste the reward of the virtuous.
And the reward of the Hereafter is surely better for those who have faith and are Godwary.
[After some years] the brothers of Joseph came and entered his presence. He recognized them, but they did not recognize him.
When he had furnished them with their provision, he said, ‘Bring me a brother that you have through your father. Do you not see that I give the full measure and that I am the best of hosts?
But if you do not bring him to me, then there will be no rations for you with me, and don’t [ever] come near me.’
They said, ‘We will solicit him from his father. [That] we will surely do.’
He said to his servants, ‘Put their money [back] into their saddlebags. Maybe they will recognize it when they return to their folks, and maybe they will come back [again].’
So when they returned to their father, they said, ‘Father, the measure has been withheld from us, so let our brother go with us so that we may obtain the measure, and we will indeed take [good] care of him.’
He said, ‘Should I not trust you with him just as I trusted you with his brother before? Yet Allah is the best of protectors, and He is the most merciful of merciful ones.’
And when they opened their baggage, they found their money restored to them. They said, ‘Father, what [more] do we want?! This is our money, restored to us! We will get provisions for our family and take care of our brother, and add another camel-load of rations. These are meagre rations.’
He said, ‘I will not let him go with you until you give me a [solemn] pledge by Allah that you will surely bring him back to me, unless you are made to perish.’ When they had given him their [solemn] pledge, he said, ‘Allah is witness over what we say.’
And he said, ‘My sons, do not enter by one gate, but enter by separate gates, though I cannot avail you anything against Allah. Sovereignty belongs only to Allah. In Him I have put my trust; and in Him let all the trusting put their trust.’
When they entered whence their father had bidden them, it did not avail them anything against Allah, but only fulfilled a wish in Jacob’s heart. Indeed, he had the knowledge of what We had taught him, but most people do not know.
When they entered into the presence of Joseph, he set his brother close to himself, and said, ‘Indeed I am your brother, so do not sorrow for what they used to do.’
When he had furnished them with their provision, he put the drinking-cup into his brother’s saddlebag. Then a herald shouted: ‘O [men of the] caravan! You are indeed thieves!’
They said, as they turned towards them, ‘What are you missing?’
They said, ‘We miss the king’s goblet.’ ‘Whoever brings it shall have a camel-load [of grain],’ [said the steward], ‘I will guarantee that.’
They said, ‘By Allah! You certainly know that we did not come to make trouble in this country, and we are not thieves.’
They said, ‘What shall be its requital if you [prove to] be lying?’
They said, ‘The requital for it shall be that he in whose saddlebag it is found shall give himself over as its requital. Thus do we requite the wrongdoers.’
Then he began with their sacks, before [opening] his brother’s sack. Then he took it out from his brother’s sack. Thus did We devise for Joseph’s sake. He could not have held his brother under the king’s law unless Allah willed [otherwise]. We raise in rank whomever We please, and above every man of knowledge is One who knows best.
They said, ‘If he has stolen [there is no wonder]; a brother of his had stolen before.’ Thereupon Joseph kept the matter to himself and he did not disclose it to them. He said, ‘You are in a worse state! And Allah knows best what you allege.’
They said, ‘O emir! Indeed, he has a father, a very old man; so take one of us in his place. Indeed we see that you are a virtuous man.’
He said, ‘God forbid that we should detain anyone except him with whom we found our wares, for then we would indeed be wrongdoers.’
When they had despaired of [moving] him, they withdrew to confer privately. The eldest of them said, ‘Don’t you know that your father has taken a [solemn] pledge from you by Allah, and earlier you have neglected your duty in regard to Joseph? So I will never leave this land until my father permits me, or Allah passes a judgement for me, and He is the best of judges.
Go back to your father, and say, ‘‘Father! Your son has indeed committed theft, and we testified only to what we knew, and we could not have forestalled the unseen.
Ask [the people of] the town we were in, and the caravan with which we came. We indeed speak the truth.’’ ’
He said, ‘No, your souls have made a matter seem decorous to you. Yet patience is graceful. Maybe Allah will bring them all [back] to me. Indeed He is the All-knowing, the All-wise.’
He turned away from them and said, ‘Alas for Joseph!’ His eyes had turned white with grief, and he choked with suppressed agony.
They said, ‘By Allah! You will go on remembering Joseph until you wreck your health or perish.’
He said, ‘I complain of my anguish and grief only to Allah. I know from Allah what you do not know.’
‘Go, my sons, and look for Joseph and his brother, and do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed no one despairs of Allah’s mercy except the faithless lot.’
Then, when they entered into his presence, they said, ‘O emir! Distress has befallen us and our family, and we have brought [just] a meagre sum. Yet grant us the full measure, and be charitable to us! Indeed Allah rewards the charitable.’
He said, ‘Have you realized what you did to Joseph and his brother, when you were senseless?’
They said, ‘Are you really Joseph?!’ He said, ‘I am Joseph, and this is my brother. Certainly Allah has shown us favour. Indeed if one is Godwary and patient Allah does not waste the reward of the virtuous.’
They said, ‘By Allah, Allah has certainly preferred you over us, and we have indeed been erring.’
He said, ‘There shall be no reproach on you today. Allah will forgive you, and He is the most merciful of the merciful.
Take this shirt of mine, and cast it upon my father’s face; he will regain his sight, and bring me all your folks.’
As the caravan set off, their father said, ‘I sense the scent of Joseph, if you will not consider me a dotard.’
They said, ‘By God, you persist in your inveterate error.’
When the bearer of good news arrived, he cast it on his face, and he regained his sight. He said, ‘Did I not tell you, ‘‘I know from Allah what you do not know?’’ ’
They said, ‘Father! Plead [with Allah] for forgiveness of our sins! We have indeed been erring.’
He said, ‘I shall plead with my Lord to forgive you; indeed He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.’
When they entered into the presence of Joseph, he set his parents close to himself, and said, ‘Welcome to Egypt, in safety, God willing!’
And he seated his parents high upon the throne, and they fell down prostrate before him. He said, ‘Father! This is the fulfillment of my dream of long ago, which my Lord has made come true. He was certainly gracious to me when He brought me out of the prison and brought you over from the desert after that Satan had incited ill feeling between me and my brothers. Indeed my Lord is all-attentive in bringing about what He wishes. Indeed He is the All-knowing, the All-wise.’
‘My Lord! You have granted me a share in the kingdom, and taught me the interpretation of dreams. Originator of the heavens and earth! You are my guardian in this world and the Hereafter! Let my death be in submission [to You], and unite me with the Righteous.’
These are accounts from the Unseen, which We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they conspired together and schemed.
Yet most people will not have faith, however eager you should be.
You do not ask them any reward for it: it is just a reminder for all the nations.
How many a sign there is in the heavens and the earth that they pass by while they are disregardful of it!
And most of them do not believe in Allah without ascribing partners to Him.
Do they feel secure from being overtaken by a blanket punishment from Allah, or being overtaken by the Hour, suddenly, while they are unaware?
Say, ‘This is my way. I summon to Allah with insight—I and he who follows me. Immaculate is Allah, and I am not one of the polytheists.’
We did not send [any apostles] before you except as men from among the people of the towns, to whom We revealed. Have they not travelled over the land so that they may observe how was the fate of those who were before them? And the abode of the Hereafter is surely better for those who are Godwary. Do you not exercise your reason?
When the apostles lost hope and they thought that they had been told lies, Our help came to them, and We delivered whomever We wished, and Our punishment will not be averted from the guilty lot.
There is certainly a moral in their accounts for those who possess intellect. This [Quran] is not a fabricated discourse; rather, it is a confirmation of what was [revealed] before it, and an elaboration of all things, and a guidance and mercy for a people who have faith.
