12:21 Yusuf (Joseph)

أي: لما ذهب به السيارة إلى مصر وباعوه بها، فاشتراه عزيز مصر، فلما اشتراه، أعجب به، ووصى عليه امرأته وقال: { أَكْرِمِي مَثْوَاهُ عَسَى أَنْ يَنْفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا } أي: إما أن ينفعنا كنفع العبيد بأنواع الخدم، وإما أن نستمتع فيه استمتاعنا بأولادنا، ولعل ذلك أنه لم يكن لهما ولد، { وَكَذَلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِي الْأَرْضِ } أي: كما يسرنا له أن يشتريه عزيز مصر، ويكرمه هذا الإكرام، جعلنا هذا مقدمة لتمكينه في الأرض من هذا الطريق. { وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُ مِنْ تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ } إذا بقي لا شغل له ولا همَّ له سوى العلم صار ذلك من أسباب تعلمه علما كثيرا، من علم الأحكام، وعلم التعبير، وغير ذلك. { وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَى أَمْرِهِ } أي: أمره تعالى نافذ، لا يبطله مبطل، ولا يغلبه مغالب، { وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ } فلذلك يجري منهم ويصدر ما يصدر، في مغالبة أحكام الله القدرية، وهم أعجز وأضعف من ذلك.

يقول تعالى " وكذلك مكنا ليوسف في الأرض ولنعلمه من تأويل الأحاديث والله غالب علي أمره ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون" يخبر تعالى بألطافه بيوسف عليه السلام أنه قيض له الذي اشتراه من مصر حتى اعنى به وأكرمه وأوصى أهله به وتوسم فيه الخير والصلاح فقال لامرأته " أكرمي مثواه عسى أن ينفعنا أو نتخذه ولدا " وكان الذي اشتراه من مصر عزيزها وهو الوزير ; حدثنا العوفي عن ابن عباس وكان اسمه قطفير وقال محمد بن إسحاق: اسمه أطفير بن روحيب وهو العزيز وكان على خزائن مصر وكان الملك يومئذ الريان بن الوليد رجل من العماليق قال: واسم امرأته راعيل بنت رعابيل وقال غيره اسمها زليخا وقال محمد بن إسحاق أيضا عن محمد بن السائب عن أبي صالح عن ابن عباس: كان الذي باعه بمصر مالك بن دعر بن قريب بن عنقا بن مديان بن إبراهيم فالله أعلم وقال أبو إسحاق عن أبي عبيدة عن عبد الله بن مسعود أنه قال: أفرس الناس ثلاثه: عزيز مصر حين قال لامرأته " أكرمي مثواه " والمرأة التي قالت لأبيها " يا أبت استأجره " الآية وأبو بكر الصديق حين استخلف عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنهما. يقول تعالى: كما أنقذنا يوسف من إخوته " كذلك مكنا ليوسف في الأرض " يعني بلاد مصر "ولنعلمه من تأويل الأحاديث" قال مجاهد والسدي: هو تعبير الرؤيا " والله غالب على أمره " إي إذا أراد شيئا فلا رد ولا يمانع ولا يخالف بل هو الغالب لما سواء. قال سعيد بن جبير في قوله " والله غالب علي أمره " أي فعال لما يشاء وقوله " ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون " يقول لا يدرون حكمته في خلقه وتلطفه وفعله لما يريد.

Yusuf in Egypt

Allah mentions the favors that He granted Yusuf, peace be on him, by which He made the man from Egypt who bought him, take care of him and provide him with a comfortable life. He also ordered his wife to be kind to Yusuf and had good hopes for his future, because of his firm righteous behavior. He said to his wife,

أَكْرِمِى مَثْوَاهُ عَسَى أَن يَنفَعَنَآ أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا

(Make his stay comfortable, maybe he will profit us or we shall adopt him as a son.) The man who bought Yusuf was the minister of Egypt at the time, and his title was `Aziz'. Abu Ishaq narrated that Abu `Ubaydah said that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, "Three had the most insight: the `Aziz of Egypt, who said to his wife,

أَكْرِمِى مَثْوَاهُ

(Make his stay comfortable...), the woman who said to her father,

يأَبَتِ اسْتَـْجِرْهُ

(O my father! Hire him...), 28:26 and Abu Bakr As-Siddiq when he appointed `Umar bin Al-Khattab to be the Khalifah after him, may Allah be pleased with them both." Allah said next that just as He saved Yusuf from his brothers,

كَذَلِكَمَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(Thus did We establish Yusuf in the land), in reference to Egypt,

وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُ مِن تَأْوِيلِ الاٌّحَادِيثِ

(that We might teach him the interpretation of events.) the interpretation of dreams, according to Mujahid and As-Suddi. Allah said next,

وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَى أَمْرِهِ

(And Allah has full power and control over His affairs,) if He wills something, then there is no averting His decision, nor can it ever be stopped or contradicted. Rather, Allah has full power over everything and everyone else. Sa`id bin Jubayr said while commenting on Allah's statement,

وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَى أَمْرِهِ

(And Allah has full power and control over His affairs,) "He does what ever He wills." Allah said,

وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(but most of men know not.) meaning, have no knowledge of Allah's wisdom with regards to His creation, compassion and doing what He wills. Allah said next,

وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ

(And when he attained), in reference to Prophet Yusuf, peace be upon him,

أَشُدَّهُ

(his full manhood), sound in mind and perfect in body,

آتَيْنَاهُ حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا

(We gave him wisdom and knowledge), which is the prophethood that Allah sent him with for the people he lived among,

وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِى الْمُحْسِنِينَ

(thus We reward the doers of good.) because Yusuf used to do good in the obedience of Allah the Exalted.

And he of Egypt who purchased him Potifar the Court Officer Qitfīr al-‘azīz said to his wife Zulaikha Zulaykhā ‘Give him an honourable place an honourable residence with us. Maybe he will be useful to us or we may adopt him as a son’ — for he was chaste. Thus just as We delivered him from being killed and from the well and softened the Court Officer’s heart for him We established Joseph in the land the land of Egypt until he attained what status he attained that We might teach him the interpretation of events the interpretation of visions wa-li-nu‘allimahu min ta’wīli’l-ahādīth is a supplement to an implied missing part connected to makkannā ‘We established’ in other words an implied li-numallikahu ‘so that We might give him kingship’; or else the wāw of wa-li-nu‘allimahu ‘that We might teach him’ is to be understood as being extra. God’s way always prevails exalted be He nothing being beyond Him but most people — and they are the disbelievers — do not know this.

Commentary

Described in the previous verses was an early account of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) as to how the people from the caravan took him out of the well, and how his brothers made him out to be their escaped slave and traded him for a few dirhams. First of all, they did not know the value and station of their great brother. Secondly, their real purpose was not to make money by selling him - they wanted to remove him away from his father. Therefore, they did not stop at simply selling him because they felt the danger that the caravan may somehow leave him behind as a result of which he may somehow reach their father and tell him all about their conspiracy. So, according to a report from Tafsir authority, Mujahid, these people waited for the caravan to leave with him for Egypt. When the caravan actually departed, they went with the caravan upto a certain distance warning them on the way that he is in the habit of running away, therefore, they should not leave him free to move around, better still, they should tie him up. Thus, the caravan, unaware of the precious ` merchandise' they were carrying with them, took him in that condition as far as Egypt. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

The part of the story as taken up onwards in the present verses shows the eloquent brevity of the Qur'an when sections of the story which can be understood independently have not been necessarily de-scribed. For instance, the trip of the caravan through various stages en-route Egypt and the actual selling of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) there. All this has been skipped. Stated from here is:

وَقَالَ الَّذِي اشْتَرَ‌اهُ مِن مِّصْرَ‌ لِامْرَ‌أَتِهِ أَكْرِ‌مِي مَثْوَاهُ

And the one who bought him from Egypt said to his wife, 'Make his stay graceful ...'.

According to Tafsir al-Qurtubi, when the caravan reached Egypt and offered him for sale, people vied with each other with increasing bids which rose to gold, to musk and to silk equal to his weight.

But, Allah Tahad destined this human treasure to go to the most powerful authority of the time in Egypt, the Aziz of Misr. He beat all the bids and bought Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) .

As we already know from the statement of the Holy Qur’ an, all these things happening were nothing accidental. Instead, they were parts of the formidable plan put into action by the most exalted Lord Himself. That Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) will be bought in Egypt by the highest of the high in that country was certainly a call of destiny. According to Ibn Kathir, this man who bought Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) in Egypt was what we may call the Finance Minister of Egypt. His name has been cited as Qitfir, or ` Itfir. The King of Egypt at that time was Ruiyyan ibn Usayd, an Amalkite (who, later on, embraced Islam at the hands of Sayyidna Yusuf علیہ السلام) and died as a Muslim during the lifetime of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) (Mazhari). The name of the wife of the Aziz of Egypt who had bought him has been given as Ra'eel, or Zulaikha. So, the Aziz of Misr, called Qitfir (Potiphar), instructed his wife to provide good lodging for Yusuf, not to treat him like common slaves and see that good arrangements are made for him.

Sayyidna Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ said: ` Three men turned out to be the best physiognomists of the world: (1) The Aziz of Misr who discovered the inner excellence of Yusuf (علیہ السلام) from his outer appearance and gave those instructions to his wife; (2) the daughter of Sayyidna Shu'ayb (علیہ السلام) who told her father about Sayyidna Musa يَا أَبَتِ اسْتَأْجِرْ‌هُ ۖ إِنَّ خَيْرَ‌ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْ‌تَ الْقَوِيُّ الْأَمِي (0 my father, retain him on wages. Surely, the best one for you to employ is the one who is strong and trustworthy - 28:26); (3) The third person is Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ عنہ who chose Sayyidna ` Umar to be the Khalifah after the Holy Prophet ﷺ . (Ibn Kathir)

The next sentence of the verse is: وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (And thus We established Yusuf in the land ...). Given here is the good news of what would happen in the future, that is, Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) who has entered the House of the Aziz of Misr at this time as a slave shall soon be the highest ranking man in the country of Egypt when the power of governance comes into his hands.

In the statement which follows immediately after, that is: وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُ مِن تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ (so that We should teach him the interpretation of events), if the letter واؤ (waw) appearing at the beginning of the sentence is taken as: عَطَف (` atf : conjunctive), a sentence will be considered as understood which will mean that ` We established Yusuf (علیہ السلام) in the land so that he brings forth peace in the world through equity and justice, works towards the economic and social betterment of the people of the country, and so that We teach him to put things right where they belong. The general sense of the later is something which is inclusive of the comprehension of Di-vine revelation, its implementation in practice, and the acquisition of all supportive areas of knowledge, and the correct interpretation of dreams as well.

Verse 21 ends with the statement: وَاللَّـهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَىٰ أَمْرِ‌هِ (And Allah is powerful in (enforcing) His command ... ). In other words, it means that Allah Ta` ala is powerful and fully in control over what He wills and when He does so will, all outward chains of causes in this world start falling in line with His will - as said the Holy Prophet ﷺ in a Hadith: ` When Allah Ta` ala intends to do something, He makes all worldly causes ready to act accordingly.' But, says the last part of the sentence: وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ‌ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ that is, most of the people do not understand this reality. They have their eyes on obvious causes. These they take to be everything and keep going after them all the time. That there is the Causer of all Causes and the Holder of Absolute Power over everything is a thought they would seldom pay heed to.