The Fairest of Stories The Life of Joseph Son of Jacob in the Quran An Interlinear Commentary on Strat Yitsuf The Quran is not afore ale butt @coufnmation of what preveded i, and a distingwishing of al things, and idance and mercy fora believing people Ahmad Zaki Hammad University Library Wheeling Campus NATIONAL-LOUIS UNIVERSITY© Copyright 2000 Ahmad Zaki Hammad —_ < FOR ‘Rpts Reserved (alin Ener ory miran nee tte Allin the English-speaking wort elo case, sea pcan elo especially young people—aho may derive att ype ator ter ioeoercee Re cece Feria Teo i ar the impulse to seek divine guidance for a Printed in the United States of America re and in the Hereafter meaningful lif Published by: Quranic Literacy Institute (QLD PO. Box 146 Brkigeviews lino 6045 » US.A (7a) 30-191 » 7) 430-1993 Fn) Book Editors: Amer A. Haleem & Hbrohim N. Abusharif ISBN (softcover: 096507467-6 The text is set in Hemabospecial, a type that facllates Arabic transliteration and the use of featutes special to amie iterate, such asa" and" ‘TRADEMARK ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: (QUI, Quranic Literacy Institte, Advancing lamic Literacy, The Quran Project, and The Quran: Interpretation in Context ae trademarks of the Quranic Literacy eaitate (QLD.CC LEISSSDEESS:' sin TRANSLTERATION NOTE ‘of Prophet Muhammad & is followed by the Arabic ~ & "which ms ay be CONTENTS i eeas i . ane iat Senos PREFACE x ea See INTRODUCTION 1 eee! zs Sart neat INTERLINEAR COMMENTARY S a J 1 1. Human Plans and the Divine Decree 9 Rene Lem ir ice eects 16 fs eae Ii, fol Cnlines Fs Miso in Pris 2 : Serre 1, joe Pn Recs Yomge Bry 33 Dooce eae V. The Reunion ofthe Howse of ab “« ot . Vk. Gots Promise to Uphold His Prophet 0 QURANIC CITATION NOTE BIBLIOGRAPHY References othe Quran's eres in this Book are cited following an . fst sur or chap) sete 28 Gur, 13 he sure nooke aa the mute of th verse separated by cle) BRACKETS NOTE Within several transated texts ar half bracts * tat contain clarying tex that should be read as fit were part ofthe tex. For example Tere ‘eho ser prayers of essings don upon you. Quran, 3840)PREFACE The Quran is a book of divine guidance, Ie presents the blessed way of life to humanity, calling it Peace, oF Islam in its revealed Arabic. Init God makes clear for the last time in human Language who He is, who man is, and, therefow what man isto be about, The Quran achieves is purpose by fenunciating the immutable truths, earthly realities, divine commandments, moral admonitions, prophetic histories, and premonitory and promisefil glimpses ofthe Afterlife that are necessary to human success in this world and in the Hercaer Inseparable from the Quran’s message ate its richly diverse styles. These can be described as literary forms, though one should keep in mind their divine source. One of the most gratifying of these styles is the narrative, which the Quran ‘offen uses to recount the lives and missions of the prophets and to confim the unity oftheir heavenly mesage, respec tive of time, place, and community. The accounts ofits most celebrated prophets the Quran almost invariably restates inx The Fat of Sores more than one style, developing with each utterance the pregnant ramifications for human salvation that their sag es epitomize. Thus, the Qura {events inthe histories of the prophets more than once, With relates certain watershed cach retelling, however, the momentous scene disney different light, until the connections between the fateful moments varied lessons become eminently clear and its intricacies match the dynamism of human thought and The Quran ako uses something like the converse ofthese narratives. Ie presents a succession of vignettes thae describe the experience of d communities, The anatomes of these encounters, one after verse messengers with their recalcitrant the other, serve to emblematize not only the celestial same- ness of their divine eall but ako the atrant predictability of the human answer and cataclysmic aftermath, Yet, as compared with the Quran’s wide diversity of iter- ary forms—or even its prophee narratives its account ofthe life-story of Joseph (YGsut, in Arabic) stands unique. To begin with, the Prophet Mulbammad & received the revela- in an exceptional manner. While the revelations of most of the Quran's longer suras (chapters) ‘occurred in segments on different occasions, Sirat YGsuf he Chapter of Joseph) was revealed in a single episode, More specifically, the histories of the prophets are apportioned sion ofthe Joseph narrativ throughout the Quran in accordance with the Quran's major them for a5 illustrations of i central yamings. Joseph's story comes asa continuous narration in only one sura, and its many facess and turns presenta continuum of lessons that pro ken, pivotal theme in. human lie: Never will God fil the ess inexorably, spectacularly, toward a singular, unbro- Price xi believer who strives with his soul to be morally excellent The elements of ory that imbue Strat Yasut—those of character and portent and event, scenario and. set voice—convey this Quranic message superbly. Therefore the story of Joseph is through-and-through, as the Quran itself describes it, she fairest of stoves (Quran, 12:3), endlessly magical i its capacity to delight our hearts while edifying car souls ‘Joseph's story teaches humankind that its God is one God. al-wise and ever-watching. It unges people «0 be ceaselessly vigilant in the moral stagele that so thoroughly defines our earthly existence. It shows that no human being s too bum ble and no condition too lowly for one to become a cham-[1 pion of good—and that out of ach character and conviction dloes the tre hero offith aise Por such gallanc ends as these does the Quran immortalie for posterity the life of Joseph, whose unwavering godliness in tibulation after tial bears living witness ro the inevitable triumph of God and good in the airs of the world “The human ereature is to live lie based upon the imper- ative of belief in one God. From this commandment stems the moral virtues that God has ordained to regulate human inerchange in the personal, familial, and societal spheres, SelF-mastery of inborn desires—not their elimination—is a prime objective of the human experience, for mortal pasion ‘must find expression in the individual's transactions and exercise of power over people—be it fimily oF nation. The frontier: of human want must, therefore, correspond with the ends of fith iF good is to flourish in the work. For the contention of heavenly religion is that faith is good and other than it i banefal. Thus, through daunting challenge and v hos ‘aih The Fai of Storie ccxalting victory, the believer is coegually striving to atain to the spiritual bearing and ethical behavior that God has enshrined in His revelations and in the lifé-examples of the messengers that carried them. In all seasons, then, let the human creature ready its soul to meet God in the Afterlife With righteous deeds fowing from sound belief. This i the ‘exhortation of Joseph's ite Herein, the Quran's Joseph narrative differs fuandamental- ly ffom the human enterprise of storytelling. Its divine source, its pore veracity, the perfect coherence of its purpose with the human purpose implicates a relevance andl urgency that are orders of magnitude beyond the sensations. that hhuman expressiveness elicits, Ifthe human-innovated story ratifies us, or even influences our lives then the divinely revealed narrative achieves these effects in a profound way— and with sure deliverance fiom error. Thus, the distinction in the meaning and consequence of the two is not less than the incomparable difference between the all-resonating speech of the omniscient Creator and the finite voice of sub jective human creativity When the human being attends co the former that is, the revelation of its Creator, is soul becomes illuminated. When 4 considers the revelation it has heard in the context of its ‘original inspiration into che world, that is to the Prophet & and his community, the human soul grows wise, When it seeks consonance between God's revelation ant prophetic context, on one hand, and its own life and work, on the ‘other, the human being becomes activated to achieve its pur- pose of gailines of character, the enjoinment of peace on ‘arth, and the forbidding of injustice. Thus, the Quranic mar ratives of the prophets, like Joseph's story, call us to our Prfce it native reality by delivering insight to us that is not subject 10 ilusion. Say, “This is my way, [call 19 God with tm vision —T and whoeve flows me, And glory 8! And Lam not of the dolar!” (Quran, 12:108). TPhe work in hand presents Sirat Yaisuf at four concentric levels: In is divinely revealed Arabic, followed by a catefil translation of this meaning in English, nested in an authentic