Verse:1 Commentary Commentary

With the exception of four verses, Surah Yusuf is wholly a Makki Surah. In this Surah, the story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) has been described with continuity and order. Then, the story of Sayyidna Yusuf appears in this Surah alone. It has not been repeated anywhere else in the whole Quran as such (with the exception of Surah Al-An' am - 6:84 - and Surah Al-Mu'min or Ghafir - 40:34 - where only the name of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) has been mentioned as a Messenger of Allah, in appropriate context). This is particular with the story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) otherwise the stories and events concerning all blessed prophets have been introduced in the entire Qur'an with great wisdom, part by part, and repeatedly too.

The truth of the matter is that world history and past experiences teach human beings what to do with their lives in the future. These have a natural effect of their own which acts better on minds and hearts as compared to the pull of formal education. This effect is deeper and fairly effortless. Therefore, in the Holy Qur'an, which has been sent for all peo-ples of the world as their last testament, a marked portion of the entire history of the peoples of the world - a portion that serves as the master prescription for the betterment of the present and ultimate human condition - has been taken up electively and pragmatically. Furthermore, even this portion of world history has been introduced by the Holy Qur' an, with its unique and inimitable style, in a manner that its reader simply does not get the impression that he or she was reading some book of history. In fact, whatever part of a certain story serves the need of driving home a lesson or tendering a good counsel on any given occasion, it is just that part which finds mention in that setting. And should there be the need to allude to that particular part once again on some other occasion, it was repeated. Therefore, consideration was not given to sequential order in the narration of events in the story. At some places the earlier part of the story comes later, and the later part finds mention earlier. This special style of the Qur' an carries a standing rule of guidance that reading or remembering world history and its past events is not an end by itself. Instead of that, the purpose of every human being should be to draw some lesson from every story and to cull and deduce some good advice from every information.

It is well-known that the human speech is classified into two forms: Descriptive (khabar) and imperative (insha' ). According to the knowledgeable scholars, it is the later form (i.e. imperative) that is the essential objective. Description in itself is not an end. A wise man ought to learn an imperative from every description, and make use of it for correcting and reforming himself.

That the story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) has been narrated in a sequence could be because historiography is a discipline. It has particular rules of guidance for its practitioners. For instance, the narration should not be so brief as to make its understanding impossible, nor should it be so long as would make reading and remembering it difficult - which be-comes clear from the Qur' anic treatment of this story.

According to some narrations, another reason for this could lie in what the Jews had said to the Holy Prophet". To test him, they had asked him: If you are a true prophet, tell us why did the family of Ya` qub move from Syria to Egypt and what had actually happened to Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ? It was in answer to that that this whole story was revealed. It was a miracle of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ، and certainly a great proof of his prophethood - for he was simply an Ummiyy, one who was not taught by anyone, who had never read a book and who had lived in Makkah practically his whole life, yet, he narrated all events mentioned in the Torah correctly. In fact, he told them of what was not mentioned in the Torah. There are many injunctions and instructions which emerge from these narrations which will appear later in this commentary.

In the first of the set of verses cited above, the words: الٓرٰ ` Alif Lam Ra' are isolated letters (al-Huruf al-Muqatta at) of the Holy Qur'an. About these, it is the universal verdict of the majority of Sahabah and Tabi` in that they are a secret between Allah Ta' ala, the speaker, and the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ، the addressee - which a third person cannot understand, nor is it appropriate for one to exert and insist on finding it out.

After that it was said: تِلکَ آیٰتُ الکِتٰبِ المُبِین (These are the verses of the en-lightening Book). That is, these are verses of the Book which delineate the delimitations and restrictions of what is lawful and unlawful, including those of other things in all departments of human life, and thus gives people a simple, straight and moderate system of living, as promised in the Torah, and as already known to the Jews. Verse:2 Commentary The statement made in verse 2 following immediately is: إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ قُرْ‌آنًا عَرَ‌بِيًّا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ (Surely, We have sent it down, an Arabic Qur' an, so that you may understand).

It is indicative of the situation that those who had asked to be informed of what had happened to Sayyidna ~Yusuf (علیہ السلام) were the Jews of Arabia. So, Allah Ta' ala revealed this story in their language so that they may ponder over it and attest to the veracity of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and tune their lives in the light of the injunctions and instructions which emerge from this story.

This is the reason why the word: لَعلَّ (la'alla) has been brought in here in the sense of ` so that' because the mindset of these addressees was already known - that they would, despite having the benefit of very clear verses before them, still doubt and delay their acceptance of truth. Verse:3 Commentary In the third verse, it was said: نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ بِمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ هَـٰذَا الْقُرْ‌آنَ وَإِن كُنتَ مِن قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِین (We narrate to you the best narrative by revealing this Qur'an to you, and surely before this, you were among the unaware).

This is to chasten the Jews that they had tried to test the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم which proved to be in vain, for its effect turned out to be just the reverse of what they had intended. It only went on to prove the excellence and authenticity of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم in a far more evident manner. From this it became clear that he was already an Ummiyy and had no knowledge of world history. Now that he came to know of this needs an explanation and there can be no explanation for this except that he was Divinely educated and blessed with revelation as a prophet of Allah Ta' ala. Verse:4 Commentary Moving on the verse 4, the text takes up the story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) which opens with the following words: إِذْ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لِأَبِيهِ يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَ‌أَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ‌ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ‌ رَ‌أَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ (It happened) [ when Yusuf said to his father, 'My father, I have seen eleven stars and the Sun and the Moon; I have seen them all prostrating to me.]

This was the dream seen by Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) interpreting which Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said: ` The eleven stars meant the eleven brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) and the Sun and the Moon meant his father and mother.'

According to al-Qurtubi, though the mother of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) had passed away from this mortal world before this event, but in her place, his father was wedded to her sister. A maternal aunt already has love and concern for her sister's children as their natural mother would normally have. Now when she, after the death of her sister, comes to be the wife of the father, she would customarily be referred to as the mother. Verse:5 Commentary The response given by Sayyidna Ya` qub X11 appears in verses 5 and 6 in the following words: قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُ‌ؤْيَاكَ عَلَىٰ إِخْوَتِكَ فَيَكِيدُوا لَكَ كَيْدًا ۖ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لِلْإِنسَانِ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ ` He said, 'My son, do not relate your dream to your brothers lest they [ by finding out your greatness to come ] should devise against you a plan. Surely, Satan is an open enemy for mankind ...' [ for He seduces people to take such action for the sake of worldly wealth and power ].

Worth mentioning here are some religious issues which emerge from these verses:

The Nature of Dreams: Status and Kinds

First comes the nature of dreams and the status of events and information released by them. In Tafsir Mazhari, Qadi Thana'ullah (رح) has said: ` The reality of a dream is that, when the human self - as a result of sleep or unconsciousness - is freed from the management of the active body, it comes to see some shapes through the faculty of imagina-tion. This is what a dream is. Then, it has three kinds, two out of which are totally false, having no substance and base - while one, in terms of its being, is correct and true. But, even in this correct kind, some other contingents may occasionally intermingle and thereby make it defective and unreliable.

To explain this in detail, it can be said that the different shapes, images, situations and events one sees in a dream come in two modes. Sometimes, what one sees while awake returns to him transformed in a dream. And sometimes, it so happens that the Shatian would make his in-put, introducing some forms, situations and events into a person's mind which would either be pleasing or terrifying. Both these kinds are false. They have no substance or reality, nor can they be interpreted in any actual sense. Out of these two, the first kind is Self-Suggestion (Hadith An-Nafs) and the other, The Seductive Input of the Shaitan (Taswil Ash-Shaitan).

The third kind, correct and true, is a kind of 'Ilham الحام (mode of inspiring) which is activated to warn a servant of Allah or to give him glad tidings. In other words, out of His unseen treasures, Allah Ta' ala would put things in one's mind and heart.

In a Hadith, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is reported to have said: ` The dream of a believer is a dialogue in which he has the honour of talking to his Rabb.' This Hadith has been reported by al-Tabarani with a sound chain of authorities. (Mazhari)

Explaining this, Sufis say that everything, before it comes to exist in this world, has a particular form in another universe called ' alam-al-mithal',( The world of autonomous images' - Henrv Corbin.) a universe where, not only the substantial objects and physical realities, but also the attributes and non-corporal meanings, have particular shapes and forms. When the human self is freed from the concerns of body management while dreaming, it sometimes gets connected to the universe of ` alam-al-mithal'. There one would see the representative forms. Then, these forms are shown from the universe of the Unseen. At times, it would so happen that temporary disturbances would cause false imaginings mix up with the real, therefore, it becomes difficult for the interpreters to interpret the dream soundly. However, when free of discordant elements, they are real. But, even among these, some dreams cannot be interpreted because the actuality of the event is not clear. In such a case too, should the interpretation be wrong, the event itself ends up being different. Therefore, only those dreams will become a true 'I1ham (inspiration) from Allah, and a proven reality, which originate from the command of Allah with the condition that no discordant elements have intermingled with them and that it has been interpreted correctly too.

All dreams of the blessed prophets are like that. Therefore, their dreams too have the status of Wahy (revelation). The dreams of common believing Muslims are not free of many a probability. Therefore, they are not a binding argument or proof for anyone. Sometimes, their dreams get mixed up with temperamental or self-oriented elements. On other oc-casions, the after effects of sins overtake a true dream in the form of dark and murky silhouettes making it unreliable. Then, there could be occasions when it becomes difficult to spell out a correct interpretation from given parameters.

The three kinds of dreams mentioned here have been reported from the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . He said that there are three kinds of dreams. (1) The Satanic in which the mind sees forms and shapes released by the Shaitan. (2) That which one keeps seeing while awake. These present themselves before one in a dream. (3) The third kind, which is correct and true, is the forty-sixth part of the ingredients of prophethood (Nubuwwah), that is, it is an 'Ilham (inspiration) from Allah Ta' ala.

The Meaning of Dream being a part of Nubuwwah: An Explanation

In this kind, which is true and correct and which has been declared to be a part of prophethood in authentic prophetic Traditions, the narrations of Hadith differ. In some, it has been identified as the fortieth part, while in some others, the forty-sixth. There are other narrations as well in which its being the forty-ninth, fiftieth and seventieth part has been reported. All these narrations have been compiled together in Tafsir al-Qurtubi where, following the investigative judgment of Ibn ` Abd al-Barr, it has been established that there is no contradiction among them, in fact, each narration is correct in its place. As for the numerical variation in determining the parts, it depends upon the different attending conditions of those seeing the dream. Whoever is armed with the quality of truth, trust, honesty and is perfect of faith shall be the one whose dream will be the fortieth part of Nubuwwah. And whoever ranks somewhat lesser in these qualities, his will be the forty-sixth or fiftieth part of it, and whoever is still lesser, his dream will be the seventieth part of Nubuwwah.

Worth pondering here is what does a true dream being a part of prophethood mean? Tafsir Mazhari has explained it by saying that the process of revelation to Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم as a Prophet of Allah continued for twenty three years. During the first biannual, this Divine revelation kept coming to him in the form of dreams. During the remaining forty five biannuals, it was communicated to him through the angel, Jibra'il al-Amin (علیہ السلام) . Accounted for in this manner, true dreams turn out to be the fortieth part of the prophetic revelation. As for narrations where numbers vary on the lower or higher side, they either carry approximative statements, or stand dropped for lack of sound authority.

Imam al-Qurtubi explains this by saying that there are occasions when one sees things in dreams which do not lie within his control. For example, one may see that he is flying high in the skies, or he may see things from the Unseen having access to which was not within one's control. If so, this cannot become possible through any means other than Divine support and inspiration itself - which, in reality, is an intrinsic attribute of prophethood. Therefore, it was declared to be a part of prophet-hood.

Refuting the Deception of the Qadiyani Dajjal [ Imposter ]

What has been stated above has led some people to run into a miser-able error because they have taken the survival and continuity of this ` part' of prophethood in the world as the very survival and continuity of prophethood itself! This is against definite, categorical and absolute statements of the Holy Qur'an and against countless sound and authentic Ahadith, and squarely against the collective belief of the entire Muslim Ummah in the finality of prophethood (the ` Aqidah of Khatm Nubuvwat). In this exercise in deception, they have failed to realize that the presence of a part of something does not mean the presence of that thing in full. If there is a single nail or strand of hair belonging to a person present anywhere, no sane human being can say that the person is present here. Think of the many parts of a machine. If someone has one part, or a screw of that machine present with him and he goes about declaring that he has such and such machine with him, the whole world would dismiss him as a liar or fool.

True dreams, as expressly explained in Hadith, are, without any doubt, a part of Nubuwwah - but not Nubuwwah itself. What we know as Nubuwwah or prophethood has already ended with the Last of Prophets, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mutafa صلى الله عليه وسلم .

It appears in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari that the Holy Prophet said:

لَم یَبقَ مِنَ النَّبُوَّۃِ اِلَّا المُبَشِّرَاتِ

That is, (in future) no part of the Nubuwwah will remain except Al-Mubashshirat.

When the noble Sahabah ؓ asked for the meaning of Al-Mubashshirat, he said: 'True dreams.' This proves that there is no Nubuwwah or prophethood of any kind or form for anyone anymore. What remains of it is only a small part which is called Al-Mubashshirat or true dreams.

The Dream of a Sinning Disbeliever may also be True at times

It stands proved from the Qur'an and Hadith, and from experience, that sinners, even disbelievers, could see dreams which are true. In the Surah Yusuf itself, mentioned there are the dreams of two prison mates of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) which were true, and similarly, the dream of the king of Egypt which was true - though, the three of them were not Muslims. This was in the Qur'an. Mentioned in the Hadith is the dream of Kisra (Cyrus) who had dreamt about the coming of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that dream turned out to be true, though Kisra was not a Muslim. The paternal aunt of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ، ` Atikah, had seen a true dream about the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم while she was still a disbeliever. In addition to that, the dream of the disbelieving King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, which was interpreted by Sayyidna Daniyal (Daniel) (علیہ السلام) was a true dream.

This tells us that the simple instance of someone seeing a true dream and the event taking place as seen cannot become a proof of the dreamer being pious and righteous, even Muslim. However, it is correct to say that this is how the customary practice of Allah operates - that the dreams seen by true and good people are generally true. The dreams seen by sinners are generally from the category of self-suggestions and Shaitanic inputs - but, occasionally, the opposite could also happen.

In short, true dreams, as made clear in Hadith, have no place in the lives of Muslims at large except that they can be either glad tidings, or warning, for them. They are no binding argument in any matter, neither for their own selves, nor for others. Some people, unaware of this truth, fall a victim to all sorts of scruples after having seen such dreams. Some of them would start taking these as a sign of having become a saint or something like that. Others would tend to give what they get out of these dreams the status of the injunctions of the Shari' ah. All these approaches are baseless. Specially so, when we already know that there is every likelihood that both kinds of imaginings, self-suggested or shaitan -induced, can get profusely intermingled with true dreams.

Relating Dreams to Everyone is not Correct:

Rulings

1. In verse 5:... قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ (He said, 'O my son ...' ), Sayyidna Yaqub (علیہ السلام) has prohibited Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) from relating his dream to his brothers. This tells us that a dream should not be related before a person who is not a well-wisher, nor before a person who is no expert in the interpretation of dreams.

According to Jami` al-Tirmidhi, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: A true dream is one of the forty parts of Nubuwwah. And a dream stays in suspension until related to someone. When related, and interpreted by the listener, it actualizes as interpreted. Therefore, one should not relate the dream to anyone, except to a person who is knowing and wise, or is, at least, a friend and a well-wisher.

As also referred to earlier, it appears in Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: A dream is of three kinds: (1) Glad tidings from Allah; (2) self-suggestions; (3) shaitanic inputs. Therefore, should a person see a certain dream about which he feels good, then, he can relate it to others, if he wishes to do so. And, should he see something bad in it, let him not tell anyone about it. Instead, he should rise and offer Salah. The Hadith of Sahih Muslim also says: If one sees a bad dream, he should blow his breath three times towards his left side and seek the protection of Allah against its evil and tell no one about it. If this is done, the dream will not cause any harm. The reason is that some dreams are composed of shaitanic seductions. They will stand removed with this action. And, if the dream is true, the evil part of it - it can be hoped - will also be eliminated through this action.

2. As for the sense of the interpretation of a dream remaining hinged to it, Tafsir Mazhari explains it by saying that some matters of destiny are not absolutely pre-decided, instead, they remain in a state of suspension, that is, if something was done, the impending misfortune will go away - and if it was not done, it will come. This is known as contingent or conditional destiny. In a situation like that giving a bad interpretation makes things turn bad while a good interpretation makes it come out good. Therefore, in the Hadith from Tirmidhi mentioned above, relating a dream to a person who is not wise, or a well-wisher, has been prohibited. And there could also be another reason for this. When someone hears a bad interpretation of the dream seen, one finds himself overwhelmed by the thought that he is going to be hit by some misfortune. And it appears in Hadith that Allah Ta' ala said: اَنَا عِندَ ظَنِّ عَبدِی بِی that is, ` I am with the opinion of My servant about Me.' In other words, ` whatever a servant of Mine believes Me to be, just that I become for him.' So, when one ends up believing that misfortune is going to come from Allah Ta' ala, then, true to the customary practice of Allah, the coming of that misfortune becomes due against him.

3. Regarding the instruction given in the verse that something suggesting pain and misfortune seen in a dream should not be related to anyone, Hadith narrations seem to indicate that this is not a legal prohibition. It is only an advice based on affection and sympathy. This should not be taken as something made unlawful by the Shari` ah. Therefore, if related to someone, this will be no sin - because it appears in authentic Ahadith that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم at the time of the Battle of Uhud - said: I have seen in a dream that my sword, Zulfaqar, has broken and I saw some cows being slaughtered, the interpretation of which was the Shahadah of Sayyidna Hamzah ؓ and many other Muslim mujahidin, a grave misfortune indeed. But, he had related this dream before the Sahabah. (Qurtubi)

4. This verse also tells us that it is permissible to disclose the evil trait or intention of a person about to cause harm to a Muslim. Being an effort to offset an evil design, this action is not included under Ghibah or backbiting. For example, if a person finds out that A is planning to commit theft in the house of B, or intends to kill him, then, he should fore-warn B. This does not fall under the purview of Ghibah which is Haram. This is what was done by Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) when he had disclosed to Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) that there was a danger to his life at the hands of his brothers.

5. If a person is blessed by Allah, and he apprehends that his addressee will be jealous against him, he should not mention the blessings of wealth, status, and things like that before that person. The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said:

To make your objectives succeed, seek help from keeping them secret - because, every holder of blessing is envied in this world.

6. From this verse and from the later in which the plan and execution of killing or throwing Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) in a well has been mentioned, it becomes evident that the brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) were no prophets or messengers of Allah, otherwise, they would have not stooped to the act of conspiring to kill him, then to put him out of their way by lowering him down in a desolate well, and ultimately, to disobey their father - because, the blessed prophets صلى الله عليه وسلم have to be free of all sins, and protected from them. Their reference as ` prophets' in the book of al-Tabari is not correct. (Qurtubi) Verse:6 Commentary Expertise in the Interpretation of Dreams is Bestowed by Allah on whom He wills

In the sixth verse, Allah Ta ا ala has promised some blessings for Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) : (1) كَذَٰلِكَ يَجْتَبِيكَ رَ‌بُّكَ (And in the like manner your Lord will choose you ...) that is, H-e will choose him for His blessings and favours, something which manifested itself when wealth, recognition and power came into his hands in the country of Egypt. (2) وَيُعَلِّمُكَ مِن تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ - (and teach you the interpretation of events ...). The word: الْأَحَادِيثِ : 'al-ahadith' here means the dreams of people. It means that Allah Ta' ala will teach him how to interpret dreams. This also tells us that interpreting dreams is a standing area of expertise which is bestowed by Allah Ta` ala on a chosen few - everyone is not fit to have it.

Ruling:

It appears in Tafsir al-Qurtubi that ` Abdullah ibn Shaddad ibn al-Had said that the interpretation of this dream of Sayyidna ~Yusuf actualized after forty years. This tells us that an instant actualization of an interpretation is not necessary either.

(3) As for the third promise: وَيُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ (and will perfect His bounty upon you), it refers to the bestowal of Nubuwwah (prophethood) upon him. And this is what has been alluded to in the later sentences: كَمَا أَتَمَّهَا عَلَىٰ أَبَوَيْكَ مِن قَبْلُ إِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ (as He has perfected it, earlier, upon your father, Ibrahim and Ishaq). That which has been said here also indicates that the skill of interpreting dreams as given to Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was also taught to Sayyidna Ibrahim and Ishaq (علیہما السلام) ، peace be on them both.

At the end of the verse, it was said: إِنَّ رَ‌بَّكَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ (Surely, your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing). So He is. For Him, teaching an art to someone is not difficult, nor does He, as His wisdom would have it, teach this art to just anyone. Instead of that, He elects someone, in His wisdom, and lets him have this expertise.