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- In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
-
- 1. Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book that makes
- (things) manifest.
-
- 2. Surely We have revealed it-- an Arabic Quran-- that you may
- understand.
-
- 3. We narrate to you the best of narratives, by Our
- revealing to you this Quran, though before this you were
- certainly one of those who did not know.
-
- 4. When Yusuf said to his father: O my father! surely I saw
- eleven stars and the sun and the moon-- I saw them making
- obeisance to me.
-
- 5. He said: O my son! do not relate your vision to your
- brothers, lest they devise a plan against you; surely the
- Shaitan is an open enemy to man.
-
- 6. And thus will your Lord choose you and teach you the
- interpretation of sayings and make His favor complete to you
- and to the children of Yaqoub, as He made it complete before
- to your fathers, Ibrahim and Ishaq; surely your Lord is
- Knowing, Wise.
-
- 7. Certainly in Yusuf and his brothers there are signs for
- the inquirers.
-
- 8. When they said: Certainly Yusuf and his brother are
- dearer to our father than we, though we are a (stronger)
- company; most surely our father is in manifest error:
-
- 9. Slay Yusuf or cast him (forth) into some land, so that
- your father's regard may be exclusively for you, and after
- that you may be a righteous people.
-
- 10. A speaker from among them said: Do not slay Yusuf, and
- cast him down into the bottom of the pit if you must do
- (it), (so that) some of the travellers may pick him up.
-
- 11. They said: O our father! what reason have you that you
- do not trust in us with respect to Yusuf? And most surely we
- are his sincere well-wishers:
-
- 12. Send him with us tomorrow that he may enjoy himself and
- sport, and surely we will guard him well.
-
- 13. He said: Surely it grieves me that you should take him
- off, and I fear lest the wolf devour him while you are
- heedless of him.
-
- 14. They said: Surely if the wolf should devour him
- notwithstanding that we are a (strong) company, we should
- then certainly be losers.
-
- 15. So when they had gone off with him and agreed that they
- should put him down at the bottom of the pit, and We
- revealed to him: You will most certainly inform them of this
- their affair while they do not perceive.
-
- 16. And they came to their father at nightfall, weeping.
-
- 17. They said: O our father! surely we went off racing and
- left Yusuf by our goods, so the wolf devoured him, and you
- will not believe us though we are truthful.
-
- 18. And they brought his shirt with false blood upon it. He
- said: Nay, your souls have made the matter light for you,
- but patience is good and Allah is He Whose help is sought
- for against what you describe.
-
- 19. And there came travellers and they sent their
- water-drawer and he let down his bucket. He said: O good
- news! this is a youth; and they concealed him as an article
- of merchandise, and Allah knew what they did.
-
- 20. And they sold him for a small price, a few pieces of
- silver, and they showed no desire for him.
-
- 21. And the Egyptian who bought him said to his wife: Give
- him an honorable abode, maybe he will be useful to us, or we
- may adopt him as a son. And thus did We establish Yusuf in
- the land and that We might teach him the interpretation of
- sayings; and Allah is the master of His affair, but most
- people do not know.
-
- 22. And when he had attained his maturity, We gave him
- wisdom and knowledge: and thus do We reward those who do
- good.
-
- 23. And she in whose house he was sought to make himself
- yield (to her), and she made fast the doors and said: Come
- forward. He said: I seek Allah's refuge, surely my Lord made
- good my abode: Surely the unjust do not prosper.
-
- 24. And certainly she made for him, and he would have made
- for her, were it not that he had seen the manifest evidence
- of his Lord; thus (it was) that We might turn away from him
- evil and indecency, surely he was one of Our sincere
- servants.
-
- 25. And they both hastened to the door, and she rent his
- shirt from behind and they met her husband at the door. She
- said: What is the punishment of him who intends evil to your
- wife except imprisonment or a painful chastisement?
-
- 26. He said: She sought to make me yield (to her); and a
- witness of her own family bore witness: If his shirt is rent
- from front, she speaks the truth and he is one of the liars:
-
- 27. And if his shirt is rent from behind, she tells a lie
- and he is one of the truthful.
-
- 28. So when he saw his shirt rent from behind, he said:
- Surely it is a guile of you women; surely your guile is
- great:
-
- 29. O Yusuf! turn aside from this; and (O my wife)! ask
- forgiveness for your fault, surely you are one of the
- wrong-doers.
-
- 30. And women in the city said: The chiefs wife seeks her
- slave to yield himself (to her), surely he has affected her
- deeply with (his) love; most surely we see her in manifest
- error.
-
- 31. So when she heard of their sly talk she sent for them
- and prepared for them a repast, and gave each of them a
- knife, and said (to Yusuf): Come forth to them. So when they
- saw him, they deemed him great, and cut their hands (in
- amazement), and said: Remote is Allah (from inperfection);
- this is not a mortal; this is but a noble angel.
-
- 32. She said: This is he with respect to whom you blamed me,
- and certainly I sought his yielding himself (to me), but he
- abstained, and if he does not do what I bid him, he shall
- certainly be imprisoned, and he shall certainly be of those
- who are in a state of ignominy.
-
- 33. He said: My Lord! the prison house is dearer to me than
- that to which they invite me; and if Thou turn not away
- their device from me, I will yearn towards them and become
- (one) of the ignorant.
-
- 34. Thereupon his Lord accepted his prayer and turned away
- their guile from him; surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
-
- 35. Then it occurred to them after they had seen the signs
- that they should imprison him till a time.
-
- 36. And two youths entered the prison with him. One of them
- said: I saw myself pressing wine. And the other said: I saw
- myself carrying bread on my head, of which birds ate. Inform
- us of its interpretation; surely we see you to be of the
- doers of good.
-
- 37. He said: There shall not come to you the food with which
- you are fed, but I will inform you both of its
- interpretation before it comes to you; this is of what my
- Lord has taught me; surely I have forsaken the religion of a
- people who do not believe in Allah, and they are deniers of
- the hereafter:
-
- 38. And I follow the religion of my fathers, Ibrahim and
- Ishaq and Yaqoub; it beseems us not that we should associate
- aught with Allah; this is by Allah's grace upon us and on
- mankind, but most people do not give thanks:
-
- 39. O my two mates of the prison! are sundry lords better or
- Allah the One, the Supreme?
-
- 40. You do not serve besides Him but names which you have
- named, you and your fathers; Allah has not sent down any
- authority for them; judgment is only Allah's; He has
- commanded that you shall not serve aught but Him; this is
- the right religion but most people do not know:
-
- 41. O my two mates of the prison! as for one of you, he
- shall give his lord to drink wine; and as for the other, he
- shall be crucified, so that the birds shall eat from his
- head, the matter is decreed concerning which you inquired.
-
- 42. And he said to him whom he knew would be delivered of
- the two: Remember me with your lord; but the Shaitan caused
- him to forget mentioning (it) to his lord, so he remained in
- the prison a few years.
-
- 43. And the king said: Surely I see seven fat kine which
- seven lean ones devoured; and seven green ears and (seven)
- others dry: O chiefs! explain to me my dream, if you can
- interpret the dream.
-
- 44. They said: Confused dreams, and we do not know.the
- interpretation of dreams.
-
- 45. And of the two (prisoners) he who had found deliverance
- and remembered after a long time said: I will inform you of
- its interpretation, so let me go:
-
- 46. Yusuf! O truthful one! explain to us seven fat kine
- which seven lean ones devoured, and seven green ears and
- (seven) others dry, that I may go back to the people so that
- they may know.
-
- 47. He said: You shall sow for seven years continuously,
- then what you reap leave it in its ear except a little of
- which you eat.
-
- 48. Then there shall come after that seven years of hardship
- which shall eat away all that you have beforehand laid up in
- store for them, except a little of what you shall have
- preserved:
-
- 49. Then there will come after that a year in which people
- shall have rain and in which they shall press (grapes).
-
- 50. And the king said: Bring him to me. So when the
- messenger came to him, he said: Go back to your lord and ask
- him, what is the case of the women who cut their hands;
- surely my Lord knows their guile.
-
- 51. He said: How was your affair when you sought Yusuf to
- yield himself (to you)? They said: Remote is Allah (from
- imperfection), we knew of no evil on his part. The chief's
- wife said: Now has the truth become established: I sought
- him to yield himself (to me), and he is most surely of the
- truthful ones.
-
- 52. This is that he might know that I have not been
- unfaithful to him in secret and that Allah does not guide
- the device of the unfaithful.
-
- 53. And I do not declare myself free, most surely (man's)
- self is wont to command (him to do) evil, except such as my
- Lord has had mercy on, surely my Lord is Forgiving,
- Merciful.
-
- 54. And the king said: Bring him to me, I will choose him
- for myself. So when he had spoken with him, he said: Surely
- you are in our presence today an honorable, a faithful one.
-
- 55. He said: Place me (in authority) over the treasures of
- the land, surely I am a good keeper, knowing well.
-
- 56. And thus did We give to Yusuf power in the land-- he had
- mastery in it wherever he liked; We send down Our mercy on
- whom We please, and We do not waste the reward of those who
- do good.
-
- 57. And certainly the reward of the hereafter is much better
- for those who believe and guard (against evil).
-
- 58. And Yusuf's brothers came and went in to him, and he
- knew them, while they did not recognize him.
-
- 59. And when he furnished them with their provision, he
- said: Bring to me a brother of yours from your father; do
- you not see that I give full measure and that I am the best
- of hosts?
-
- 60. But if you do not bring him to me, you shall have no
- measure (of corn) from me, nor shall you come near me.
-
- 61. They said: We will strive to make his father yield in
- respect of him, and we are sure to do (it).
-
- 62. And he said to his servants: Put their money into their
- bags that they may recognize it when they go back to their
- family, so that they may come back.
-
- 63. So when they returned to their father, they said: O our
- father, the measure is withheld from us, therefore send with
- us our brother, (so that) we may get the measure, and we
- will most surely guard him.
-
- 64. He said: I cannot trust in you with respect to him,
- except as I trusted in you with respect to his brother
- before; but Allah is the best Keeper, and He is the most
- Merciful of the merciful ones.
-
- 65. And when they opened their goods, they found their money
- returned to them. They said: O our father! what (more) can
- we desire? This is our property returned to us, and we will
- bring corn for our family and guard our brother, and will
- have in addition the measure of a camel (load); this is an
- easy measure.
-
- 66. He said: I will by no means send him with you until you
- give me a firm covenant in Allah's name that you will most
- certainly bring him back to me, unless you are completely
- surrounded. And when they gave him their covenant, he said:
- Allah is the One in Whom trust is placed as regards what we
- say.
-
- 67. And he said: O my sons ! do not (all) enter by one gate
- and enter by different gates and I cannot avail you aught
- against Allah; judgment is only Allah's; on Him do I rely,
- and on Him let those who are reliant rely.
-
- 68. And when they had entered as their father had bidden
- them, it did not avail them aught against Allah, but (it was
- only) a desire in the soul of Yaqoub which he satisfied; and
- surely he was possessed of knowledge because We had given
- him knowledge, but most people do not know.
-
- 69. And when they went in to Yusuf. he lodged his brother
- with himself, saying: I am your brother, therefore grieve
- not at what they do.
-
- 70. So when he furnished them with their provisions,
- (someone) placed the drinking cup in his brother's bag. Then
- a crier cried out: O caravan! you are most surely thieves.
-
- 71 . They said while they were facing them: What is it that
- you miss?
-
- 72. They said: We miss the king's drinking cup, and he who
- shall bring it shall have a camel-load and I am responsible
- for it.
-
- 73. They said: By Allah! you know for certain that we have
- not come to make mischief in the land, and we are not
- thieves.
-
- 74. They said: But what shall be the requital of this, if
- you are liars?
-
- 75. They said: The requital of this is that the person in
- whose bag it is found shall himself be (held for) the
- satisfaction thereof; thus do we punish the wrongdoers.
-
- 76. So he began with their sacks before the sack of his
- brother, then he brought it out from his brother's sack.
- Thus did We plan for the sake of Yusuf; it was not (lawful)
- that he should take his brother under the king's law unless
- Allah pleased; We raise the degrees of whomsoever We please,
- and above every one possessed of knowledge is the
- All-knowing one.
-
- 77. They said: If he steal, a brother of his did indeed
- steal before; but Yusuf kept it secret in his heart and did
- not disclose it to them. He said: You are in an evil
- condition and Allah knows best what you state.
-
- 78. They said: O chief! he has a father, a very old man,
- therefore retain one of us in his stead; surely we see you
- to be of the doers of good.
-
- 79. He said: Allah protect us that we should seize other
- than him with whom we found our property, for then most
- surely we would be unjust.
-
- 80. Then when they despaired of him, they retired,
- conferring privately together. The eldest of them said: Do
- you not know that your father took from you a covenant in
- Allah's name, and how you fell short of your duty with
- respect to Yusuf before? Therefore I will by no means depart
- from this land until my father permits me or Allah decides
- for me, and He is the best of the judges:
-
- 81. Go back to your father and say: O our father! surely
- your son committed theft, and we do not bear witness except
- to what we have known, and we could not keep watch over the
- unseen:
-
- 82. And inquire in the town in which we were and the caravan
- with which we proceeded, and most surely we are truthful.
-
- 83. He (Yaqoub) said: Nay, your souls have made a matter
- light for you, so patience is good; maybe Allah will bring
- them all together to me; surely He is the Knowing, the Wise.
-
- 84. And he turned away from them, and said: O my sorrow for
- Yusuf! and his eyes became white on account of the grief,
- and he was a repressor (of grief).
-
- 85. They said: By Allah! you will not cease to remember
- Yusuf until you are a prey to constant disease or (until)
- you are of those who perish.
-
- 86. He said: I only complain of my grief and sorrow to
- Allah, and I know from Allah what you do not know.
-
- 87. O my sons! Go and inquire respecting Yusuf and his
- brother, and despair not of Allah's mercy; surely none
- despairs of Allah's mercy except the unbelieving people.
-
- 88. So when they came in to him, they said: O chief!
- distress has afflicted us and our family and we have brought
- scanty money, so give us full measure and be charitable to
- us; surely Allah rewards the charitable.
-
- 89. He said: Do you know how you treated Yusuf and his
- brother when you were ignorant?
-
- 90. They said: Are you indeed Yusuf? He said: I am Yusuf and
- this is my brother; Allah has indeed been gracious to us;
- surely he who guards (against evil) and is patient (is
- rewarded) for surely Allah does not waste the reward of
- those who do good.
-
- 91. They said: By Allah! now has Allah certainly chosen you
- over us, and we were certainly sinners.
-
- 92. He said: (There shall be) no reproof against you this
- day; Allah may forgive you, and He is the most Merciful of
- the merciful.
-
- 93. Take this my shirt and cast it on my father's face, he
- will (again) be able to see, and come to me with all your
- families.
-
- 94. And when the caravan had departed, their father said:
- Most surely I perceive the greatness of Yusuf, unless you
- pronounce me to be weak in judgment.
-
- 95. They said: By Allah, you are most surely in your old
- error.
-
- 96. So when the bearer of good news came he cast it on his
- face, so forthwith he regained his sight. He said: Did I not
- say to you that I know from Allah what you do not know?
-
- 97. They said: O our father! ask forgiveness of our faults
- for us, surely we were sinners.
-
- 98. He said: I will ask for you forgiveness from my Lord;
- surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
-
- 99. Then when they came in to Yusuf, he took his parents to
- lodge with him and said: Enter safe into Egypt, if Allah
- please.
-
- 100. And he raised his parents upon the throne and they fell
- down in prostration before him, and he said: O my father!
- this is the significance of my vision of old; my Lord has
- indeed made it to be true; and He was indeed kind to me when
- He brought me forth from the prison and brought you from the
- desert after the Shaitan had sown dissensions between me and
- my brothers, surely my Lord is benignant to whom He pleases;
- surely He is the Knowing, the Wise.
-
- 101. My Lord! Thou hast given me of the kingdom and taught
- me of the interpretation of sayings: Originator of the
- heavens and the earth! Thou art my guardian in this world
- and the hereafter; make me die a muslim and join me with the
- good.
-
- 102. This is of the announcements relating to the unseen
- (which) We reveal to you, and you were not with them when
- they resolved upon their affair, and they were devising
- plans.
-
- 103. And most men will not believe though you desire it
- eagerly.
-
- 104. And you do not ask them for a reward for this; it is
- nothing but a reminder for all mankind.
-
- 105. And how many a sign in the heavens and the earth which
- they pass by, yet they turn aside from it.
-
- 106. And most of them do not believe in Allah without
- associating others (with Him).
-
- 107. Do they then feel secure that there may come to them an
- extensive chastisement from Allah or (that) the hour may
- come to them suddenly while they do not perceive?
-
- 108. Say: This is my way: I call to Allah, I and those who
- follow me being certain, and glory be to Allah, and I am not
- one of the polytheists.
-
- 109. And We have not sent before you but men from (among)
- the people of the towns, to whom We sent revelations. Have
- they not then travelled in the land and seen what was the
- end of those before them? And certainly the abode of the
- hereafter is best for those who guard (against evil); do you
- not then understand?
-
- 110. Until when the apostles despaired and the people became
- sure that they were indeed told a lie, Our help came to them
- and whom We pleased was delivered; and Our punishment is not
- averted from the guilty people.
-
- 111. In their histories there is certainly a lesson for men
- of understanding. It is not a narrative which could be
- forged, but a verification of what is before it and a
- distinct explanation of all things and a guide and a mercy
- to a people who believe.
-