1. Alif Lam Ra. Allah knows best what these letters mean. Those are the Signs of the Clear Book (ayats of the Qur’an). It is clear in that it makes the truth clear from falsehood.

2. We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an – in the Arabic language – so that perhaps you will use your intellect and understand its meanings.

3. We tell you the best of stories in revealing this Qur’an to you, even though you were unaware of it before it came.

4. Remember when Yusuf told his father (Ya‘qub), ‘Father, I saw in a dream eleven bright stars, and the sun and moon as well. I saw them all prostrate in front of me.’ The masculine plural sajidin is used in “prostrate”, even though it is usually only used for people, not other things.

5. He said, ‘My son, do not tell your brothers your dream lest they devise some scheme to injure you. They might devise some way to destroy you out of envy because they might interpret the dream as the stars representing them, the sun your mother, and the moon your father. Shaytan is a clear-cut enemy to man with clear enmity.

6. Accordingly – as shown by your dream – your Lord will pick you out (choose you) and teach you the true meaning of events (the interpretation of dreams) and perfectly fulfil His blessing (Prophethood) on you as well as on the family of Ya‘qüb, as He fulfilled it perfectly before by bestowing Prophethood upon your forebears, Ibrahim and Ishaq. Most certainly your Lord is Knowing of His creation, Wise in what He does to them.’

7. In Yusuf and his twelve brothers there are Signs for every one of those who wants to ask and reflect.

8. Remember when they declared (the brothers said to one another), ‘Why! Yusuf and his full brother Binyamin are dearer to our father than we are although we constitute a powerful group. Our father is clearly making a mistake by preferring him and his brother to us.

9. Kill Yusuf or expel him to some faraway land so that your father will look to you alone – turn to you and not pay attention to other than you after your killing or banishing Yüsuf – and then you can be people who do right by repenting.’

10. One of them (Yahudha) said, ‘Do not take Yusuf’s life, but throw him to the bottom of the dark well (read as ghayaba and ghayabat), so that some travellers may discover him, if this is something that you have to do. If you want to get rid of him, then confine yourselves to this.’

11. They said, ‘Our father, what is wrong with you that you refuse to trust us with Yusuf when in truth we only wish him well and will take care of him?

12. Why don’t you send him out with us tomorrow to the desert so he can enjoy himself and play about (read as yarta‘ wa yal‘ab and also narta‘ wa nal‘ab, “We can enjoy ourselves and play about.”)? All of us will make sure that he is safe.’

13. He said, ‘It grieves me to let him go with you and to part with him. I fear a wolf might come and eat him up – there were many wolves in their land – while you are heedless, not attending him.’

14. They said, ‘If a wolf does come and eat him up when together we make up a powerful group in that case we would truly be in loss – if a group of us could not defend him!’

15. But when, in fact, they did go out with him and gathered all together and agreed to put him at the bottom of the well – which they did after removing his shirt, hitting him, humiliating him and almost killing him. When he had been lowered half way down the well, they dropped him the rest of the way so that he would die and he fell into the water. He saved himself by clambering onto a stone. They called to him and he answered them, thinking that they would have mercy on him. They then wanted to crack his head with a stone, but Yahudh stopped them doing that – We then revealed to him in the well – this was true revelation, even though he was only a young boy at the time, in order to set his heart at rest – that: ‘You will inform them of this deed they perpetrate at a time in the future when they are totally unaware that it is you.’

16. That night they came back to their father in tears…

17. … saying, ‘Father, we went out to run a race and left Yusuf together with our things (our clothes) and then a wolf appeared and ate him up; but you are never going to believe us now – believe that we are telling the truth – not even though we really tell the truth – because you suspect us regarding this story because of your love for Yusuf and think badly of us.’

18. They then produced his shirt with false blood on it. There was blood on it because they had killed a lamb and splashed it with the blood but they neglected to rip it. They said that it was his blood. When Ya‘qub saw that it was undamaged, he knew that they were lying. He said, ‘It is merely that your lower selves have suggested something to you – and made it seem attractive – which you did; but beauty lies in showing steadfastness. There is no anxiety when steadfastness is displayed. It is Allah alone who is my Help and whom I ask for help in face of the event that you describe – what you have mentioned about what happened to Yusuf.’

19. Some travellers from Madyan (Midian) on their way to Egypt came that way and camped close to the well where Yüsuf was and then dispatched their water-drawer to fetch them water, who let his bucket down into the well and Yüsuf held on to it and was brought out of the well. When he saw him, he said, ‘Good news (read as bushra or bushraya) – the expression is metaphorical and means something like, “Look at this, my ship has come in!” – for me, I’ve found this boy!’ That informed his fellows and they took him and concealed what had happened. They then hid him away among their goods. They said, “This is a runaway slave.” Yusuf remained silent out of fear that they would kill him. Allah knew very well what they were doing.

20. They sold him for a pittance, a few small coins – a cheap price, reckoned to be between twenty and twenty-two dirhams – considering him to be of little worth. When the caravan reached Egypt, the one who had bought him then sold him for twenty dinars, a pair of sandals and two garments.

21. The Egyptian (Qatfir, the ‘Azız) who had bought him told his wife (Zulaykha), ‘Look after him with honour and respect among our family. It is possible he will be of use to us or perhaps we might adopt him as a son.’ He was celibate. And thus – by saving Yusuf from being killed and rescuing him from the well and making the heart of the ‘Aziz incline towards him – We established Yusuf in the land of Egypt so that he could convey what he conveyed and to teach him the true meaning of events (dream interpretation). Allah is in control of His affair and has the power to do anything He wishes, but most of mankind (the unbelievers) do not know that.

22. And then when he became a full-grown man, of thirty or thirtythree years of age, We gave him knowledge – knowledge of the din before endowing him with Prophethood – and right judgement (wisdom) too. That is how We reward all doers of good.

23. The woman whose house it was (Zulaykha) solicited him to have sexual intercourse with her. She barred the doors of the room and said, ‘Come over here (read as hi’ta lak, hıta lak, and haytu lak)! ’ He said, ‘Allah is my refuge! I seek refuge in Allah from doing that! He – the one who bought me – is my lord and has been good to me with where I live, and I will not betray him with his wife. Those who do wrong by committing adultery will surely not succeed.’

24. She wanted to have sexual intercourse with him and he would have wanted to with her, had he not seen the Clear Proof of his Lord. Ibn ‘Abbas said that the form of Ya‘qub appeared to him and struck him in the chest and the desire left him through his fingertips. That – demonstration to him of the Clear Proof – happened so We might avert from him all evil (treachery) and lust (fornication). He was one of Our sincere slave s (read as mukhlasin and also mukhlisin, meaning “one of Our chosen slaves”) with respect to obedience.

25. They raced to the door. Yüsuf hurried to it to escape and she tried to hold on to him. She grabbed his garment and pulled him to her and so she tore his shirt at the back. They met her husband by the door. She said that she was innocent. She then said, ‘How should a man whose intention was to harm your family by committing adultery be punished for what he did except with prison or painful punishment by being beaten?’

26. Yusuf said that he was innocent. He said, ‘It was she who tried to seduce me.’ A witness from her people – her cousin and it is reported that he was still in the cradle when he said this – then declared, ‘If his shirt is torn in front, she speaks the truth and he has clearly told a shameless lie.

27. If his shirt is torn at the back, then she has lied and he has clearly told the simple truth.’

28. He (her husband) saw the shirt torn at the back and said, ‘The source of this – what she said about punishing Yusuf – is women’s deviousness. Without a doubt your guile is very great.’

29. Then he continued, ‘Yusuf, ignore all this business – and do not mention it so that it does not spread – and you, Zulaykha, should ask forgiveness for your evil act. There is no doubt that you are in the wrong – sinful in respect of what you have done.’

30. Some city women in the city of Egypt said, ‘The governor’s wife solicited her slave. He hass fired her heart with love. The word used here shaghafa means to cause to love violently and is derived from shaghaf, the pericardium or covering of the heart. We see that she is the one to blame – we see that she is the one who is in error and it is clear that she is in love with him.’

31. But when she heard of their malicious talk and slander of her, she sent for them and made a sumptuous meal – prepared a meal which had citrus fruit in it which require knives – and then she gave a knife to each of them. She said to Yusuf, ‘Go out to them.’ When they saw him, they were amazed by him and cut their hands with the knives but were unconscious of the pain because they were so distracted by the sight of Yüsuf. They said, ‘Allah preserve us! This is no man – because of his beauty, which was far greater than is normally seen in a human being. A ˛adıth says, “He was given half of all beauty.” What can this be but a noble angel here!’

32. She (Zulaykha) said – when she saw what they had done – ‘You see! It is him you blamed me for loving. I tried seducing him but he refused. If he does not do what I order him, he will be put in prison and brought low and abased.’ They said to him, “Obey your mistress.”

33. He said, ‘My Lord, prison is preferable to me rather than what they call on me to do. Unless You turn their guile away from me, it may well be that I will fall for them and incline towards them and so become a man of ignorance (a sinner).’ This is a supplication to Allah. Allah then says:

34. His Lord replied to him – to his supplication – and turned away from him their female guile and deviousness. He is the One Who Hears all words, the One Who Knows all actions.

35. Then, after they had seen the Signs which made it clear to them that Yusuf was innocent they thought that they should still imprison him for a time to stop people talking; and they did so.

36. Two servants of the King entered prison along with him. One was a cupbearer and the other in charge of the royal food. They said, “We will test him.” One (the cupbearer) said, ‘I dreamt that I was pressing grapes.’ The other (the one in charge of food) said, ‘I dreamt I carried bread upon my head and birds were eating it. Tell us the true meaning of these dreams and interpret them. We see that you are one of the righteous.’

37. He said to them – to inform them that he knew the interpretation of dreams – ‘No meal to feed you will arrive before I have informed you what they mean. That is part of what my Lord taught me – he said this to encourage them to believe, for I have left the religion of a people who clearly do not believe in Allah and who disbelieve in the world to come.

38. I hold fast to the creed of my forebears Ibrhım and Ishaq and Ya‘ qub. We do not associate anything with Allah because we are protected from doing so. And that understanding of Allah’s unity is how Allah has favoured us and all mankind, yet most (the unbelievers) do not give thanks but commit shirk. Then he clearly calls on them to believe:

39. My fellow-prisoners, are many lords better, or Allah, the only One, the Conqueror? This is a question which demands an affirmative response.

40. What (the idols) you serve apart from Him are only names which you and your forefathers have made up. There is no man - date ( evidence or proof) from Allah for worshipping them. Allah alone is qualified to judge. His order is to worship none but Him. That understanding of the Divine Unity is in truth the straight and upright din, but most of mankind (the unbelievers) do not know the punishment which awaits them and so they continue to worship others besides Allah.

41. My fellow - captives, one of you (the cupbearer) will serve his lord with wine – as was his custom, and he was indeed released three days later; the other of you will be crucified and birds will eat his head.’ This was the interpretation of their dreams. They said, ‘We have not really seen anything in a dream.’ He said: ‘The thing you asked about is foreordained whether you were telling the truth or lying.’

42. He said to the one of them he knew (the word for “he knew” here, Zanna, which normally implies uncertainty here implies certainty) was saved (the cupbearer), ‘Please mention me when you are with your lord and tell him that there is someone wrongfully imprisoned,’ but Shaytan made him forget to remind his lord about Yusuf, and so he (Yusuf) stayed in prison for several years – between seven and twelve years.

43. The King of Egypt – whose name was ar-Rayyan ibn al-Walid – declared, ‘I dreamt of seven fat cows which seven thin ones ate and seven green ears of wheat and seven others which were dry. O counsellors, explain my dream to me and make it clear if you are those who can interpret visions, Interpret it for me.’

44. They said, ‘This is a jumbled mass of mixed-up dreams! We do not know the meaning of such dreams.’

45. The one of them (the cupbearer) who had been saved then said, remembering Yüsuf after a period, ‘I will tell you what it signifies, so send me out.’ They sent him and he went to Yüsuf.

46. ‘O truthful Yusuf, tell us of seven fat cows which seven thin ones ate and seven green ears of wheat and seven others which were dry, so that I may return to them (the King and his companions) and let them know what the dream meant.’

47. He said, ‘Sow for seven years in the normal way – cultivate your crops for seven years in a row; that is what is meant by the seven fat cows – and leave that which you harvest in the ear so that it does not rot, except for a small amount from which you eat – which you should thresh.

48. Then after that (the seven fertile years), seven hard years of drought – signified by the seven thin cows – will come, in which you can eat from what you set aside for them – referring to the grain stored during the fertile years – except for a little which you store.

49. Then after that (the seven years of drought) another year will come in which the people will be helped by rain in plenty and when they once more will press grapes in a time of fertility.’

50. The King said – when the messenger came and told him this interpretation of his dream – ‘Bring him who has interpreted it – meaning Yüsuf – to me straight away!’ But when the envoy came to him to ask him to come out he said, desiring to prove his innocence: ‘Go back to your master and enquire of him what happened about the women who cut their hands. My Lord has knowledge of their cunning guile.’ So the messenger went back and told the King and he summoned the women.

51. He said, ‘What was this past affair of yours when you solicited Yusuf? Did you find that he inclined to you at all?’ They then replied ‘Allah forbid! We know no bad of him.’ The governor’s wife then said, ‘The truth has now emerged and become clear. Indeed I tried to seduce him then and he has simply told the honest truth.’ She admitted that he had spoken the truth. Yüsuf was informed of it and then said the following:

52. ‘In this way – by making his innocence known – he (the ‘Aziz) may know at last that I did not dishonour him behind his back – and did not betray him with his wife – and that Allah most surely does not guide the deviousness of the dishonourable. Then he was humble and said:

53. I do not say my self was free from blame (faults). The self – here used generically meaning human selves in general – indeed often commands to evil acts, except for those my Lord has mercy on and protects. My Lord is Forgiving, Merciful.’

54. The king said, ‘Bring him to me straight away so I may draw him very close to me – I can make him a special confidant for myself without any intermediary.’ The messenger came to Yusuf and said, “Respond to the king.” He rose and said goodbye to the people in the prison and made supplication for them. Then he washed himself and put on good clothes and went to the king. When he (the king) had spoken with him, he declared, ‘Today you are trusted, established in our sight. What do you think we should do?’ He said, “Collect the food and sow many crops in the fertile years and store up food in the ear. Then many people will come to you to get provision from you.” The king asked, “Who should be in charge of that?”

55. He (Yusuf) said, ‘Entrust the country’s stores (the stores of Egypt) to me. In truth I am a knowing guardian. I know how to protect,’ or, possibly, ‘I am a writer with knowledge of calculation.’

56. And thus by delivering him from prison We established Yüsuf in the land (Egypt) so he could live in any place he pleased – after his constriction and imprisonment. It is said that the king met with him face to face and gave him the seal and appointed him to the position of governor, having dismissed the previous incumbent. After that the king died. Then Yusuf married his widow and found her to be a virgin and she bore him two children. He established justice in Egypt and people were subject to him. We grant Our grace to anyone We will, and We do not allow to go to waste the wage of any who do good.

57. But the wages of the Next World are the best – better than the wages of this world – for people who believe and fear their Lord. Then the years of drought came and it affected the lands of Canaan and Syria.

58. The brothers of Yusuf – without Binyamın – came into his presence to buy food, since they had heard that the governor of Egypt sold food for a price; and he knew them – Yüsuf recognised his brothers – but they did not know him because it had been a long time since they had seen him and they thought that he was dead. They spoke to him in Hebrew and he asked, as if he disapproved of them, “What has brought you from your land?” “Need for food,” they answered. “Perhaps you are spies,” he said. “We seek refuge with Allah!” they responded. “Where are you from?” he asked. “From Canaan,” they replied. “Our father is Ya‘qub, the Prophet of Allah.” He asked, “Does he have any children other than you?” he asked. They said, “Yes, we are twelve. The youngest of us went and was lost in the desert. Of all of us he was the one our father loved most. He kept his full brother with him to console himself for his loss.” Yüsuf commanded that they be given hospitality and honoured.

59. Then, having supplied their needs and given them the measure of grain they came to procure he said to them, ‘Bring me your brother, Binyamin, your father’s youngest son, so that I may know that you are speaking the truth. Do you not see that I dispense full measure without stinting and am the most hospitable of hosts?

60. But if you do not bring him here to me, your measure from me then will be denied – you will not be able to buy any grain – and you will not come near to me at all.’

61. They said, ‘We will ask our father for him – we will try to ask him to send him with us. That is something we will surely do.’

62. He told his serving men (read as fityanihi and fityatihi),‘Put back their goods (dirhams) which they have brought to pay for their measure into their saddlebags for them to find when they arrive back to their families and open their bags, so that perhaps they will return again – because they will not think it proper to keep them.’

63. Then when they got back to their father’s house, they said, ‘Father, our measure will be denied if you do not send our brother to him. Please send our brother with us so we may obtain our measure (read as naktal and yaktal, in which case the meaning becomes “the measure may be obtained”). We will take care of him.’

64. He said, ‘How will my trusting him to your care be different from entrusting his brother Yüsuf before – when you did what you did? The Best of Guardians (read as hafizan and hifzan), however, is Allah. He is the Most Merciful of the merciful – and I hope thatHe will protect me.

65. Then when they opened up their saddlebags and found their merchandise returned to them, they said, ‘Our father, what more could we ask – what greater generosity from the king could we ask for than this? They addressed this to Ya‘qüb, to point out how the king had honoured them. Here is our merchandise returned to us. We can provide our families with food, and guard our brother and get an extra load for him. That is an easy measure to obtain. It is easy for the king because he is generous.’

66. He said, ‘I will not send him out with you until you make a covenant with Allah (swear an oath) to bring him home unless you are overwhelmed by being killed or defeated so that you cannot bring him.’ They did as he asked. When they had made their covenant concerning that, he said, ‘Allah is Guardian over what we say.’ So he sent him with them.

67. He said, ‘My sons, you must not enter Egypt through a single gate. Go in through different gates – so that no one sentry sees you all. But I cannot save you from Allah at all in respect of what He has decreed for you by saying that, for judgement comes from no one but Allah. It is just because of the great compassion I feel for you. In Him I put my trust, and let all those who put their trust, put it in Him alone.’

68. Allah continues: But when they entered by different gates as their father said, it did not save them from the decree of Allah at all, yet a need in Ya‘qub’s soul was satisfied. His compassion made him want to avert the attention of the sentries from them. He had knowledge which We had taught him, but most of mankind (the unbelievers) simply do not know about Allah’s inspiration to His friends.

69. Then when they entered into Yusuf’s presence, he drew his brother close to him – embracing him – and said, ‘I am your brother. Do not be distressed concerning all the things they used to do out of envy towards us.’ He ordered him not to tell them and to remain with him, and that he would contrive a way for him to stay with him.

70. Then when he had supplied them with their needs, he put the goblet – a gold vessel encrusted with gems – in his brother’s (Binyamin’s) bag . A herald called out, when they had left the assembly of Yusuf, ‘Caravan! You are thieves!’

71. They turned to them and asked, ‘What are you missing?’

72. They said, ‘We are missing the goblet of the king. The man who brings it will get a camel’s load of food. Of that I stand as guarantor.’

73. They said, ‘By Allah, you know we did not come to corrupt the land and that we are not thieves. We have never stolen.”’ This is an oath which implies amazement and surprise.

74. They (the herald and his fellows) said, ‘What is the reparation for it – what should be done with the thief – if it in fact transpires that you are liars about being thieves and the goblet is found in your possession?’

75. They said, ‘Its reparation shall be him in the saddlebags of whom it is discovered (the thief). Among us that is how wrongdoers are repaid.’ The thief would be enslaved on account of his theft: that was the custom of the family of Ya‘qub in case of theft. They told Yusuf that he should search their bags.

76. He started with their bags before his brother’s and searched them so that they would not suspect anything – and then produced it (the goblet) from his brother’s bag. Allah continues: In that way We devised a cunning scheme for Yüsuf – We taught him a means of taking his brother. He could not have held his brother – as a slave for theft according to the statutes of the King in the law of the king of Egypt, because the penalty for theft was beating and being liable for the equivalent of the object stolen, not enslavement: only because Allah had willed it so. Allah willed that he take him by the judgement of his own tribe. This means that the only way he could take him was by Allah inspiring him to question his brothers, who answered according to their custom. We raise the rank of anyone We will – such as Yüsuf. Over everyone with knowledge in creation is a Knower (Allah) who knows better than them.

77. They said, ‘If he steals now, his brother Yusuf stole before.’ He had stole a gold idol belonging to his mother’s father and broken it so that he would not worship it. But Yüsuf kept it to himself and still did not disclose it to them, saying to himself, ‘The plight that you are in is worse than that – worse than that of Yüsuf and his brother, since you stole your brother from his father and wronged him. Allah knows best the matter you describe.’

78. They said, ‘Your Eminence, he has an old and venerable father who loves him more than he loves us and is consoled by him for his lost son; and it would grieve him to be parted from him, so take one of us to enslave instead of him. We see without a doubt that you are of the people who do good.’

79. He said, ‘Allah forbid that we should take anyone but him with whom our goods were found – he did not say, “The one who stole” to avoid telling a lie. In that case – if we took someone else – we would clearly be wrongdoers.’

80. When they despaired of him, they went apart to talk alone among themselves. The eldest of them (Rubil or Yahudha) said, ‘You know full well your father had you make a covenant with Allah concerning this (your brother) and how before you failed him with Yusuf. I will not leave this land of Egypt until I have permission from my father to return to him or Allah decides about the case on my behalf by releasing my brother. Truly He is the justest Judge of all.

81. Return now to your father and say to him, “Your son stole, father. We can do no more than testify to what we know – since we certainly witnessed the discovery of the goblet in his bag – and we are not the guardians of the Unseen. We do not know what had happened when we offered the security. If we had known that he was a thief, we would not have taken him with us.”

82. Ask questions of the town in which we were in Egypt – in other words, send someone to its people and ask them – and of the people of the caravan in which we came – who were people of Canaan – for we are surely telling you the truth.”’ They went to their father and told him that.

83. He said, ‘It is merely that your lower selves suggested – and made seem attractive to you – something to you which you did. He suspected them because of what had happened before with Yusuf. But beauty lies in my having steadfastness. Perhaps Allah will bring them (Yusuf and his brothers) all together. He is indeed All- Knowing of my state and All-Wise in what He does.’

84. He stopped speaking to them and turned himself away from them and said, ‘What anguish is my sorrow for Yusuf!’ And then his eyes turned white from hidden grief due to the intensity of weeping because of his deep sorrow. The word used, kazim, describes someone who is suffering intense sorrow and grief but does not show it.

85. They said, ‘By Allah, you will not ever cease to mention Yusuf, till you waste away – and are at the point of death owing to the length of your illness – or are among the people of the grave!’

86. He said to them, ‘I make complaint about my grief (the word used bathth means an immense sorrow which cannot normally be borne without telling people about it) and sorrow to Allah alone and none other, because – He is the only One who can answer my complaint, and I know things from Allah you do not know about the dream of Yusuf which was true; and so he had to be alive for it to be fulfilled. Then Ya‘qub said:

87. My sons, seek news of Yusuf and his brother. Do not despair of solace (mercy) from Allah. No one despairs of solace from Allah except for people who are unbelievers.’ So they went towards Egypt looking for news of Yüsuf.

88. So when they came into his presence, they said, ‘Your Eminence, hardship (hunger) has hit us and our families. We bring scant merchandise – which would normally be refused by people who saw it: some debased dirhams and similar things – but fill the measure for us generously in spite of the poorness of our goods. Allah always rewards a generous giver.’ Allah rewards the generous, singles them out, bestows His mercy on them and removes the veil between Himself and them.

89. He said, to rebu ke them, ‘Are you aware of what you did to Yusuf – their beating and selling of him – and his brother – their wronging of him after his brother had left – in ignorance? You were ignorant of what happened to Yüsuf.’

90. They said – after they recognised him and his qualities became clear to them, asking this to confirm it – ‘Are you Yusuf?’ He said, ‘I am indeed Yüsuf, and this here is my brother. Allah has acted graciously to us and blessed us by re-uniting us. As for those who fear Allah and are steadfast in respect of what befalls them. Allah does not allow to go to waste the wage of any people who do good.’

91. They said, ‘By Allah, Allah has favoured you and preferred you above us with sovereignty and other things. Clearly we were in the wrong in what we did to you, and so we are now humbled before you.’

92. He said, ‘No blame at all will fall on you; he said this because it was likely that there would be blame. Today you have forgiveness from Allah. He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.’ He asked them about his father and they said that he had lost his sight. Then he said to them:

93. ‘Go with this shirt of mine – the shirt of Ibrahim, which he had been wearing when he was thrown into the fire, and which was with Yusuf in the well. It came from Paradise. Jibril had been commanded to send it and said that it contained the scent of Paradise, and when it is thrown on anyone suffering from an illness, he is cured – and cast it on my father’s face, and he will see again. Then come to me with all your families.’

94. And when the caravan went on its way and they left Egypt their father Ya‘qub said to those of his sons and grandchildren who were present, ‘I can smell Yusuf’s scent! He had caught scent of him on the wind by Allah’s permission at a distance of seven or eight days or more. You probably think I have become senile and foolish.’

95. They said to him, ‘By Allah! Your mind is still astray. You are misled, because of your excessive love for him, into hoping to find him after all this time.’

96. But when the bringer of the good news came – Yahudha, who had brought Yüsuf’s shirt with false blood, and who wanted to make him happy as he had made him sad – he cast it (the shirt) on his face and sight returned. He said, ‘Did I not say to you before that I know things from Allah you do not know?’

97. They said, ‘Our father, may we be forgiven for all the many wrongs that we have done. We were indeed greatly mistaken.’

98. He said, ‘I will ask my Lord to pardon you. He is Ever Forgiving, Most Merciful.’ He delayed that supplication until dawn so that it would be more likely to be answered, or until Friday night. Then they went to Egypt and Yüsuf and the great men came out to meet them.

99. Then when they entered into Yusuf’s presence (his pavilion) he drew his parents (his father and mother or aunt) close to him (embraced them) and said to them, ‘Enter Egypt safe and sound, if Allah wills.’ They entered and Yüsuf was sitting on his throne.

100. He raised his parents up onto the throne and – sitting them with him – the others – as well as his parents – fell prostrate in front of him. They prostrated to him by bowing low, not by actual prostration with the forehead on the ground. It was their greeting at that time. He said, ‘My father, truly this is now the interpretation of the dream I had. My Lord has made it all come true; and He was kind to me by letting me out of prison – he did not mention the well out of generosity, so that his brothers would not be embarrassed – and brought you from the desert when Shaytan had caused dissent and unsettled things between me and my brothers. My Lord is kind to anyone He wills. He is indeed All-Knowing of His creation and All-Wise in what He does.’ His parents stayed with him for a further twenty-four or twenty-seven years. He had been apart from them for eighteen or forty or eighty years. When Ya‘qub died, Yüsuf ordered that he should be taken and buried with his father, Ishaq. He took him himself and buried him there with him. Then he returned to Egypt and stayed there twenty-three years more. When his time was over and he knew that he would not live longer, his soul yearned for the Eternal King and he said:

101. ‘My Lord, You have granted soverignty to me and taught me the true meaning of events – how to interpret dreams. Originator (Creator) of the heavens and earth, You are my Friend in this world and the Next – You attend to my best interests – so take me as a Muslim at my death and join me to the people who are righteous among my ancestors.’ He lived a week or more after that and died at the age of one hundred and twenty. The Egyptians placed him in a coffin of marble and buried him on the bank of the upper Nile so that the blessing would spread on its sides. Glory be to the One whose kingdom does not end.

102. This – what has been narrated about Yusuf – is news of the Unseen that was unknown to you, Muhammad, before – which We reveal to you. You were not with them (the brothers of Yüsuf) when they decided what to do – and plotted and resolved on it – and devised their scheme about him. You were not with them to know his story and be aware of it. Your knowledge of it comes from Revelation.

103. But most people, including the people of Makka, for all your eagerness – for them to believe are not believers.

104. You do not ask them for any wage for it (the Qur’an). It (the Qur’an) is only a reminder (a warning and admonition) to all beings.

105. How many Signs there are in the heavens and earth that indicate the oneness of Allah which they witness! Yet they pass them by, turning away from them and not reflecting on them.

106. Most of them do not believe in Allah – since they do not affirm that He is the Creator and Provider – without associating others with Him by worshipping other idols with him. That is why they used to say in the talbiya, “At Your service. You have no partner except a partner who is Yours. You rule him and he does not rule.”

107. Do they feel secure that the all-enveloping punishment of Allah (His revenge) will not come upon them suddenly, or that the Last Hour will not come upon them all of a sudden when they least expect it?

108. Say to them: ‘This is my way. It is that I call to the din of Allah with inner sight (clear proof) I and all who follow me and believe in me. Glory be to Allah! He is free of partners. I am not one of the idolaters.’

109. We sent none before you but men inspired with revelation (read as yuha and nuha “We inspire”) – not angels – from among the people of the cities. Cities are mentioned because the people in them are more knowledgeable and sensible than the people of the deserts, who are coarse and ignorant. H a ve they (the people of Makka) not travelled in the land and seen the final fate of those before them: the end and outcome of other peoples who were destroyed for their denial of their Messengers? The abode of the Next World (the Garden) is better for those who are godfearing and fearful of Allah. So will you not use your intellect (read as ta‘qiluna and ya‘qiluna, “will they not use their intellect?”)?

110. Then when the Messengers despaired and thought themselves denied (read as kudhibu and kudhdhibu) – in other words they thought that no one would believe in them and the nations thought that their Messengers would not have their promised help – Our help came to them, and those We willed were saved (read as nujjiya and nunji). Our violent force (punishment) cannot be averted from people who are evildoers (the idolaters).

111. There is instruction in their stories (the stories of the Messengers) for people of intelligence. This Qur’an is not a narration which has been invented but confirmation of all Divine Books that came before, a clarification of everything that is necessary in the din, and a guidance away from misguidance and a mercy for people who believe. Those who believe are singled out for mention because they are the ones who benefit from the Qur’an and its contents.