• Joseph preaches Unity of God to his fellows in the prison and interprets the dreams of his two fellow-prisoners

Yusuf (Joseph) Verses 36 – 42

وَدَخَلَ مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيَانِ قَالَ أَحَدُهُمَا إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَعْصِرُ خَمْرًا وَقَالَ الْآخَرُ إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَحْمِلُ فَوْقَ رَأْسِي خُبْزًا تَأْكُلُ الطَّيْرُ مِنْهُ نَبِّئْنَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ إِنَّا نَرَاكَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ

And with him entered the prison, two youths; Said one of them (Unto Joseph) “Verily I saw (in dream) myself pressing wine.” And said the other: “I saw (in dream) myself carrying bread on my head, and birds eating there of. Inform us of its interpretation: Verily we see thee of the doers of good (to all).” (12:36)

قَالَ لَا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ إِلَّا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمَا ذَٰلِكُمَا مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي رَبِّي إِنِّي تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ

Said he (Joseph): “There shall not come unto you the food which ye are fed with but I inform ye two of its interpretation before it cometh unto ye two; This is of what my Lord hath taught me; Verily I have forsaken the religion of the people who believe not in God, and of the hereafter, they are dis believers.” (12:37)1

وَاتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّةَ آبَائِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ مَا كَانَ لَنَا أَنْ نُشْرِكَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ

“And I follow the religion of my fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and it is not (lawful) for us to associate aught with God; This is by God’s grace upon us and on mankind, but most people give not thanks.” (12:38)

يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَأَرْبَابٌ مُتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

“O’ my (two) fellows of the prison! Are (many) lords differing from each other better or God the One, the All-Dominant?” (12:39)2

مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ إِلَّا أَسْمَاءً سَمَّيْتُمُوهَا أَنْتُمْ وَآبَاؤُكُمْ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ إِنِ الْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ أَمَرَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ ذَٰلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

“Ye worship not besides Him but (mere) names3which ye have named, ye and your fathers, God hath not sent down for them any authority; there is no judgment but God’s; He hath bidden that ye worship not but unto Him; This is the right religion, but most people know (it) not.” (12:40)4

يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَمَّا أَحَدُكُمَا فَيَسْقِي رَبَّهُ خَمْرًا وَأَمَّا الْآخَرُ فَيُصْلَبُ فَتَأْكُلُ الطَّيْرُ مِنْ رَأْسِهِ قُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ الَّذِي فِيهِ تَسْتَفْتِيَانِ

“O’ my (two) fellows of the prison! As to one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; As for the other, he shall be crucified, so that the birds shall eat from his head. The matter is decreed about which ye two inquired.” (12:41)

وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجٍ مِنْهُمَا اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ فَأَنْسَاهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِ فَلَبِثَ فِي السِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ

And he5said unto him whom he knew would be delivered of the two: “mention me unto thy lord;”6But the devil caused him7to forget mentioning (it) to his lord,8so he9remained in the prison a few years (more). (12:42)

Commentary

Verse 36

The two young men were:

1. The ‘Saqi’ (the servant who serves the drinks) called ‘Yunan’ who used to draw wine from the grapes for the King.

2. The Cook of the King. He was called Mahila.

These two were imprisoned on the charge of attempting to poison the King. Joseph used to move very sympathetically among the prisoners, treated them very kindly and had been helping them by mending their worn-out clothes and in other possible ways. Joseph had the divine gift of interpreting dreams.

The prisoners used to relate their dreams to Joseph and seek the interpretations and so did the two companions of Joseph. The ‘Saqi’ had dreamt that he was drawing wine by squeezing the grapes, and ‘Mahila’ the cook had dreamt that he was holding some bread in a bowl on his head and the birds were eating the bread away.

Verses 37 - 40

Joseph wanted to be quick in interpreting the dreams for there was death for one of them. He first preached Islam, the correct faith in God, so that the man might die with faith in God and then interpreted the dreams.

Verse 41

Note that the word ‘Sahibi’, i.e., my fellow or companion, has been used by Joseph in addressing polytheists. The mere the two fellow-prisoners who were polytheists. The mere use of the word ‘Sahibi’ can never mean that two fellows who were disbelievers in God were in any sense of the term the equals of Joseph who was the apostle of God. Thus, if any one is merely called a contemporary or the companion of a great personality can never be an equal or necessarily a good person. Merely because anyone else is called the companion of the Holy Prophet, it does not necessarily mean that every one of them was a good person.

According to the interpretation, the two youths were summoned out of the prison and the cook, the charge against whom was proved, was executed, and the Saqi who was proved innocent and also faithful was released and was also raised into the service of the King.

Verse 42

Before the prisoners were released, Joseph had desired them to remind the King of him and since Joseph forgot God, his true Lord, and sought help from the King and not from God, he was made to stay in the prison a few more years. When Joseph was informed of the consequence of his seeking help from the King instead of seeking it from God, he wept and prayed to God in tears. At last, when the prayers of Joseph and also Jacob were heard, the period of the imprisonment of Joseph was brought to an end by a dream which the King was caused to have.

• 1. Joseph reasons out his knowledge of the correct interpretation of the dreams and the mind reading to his entire submission to God and his detachment from all sorts of polytheistic belief and tendencies.
• 2. Refer to verse 38:65.
• 3. Mere imaginary beings without any existence - or without any authority or hold as imagined.
• 4. Refer to verses 7:71 & 53:23.
• 5. Joseph.
• 6. The King.
• 7. The fellow prisoner.
• 8. The King.
• 9. Joseph.