Ustadh Asim Khan

[THROWN IN A WELL TAFSEER SURAT YUSUF]

Thrown in a Well | Lesson 2

At first glance, it seems like the first 3 ayaat arent really talking about the story of Yusuf , but as we
study it we realize that it has very much to do with it, and that it is laying down the foundation, and is an
introduction to the story, giving us the right framework.
And the main message from ayaat 1-3 is that only Allah, and Allah alone narrates the very best stories, and they
are all in Quran and one such story is this one. And no one could know the detail of this story or narrate in a
. So the introduction to this surah is in 1-3.
more profound and beautiful way other than Allah
At the end of the surah, the last 7-8 verses, similarly, we may think they dont relate to the story but we will see
that they also form a very powerful conclusion.

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The Difference between Tafseer and Tadabbur

Tafseer

Tadabbur

The aim of it is to know the intended meaning behind

the verse.

It is to perceive what lies behind the intended

meaning in terms of guidance and instruction.

The objective of the mufassir is to know the meaning

of the verses.

The objective of the mutadabbir is to benefit from the

verses, act upon them, believe in them, and to be
spiritually uplifted by them.

It is done by those highly qualified individuals that

have fulfilled the conditions of tafseer.

It is required to be done by all people in general on

condition the meaning of the verses is known to the
reader.

It is the means for tadabbur. Tafseer is therefore the

asl and tadabbur is what branches out of it.

It is the reason why the Quran was sent down.

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[THROWN IN A WELL TAFSEER SURAT YUSUF]

4. When Yusuf told his father, Dear Father! I saw eleven bright stars, and the sun and
moon as well. I saw them all to me prostrating
Many people ask what is the difference between Tafseer and Tadabbur? Tafseer is to uncover the meaning of
the miraculous words of the Quran - what do they mean exactly. And that is the job of the mufassir. However,
once the meaning becomes clear, what can we learn and derive from that?
Look at the table on the previous page. Let us take the example of this ayah to understand the difference
between tafseer and tadabbur.
The meaning of this ayah is quite clear. The English translation is enough of a tafseer of this ayah. On top of
that we know this is actually a dream. This is the meaning.
Tadabbur is to say what do we learn from this dream? What does this dream mean? How does it impact on
Yusuf ? On those that he tells about this dream Yaqoob ? What do we learn from that? Can
we take any benefit from this dream? Why did Allah choose to show him this dream this early on in his life? This
is trying to extract guidance from the understood meaning.
Tafseer is for an elite group of people who are qualified to do it. Tadabbur is for every single person.
Allah mentions in Surat Muhammad:

Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts? [47:24]
This is a question showing contempt and anger towards the munafiqoon. Dont you make tadabbur of the
Quran? Dont you read it and try to reflect and act upon it? Dont you do that?
Who is Allah addressing here? Munifiqoon! If the munafiqoon can make tadabbur or are being asked why dont
you, then of course, as for the believer, then so much more so, that he is supposed to make tadabbur. And
tadabbur is of different levels.
In ayah 3, Allah mentions that he alone relates the most beautiful stories in the Quran. Now we dive straight
into the story of Yusuf . It starts off with him telling his father about a dream.
In order to get as much benefit from this course as possible, you need to empty your mind of everything you
already know about his life. Everything you know about this story, just pretend you dont know any of it. Just
focus on what is being said. If you are hearing the story for the first time, all you hear is, a child says to his
father, I saw this amazing dream. Now you are thinking, who is this child? How old is he? Where exactly is this?
Those details are not mentioned. Which means that you dont really need to pay too much attention to that.
With that in mind, we dive into the story at a particular point in his life. This point is the beginning of the story.
What happened before doesnt really matter too much.

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Ibn Ashur says, Allah started this verse iz qaala Yusuf. Iz, usually translated to mean when. However, it has got
two interpretations. It either means:
1.
2.

Uzkur, so remember: the prophet is being told, remember when, or tell them to remember when
this story happened.
Remember how Allah just mentioned that he relates the best stories in the Quran? Well, one of those
stories is this one here.

Yusuf says to dad, oh father, indeed I have seen 11 stars/ planets. Kawakib can mean stars or planets.
We will get to which one perhaps is more accurate to be used here. I saw 11 of them, then I saw the sun and the
moon, I really did see them, dad, to me they were all prostrating. He tells his dad the dream.
Some linguistic points to look at here:

Kalimah tasgheer
First of all, how did Yusuf speak to his dad?
He is supposed to be a young boy here. How old was he?
Ibn Kathir
says in Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah that he was below the age of puberty. However, do you
remember what we said last week, that we are only going to rely on Quran to get the whole story? So here we
are referring to a book of history to get that answer. However, we can actually come to a possible assumption
of his age from the Quran itself, because after this scene, he is thrown into a well. Then the waarid (the well
drawer) comes and pulls him out of the well. What does he say?

This is a gulam. And in Arabic, you have a sabi (infant to 7 years old), and 7 to puberty is the age of a gulam. And
then puberty is a shab (teenager). So from Quran we got some detail as to how old he is. He was below the
age of puberty, so 8, 9 or 10. He is a young boy.
Now imagine an 8 year old or 10 year old that you know in your family. He sees something amazing. Maybe he
goes to school and sees something amazing at school. He is at home, dad comes home. Dad comes to the
door, and the young kid is there. When a kid sees something amazing and he sees his mum or his dad, does he
really say, ya abati, oh dear father, can I have a moment of your time, I want to tell you something I saw at
school? He doesnt, does he? He jumps straight in. Dad doesnt even come through the door yet, and hes
grabbed on to his leg and says, do you know what happened today? Let me tell you.
So here, one thing for sure, Yusuf has got a lot of respect for his dad. He says ya abati. And he doesnt
just say oh dad, he says ya abati. This is known as kalimah tasgheer. It is a more affectionate and endearing way
of saying o father, as in Urdu we would say abbajaan, oh my beloved father.
Do kids really speak like that? So Yusuf , already we are learning that he is very respectful because he
said ya abati, he actually addressed dad before telling him this amazing thing, he says can I have a moment of
your time. Secondly, the way he addresses him is very respectful.

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Ustadh Asim Khan

[THROWN IN A WELL TAFSEER SURAT YUSUF]

He tells him, indeed I saw 11 stars/ planets and the sun and the moon, I saw. He already said I saw. He says I
saw this, this, this, I really did see them. He is so sure about what he saw as being a true dream. He is so sure.
And he is also quite excited as well, he is repeating himself.

Rational

VS non-rational plural

VS

He doesnt say they were prostrating to me, he says to me they were prostrating. This is humbleness. If you
saw the stars and planets prostrating to you, you would start thinking that you are some big shot. But he is
saying, to me they are prostrating. He is shocked, and humble about how he relates the dream.
Within this ayah we come to know that although Yusuf is a young boy, he already knows the meaning
of the dream. How can we tell that he already knows the meaning of the dream? There is something about the
wording that tells us that he already knows what the dream means.
If you look at the meaning in Arabic, plurals can be made in the rational and non-rational form (living and nonliving plurals). Here, we see that Yusuf , though he saw the sun and moon which are non-living
entities, he never said raayatuhum, he said it with the rational plural, as if they are living things. So in that
wording, there is an indication that Yusuf knows what the moon and the sun and the planets
symbolize. Whom do they symbolize? Living beings.
The 11 stars/ planets symbolize the brothers.
What about the sun and the moon? Whom do the sun and the moon refer to? What living entity does it
symbolize? Mother and father, or father and mother?
There are some differences of opinion here. As for the 11 stars/ planets, there is an agreement that it refers to
the brothers. As for the sun and the moon, there is a difference of opinion. Some said the sun refers to the
father, others said the sun refers to the mother. Ibn Atiyyah
, in his tafseer, he made a good point. He
said, well, the fact is that religiously speaking, the mother holds a greater station in regard to the child than the
father. The prophet was asked who is most deserving of my good conduct and he said the mother (3
times), and then the father. So 3 times over, she is given a higher station than the father. That is one thing
religiously speaking, the mother is always given a higher station than the father.
Linguistically as well, shams is linguistically feminine, whereas qamar is linguistically masculine. So those two
points show that perhaps the stronger opinion is that the shams refers to the mother, and the father is
symbolized by the qamar.
Then he says that I saw them all prostrating to me.
So this is the verse explained.

Lessons
So what do we learn from this? What kind of lessons do we learn?

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Respect for dad
One lesson we learn is the respect that Yusuf had for his father shows us the respect that this deen
commands of children towards their parents. Allah is teaching us here, that look how Yusuf was with
his father. That he asked for this attention and secondly, he spoke to him with kalimah tasgheer which is an
affectionate, endearing way of speaking, so he is very respectful, and he is kind and gentle as well, with his
words towards his father.

Dad is there for son

The other thing is, the fact is, he is a young boy, and he has seen something amazing, and he actually goes and
tells his dad about it. If you imagine, when you see a father-son or father-daughter relationship, if the child
feels that they can tell their mum or dad certain things in their life, what does that mean about how they see
their mum or dad?
Think about parents who are very busy and dont have time for their children. Mum is working, dad is also
working. The child comes home, and mum and dad come home as well. They feed them, clothe them, brush
their teeth and put them into bed. Five days a week, they see their children for about a half an hour or one
hour. No quality time. Now the child is out there, school, teachers, friends and all the rest of it. Big things
happen in the childs life. If the child feels that mum and dad dont really care that much about me, they are not
really bothered about what happens in my life, would they go and tell them? They go and tell their friend, or
the next door neighbour, or somebody else, the teacher maybe, about what happened.
So here, Qasimi
, in his tafseer, he mentions that the fact that Yusuf told his dad shows the
dad, Yaqoob played a significant role in his life. The fact that he, as a young kid felt that he could tell
his dad this, that his dad should know this, that of all the people in the world, he wants to tell dad first. This is
an interesting point.
Already we are learning that there is another dimension to these verses. There are lessons on parenting here.
The way Yaqoob was with his child made him very close to him.

Etiquette in relating dreams

The other thing is, there is another lesson here of the etiquette of relating dreams that Allah is telling us about.
Which means, as as-Sadi said, that some dreams are true. And not just true, some dreams are inspired by Allah
and given to people. Yusuf will become a prophet. He is not a prophet now. This is
another lesson that Allah sometimes inspires people by way of dreams.
And we know that there is a hadith that true dreams are 1/46 th parts of prophethood, which means there are
such things as true dreams.
Sadi
said that this is a true dream, and Allah inspires people with true dreams. However, most dreams
are adghasu ahlam, dreams that are a figment of your imagination, or things that you have been thinking about
during the day. Sometimes you think about something a lot and then it ends up coming in your dream. That is
just something from human nature. As for adghasu ahlam, these pointless dreams, as well as the nightmares
that we get from shaytan, the prophet told us that we shouldnt be relating them to anyone. As for good
dreams, like this one here, you have a feeling that it was a good dream. You might not know the interpretation.
Whom do you tell about this dream?

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Ustadh Asim Khan

[THROWN IN A WELL TAFSEER SURAT YUSUF]

Here we learn a lesson. From all the people, Yusuf told his dad. After this, his dad says dont tell the
brothers.
So here Sadi
says that one point that we learn here is that good dreams should only be related to
certain people, to people who want khair (good) for you. Those are the people you should tell about the
dream, not just anybody.

Foreshadowing & Flash-Forward

Another lesson that we hear here is something called foreshadowing and flashforward. What does that mean?
It means that in storytelling, there are certain techniques about telling good stories. Some stories are okay.
Some stories are amazing. Some stories captivate the imagination. And of the techniques used in storytelling is
this, which is called foreshadowing, which is hinting to something that is going to happen later on. What does
that do? It makes a person anticipate what is going to happen. If you dont know anything that is going to
happen, you are thinking what is this all about? What is going to happen later on?
The other amazing things about this all, is that it is actually a snapshot of the end scene. This symbolic
prostration that happens, it does actually happen at the end, and sometimes in the movies, people who watch
movies or cartoons and sometimes, they use this way. In the beginning they show you a scene, and it is actually
the scene that happens right at the end. And you are left thinking, what is this about? And then slowly, the
image is drawn up, and then right at the end, it is presented to you. It is like capturing the ending in the
beginning.
These things, we come to know about them 1435 years later on. People speak about them and learn about
them at university, but going to the Quran and we can see all of these things clearly laid out, wonderfully.

My Reflections
When Yusuf narrates the dream, he describes it as if he really saw it. He doesnt mention the word dream.
This could be an indication of his age, because he is so excited as he describes it, and is repetitive in his
description. It could also mean the dream was so vivid that he really feels he saw it, or again, because he is so
small, he isnt able to distinguish between a dream and something he saw in reality.
Interesting that Yusuf saw 11 planets. And all these years we had been taught about 9, and only
recently the count (according to science) has changed.
Many of the wives of the prophet before they married him would see a dream that the moon fell in their lap.
So the prophet was depicted as the moon in a dream. I wonder if any scholar gave this as a proof that the
moon was the father. (Seeing as this was also a dream)

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Activity
What purpose does this dream serve with respect to:
1.
2.
3.

Yusuf
Yaqoob
You?

Impact on Yusuf : Through this dream does Allah prepare Yusuf to become a prophet and a
person of authority.
How exactly? Because when Allah shows you that in the end you will be someone of high standing, where
other people will show you so much respect or honour, Allah is already preparing you for that.
As a young boy, Allah showed him the dream and through it, He is showing him that you are going to become
like that.
It is a form of tasliyah (consoling). Would he just become like that? No. He is going to go through tremendous
tests, trials and tribulations. The thing is, when he is thrown into the bottom of a well, a kid, thats staring
death in the face. Allah already gave him the dream before that happens. So when he is at the bottom of the
well, he is thinking, is this the end? It is not the end. It cant be the end. I had that dream. That dream showed
me not inside the well, it showed me on top of an arsh. So here, Sadi said Allah is preparing Yusuf for
prophecy and high standing later on.
For Yaqoob , we have to understand that Yaqoob loved Yusuf dearly. And when he
is taken away from him, and a kidnapping occurs, where he knows his son is not dead, but he doesnt know
where he is, like a kidnapping his own children kidnapped his son for many years, and that has a tremendous
impact on him. He becomes extremely sad, up to the end, where a double trauma happens, where the
youngest son Binyameen is also kidnapped, then his eyes turn white (he becomes blind), from extreme
sadness. Yaqoob is going to experience extreme sadness, yet at the beginning, he knows his son told
him that dream. So he knows it is not the end, and he is given something to place his hope in, that Allah has
something in store for my son. He continues to have hope in Allah, even telling his sons:

Dont give up on the mercy of Allah.
Yaqoob is telling his sons, because one of the things is the dream of Yusuf.
The way it impacts us is that we have to appreciate that before Allah puts Yusuf through these tests,
He gives him the strength to bear the tests. And Allah deals with us in a similar way. Allah mentions in Surat alBaqarah, Allah doesnt burden anyone beyond their scope. Meaning, whatever tests come our way, Allah has
given us the strength to bear them. He has given us what we need to overcome them. Yusuf was
given many things, and one of them was the dream. He was given this dream, and the dream became a source
of strength for him to overcome and stay firm in the well, stay strong in the house of Aziz, stay strong again in
prison and keep his cool when he becomes the state treasurer of Egypt.

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Ustadh Asim Khan

[THROWN IN A WELL TAFSEER SURAT YUSUF]

One more major lesson mentioned by al-Alusi in Rooh al-Maaani, he was a recent scholar and passed away in
1342. He said all of the people in the story, or the main characters, are portrayed as light; the mother, father,
even the brothers. Who has the strongest light? The sun, then the moon, and then the stars. But stars
nevertheless have light. So he said, just based on the dream itself and telling us about the ending, it teaches us
that librah bil khawateem the judgment placed on a person is based on how he ends his life. That is one
symbolic lesson that we can learn from this dream.
So with that in mind, what do we say about the brothers of Yusuf who were incredibly cruel towards
him they dump him in a well and leave him to die? And later on as well, they even accuse him of stealing?
What can we say about them? How do we talk about them? This dream, as well as what we see later on in the
surah, teaches us that in the end, they became righteous people. That is something Ibn Kathir mentions. In the
end they became righteous people. And how you end your life, whether that is today or in 40 years time - that
is what really matters. And the prophet said this in a clear hadith, that innamal amalu bil khawateem, that
indeed the actions are based on their endings. Ending of your life, ending of your week, ending of your
Ramadan. This dream ties in to that.

(From Lesson 3: Does kawkab mean star or planet?)

Kawkab can refer to either stars or planets in Arabic. There is a way that some of the scholars said they can
determine which meaning it leads closer to. And what they said is, because the brothers are represented as
kawakib, and later on those stars/ planets are shown to be those brothers doing sujood to Yusuf , it
shows that they are more like planets than stars because planets are what revolve around the star, and in the
end we see they are revolving around someone superior (the star), which is Yusuf . So ultimately
planets orbit stars and not vice versa, and therefore it is planets and not stars.
Were the brothers of Yusuf al-Asbat? Asbat were mentioned in the Quran as prophets from amongst
many prophets. Were they prophets? If they were, it makes it difficult to understand how they were so cruel,
they were going to kill him, they lied to their dad, would they become prophets?
There are 2 opinions:
1.
2.

One opinion is that the sons of Yaqoob did eventually become prophets.
The second opinion is that the offspring of Yaqoob, children that came afterwards became prophets
and they were al-Asbat.

Ibn Taymiyyah
says the first view is a weak view, and he mentioned many reasons. The second view
that those offspring are al-Asbat. As for these children of Yaqoob , in the end they made tawbah and
ask Allah to forgive them and Yusuf also pardons them.

My Reflections

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5. He said, My dear son, dont tell your brothers your dream lest they devise some
scheme to injure you, Shaytan is a clear-cut enemy to man.

Kalimah tasgheer
So you saw that Yusuf told his dad first of all. And the way he told his dad was using affectionate
words. He said ya abati instead of saying ya abi. Dad answers in the same way. Instead of saying son, he says ya
bunayya, which is kalimah tasgheer again, it is an affectionate way of addressing your child. It is like saying,
dear son. It is an affectionate way.
Yaqoob gives him a piece of advice based on what he said. Yaqoob actually listened to his
son in order to give him advice.
Imagine you as a father and your young kid comes and tells you, dad today I was at school and I was in the
playground, and I saw all the trees, they were doing sajdah to me. You would say, you watch too many movies,
or, go talk to your mum.
Yaqoob gave him the time of day. And secondly, the way he spoke to him, my dear son. Let me give
you a piece of advice. Dont tell your brothers about the ruya. He mentioned the word ruya. Ruya means
dream. Yusuf never used the word dream. He just said, I saw. Yaqoob understands, not just
that he had a dream, but he understands the interpretation of the dream. Thats why he says, dont tell your
brothers about the dream. Why? Because the brothers are very envious of you. Thats why I am telling you.
However, he even elaborates why he is telling him this.
Fa of sababiyah (reasoning), because they will plot and scheme against you, a real plotting. Then at the end he
says, indeed shaytan is a clear cut enemy to man.
There are so many lessons just from this one statement of Yaqoob .

Who are the IKHWA?

He says, dont tell your ikhwa (brothers) about this. Yaqoob has 2 wives. From one wife he has Yusuf
and Binyameen, from the other wife, he has 10 other sons. So, for them, Yusuf is from that
step-mum. Thats already one thing. Later on we hear that they are extremely jealous of Yusuf
because they are more beloved to dad than us. So it is the fact that Yaqoob loves Yusuf and
Binyameen more that makes them so envious of them.

(From Lesson 3: What is the evidence that Yusuf and Binyameen were brothers from another mother)
We said one of the features of this course will be that we will take only from Quran and no books of history or
other resources. From the Quran is there any proof that they are two brothers from another mother as
opposed to the other 10? There seems to be proof in the Quran later in the surah where the brothers are in
Egypt talking to Yusuf unknowingly perceiving him to be the state treasurer of Egypt and not
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[THROWN IN A WELL TAFSEER SURAT YUSUF]

recognizing him as Yusuf. When they bring Binyameen, and Binyameen is taken away from them against their
will, Yusuf asks, what do you say about this, we found the kings cup on your brother. They say, if he stole, then
his brother stole before. The fact that they said his brother and not our brother, then it seems to be evidence
in the Quran that they identified as being brothers from different mothers.

Lessons
Affection > impact it has > reflects type of relationship you have with child
Parenting skills
Affection given by the father and the impact that it has. You need to really appreciate this point. It seems like a
small thing that Yaqoob said ya bunayya. But when you give advice and it is said with affection, it has
much more impact.
And one brilliant way that we can understand this is by looking at what Allah said to Moosa and
Haroon when He sent them to Firawn. The last person you speak nicely to is Firawn. He is the worst person. He
said he was god. Allah told them:

And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [Allah]." [20:44]
Firwan, Allah is telling them to address him in a gentle way. A gentle way is more effective in communicating
your message. You have to differentiate between a strong message and gentle wording. He did not tell them
to give him a watered down version of Islam. The message is going to be strong. But the way he says the
message will be nice, kind, gentle words.
The prophet said, inna Allah Rafiqun, yuhibbul rifq Allah is gentle and He loves gentleness. And He
places in gentle actions that which He doesnt place in harsh actions. So the impact of using gentle words is
something that we learn just from Yaqoob here.
What is not classed as
Now he says a few things which seem a bit problematic. Problematic in the sense that nothing has actually
happened yet. The brothers havent done anything to Yusuf . And we are supposed to have ,
good assumptions about other people. And we are supposed to stay well away from . Allah mentions
in Surat al-Hujurat:

O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. [49:12]
Here, Yaqoob tells his son, dont tell anyone your dream, because they will plot against you. Have they
plotted against him yet? No. So it is an assumption that they may well plot against you.
So how do we reconcile between having good assumptions about people, yet Yaqoob is saying that
they may plot against you? Imam Sadi said there is no really here, or that the is based on
other factors, evidences. So Shaykh as-Sadi is saying sometimes you are allowed to have evil assumptions
about other people, when it is based on evidence. In that case, it isnt based on assumption.
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For example, if you are walking on the street at 2 am, and you see a group of hooded guys smoking, and they
approach you, you dont stand there and have good assumptions, you cross the road!
You have if you have seen nothing to suggest otherwise. However, if the person behaves in a way
that shows that, in particular area he is a bit shady, then you take your precautions. This is what we learn. This
is an important lesson.

What is not classed as GHEEBAH

Isnt this a kind of gheebah? Talking about them behind their back, saying about them, they are people that
plot and scheme against others. How do we reconcile here as well?
Gheebah is to speak about somebody else in a manner that they would not like. Now would they like being
talked about like that? They wouldnt, would they? But it is not gheebah. If a person is fairly sure that another
will end up doing harm to someone, then they assume the position of giving advice. When one gives advice
about somebody, it has to be truthful.
For example, if someone asks for your advice, and you know the person well, you are allowed to say, he has
these good qualities, and these bad qualities. And the bad qualities, if you didnt intend them as a piece of
advice, based on evidence, it would be gheebah. But if you are in a position of giving advice and are saying it
based on evidence, it is not gheebah.
Similarly, Yaqoob is giving advice, and his advice is based on evidence, it is not based on assumptions.
Then this does not count as gheebah.
When it is time for marriage, and a sisters family enquires about the brother, you can say, he has these good
qualities, but as for this area, it is not looking good. This is not considered gheebah.

Sometimes its WAAJIB to cover up your blessings > protect yourself from hasad
Ibn Arabi mentioned another lesson. Yaqoob told him dont tell your bothers. He said sometimes it is waajib for
a person not to relate their blessings to others. Why? Because when you tell those others, you end up putting
yourself in harms way.
Once he tells them about the dream, he will expose himself to harm, so he wont tell them.
Many people become jealous when you tell them about a blessing.

Why is Shaytan mentioned too?

What does the last statement have to do with the advice? How do we understand this as one whole piece of
advice? What is Yaqoob trying to tell is son?
Yaqoob is telling him his brothers are envious, and reminds him that shaytan is the one who incites
the person to do evil.

Shaytan incites the evil in our nafs > wiswaas > impact on Yusuf
The nafs wants to be evil sometimes. Nafs ammarah bis-su. Shaytan calls the person to evil.

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Ustadh Asim Khan

[THROWN IN A WELL TAFSEER SURAT YUSUF]

The evil inside the brothers was hasad. They festered hasad in their hearts. Shaytan does wiswas and incites
them to get rid of him. He incites because he sees evil in your nafs. Had you dealt with your nafs properly
shaytan would have no authority over you at all.
We are responsible for evil because it originates from us, and then we are led on by shaytan.
This has an impact on Yusuf . Later on in Yusuf s life we see the advice of his father lived
with him for more than 40 years and helped him to deal with what happened when he was just a young boy
with his brothers. When he is summarizing his life and he has become the state treasurer of Egypt, and his
family have reunited with him, he says:

Allah has done good to me. He saved me from prison, and he brought all of you, my family from living as
Bedouins living in the arid desert after Shaytan caused enmity between me and my brothers.
He remembers what his father told him all those years ago. Shaytan is part of the picture and was the reason
my brothers were incited to create enmity. And that allowed him to show compassion to them. He says, no
blame on you today. How did he find it in his heart to show compassion to them? It was his fathers advice. He
said, they do evil, but shaytan is also there.
And shortly we will see his father also tells him about Allah, and going to ayah 100, right at the end, after going
through all the tribulations in his life, he says innahu huwa al-Aleem al-Hakeem, Allah is all knowing and Wise.

My Reflections
We saw in the introduction, that this surah was revealed to comfort the prophet. And we see many
correlations between the lives of the 2 prophets, for example, Rasoolullah was soon to do hijrah as well. We
know Rasoolullah also saw true dreams 6 months before his prophethood. So I wonder if this is also one of
the ways for Rasoolullah to relate to Yusuf as the surah is revealed.
Related to this point, as Rasoolullah said true dreams are 1/46th of prophethood, I wonder if this is how
Yaqoob interprets the dream to mean he will become a prophet (Allah will complete his favour)?
As a father, Yaqoob had a good read about each of his kids. Many parents are unable to see their
childrens flaws, and are often in denial. But here, we see he is aware.

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