Tafsir of Surah Yusuf - Verse 104

This Story is a Revelation from Allah

Allah narrated to Muhammad ﷺ, the story of Yusuf and his brothers and how Allah raised him over them, giving him the better end, triumph, the sovereignty and wisdom (i.e., prophethood), even though they tried to harm and kill him. Allah said, `This and similar stories are part of the unseen incidents of the past, O Muhammad,

نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ

(which We reveal to you.) and inform you of, O Muhammad, because it carries a lesson, for you to draw from and a reminder to those who defy you.' Allah said next,

وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ

`(You were not (present) with them), you did not witness their conference nor saw them,

إِذْ أَجْمَعُواْ أَمْرَهُمْ

(when they arranged their plan together,) to throw Yusuf into the well,

وَهُمْ يَمْكُرُونَ

(and (while) they were plotting) against him. We taught you all this through Our Revelation which We sent down to you.' Allah said in other Ayat,

وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يُلْقُون أَقْلَـمَهُمْ

(You were not with them, when they cast lots with their pens..) and,

وَمَا كُنتَ بِجَانِبِ الْغَرْبِىِّ إِذْ قَضَيْنَآ إِلَى مُوسَى الاٌّمْرَ

(And you were not on the western side, when We made clear to Musa the commandment...) 28:44 until,

وَمَا كُنْتَ بِجَانِبِ الطُّورِ إِذْ نَادَيْنَا

(And you were not at the side of the Tur when We did call.)28:46 Allah also said,

وَمَا كُنتَ ثَاوِياً فِى أَهْلِ مَدْيَنَ تَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـتِنَا

(And you were not a dweller among the people of Madyan, reciting Our verses to them.) 28:45 Allah states that Muhammad is His Messenger and that He has taught him the news of what occurred in the past, which carry lessons for people to draw from, so that they acquire their safety in their religious affairs as well as their worldly affairs. Yet, most people did not and will not believe, so Allah said,

وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

(And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.) Allah said in similar Ayat,

وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

(And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah's path) 6:116, and,

إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لأَيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُّؤْمِنِينَ

(Verily, in this is an Ayah, yet most of them are not believers.) 26:8 Allah said next,

وَمَا تَسْأَلُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ

(And no reward you ask of them for it;) Allah says, `You, O Muhammad, do not ask them in return for this advice and your call to all that is good and righteous, for any price or compensation for delivering it. Rather, you do so seeking Allah's Face and to deliver good and sincere advice to His creatures,

إِنْ هُوَ إِلاَّ ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعَـلَمِينَ

(it (the Qur'an) is no less than a Reminder unto the `Alamin (men and Jinn)) with which they remember, receive guidance and save themselves in this life and the Hereafter.'

After that it was said: وَمَا تَسْأَلُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ‌ ۚ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ‌ لِّلْعَالَمِين ، that is, ` your mission is to tell them the truth and call 'them to the straight path. For this you do not ask them to give you something in return - which could have caused them to find it difficult to listen to him or follow him. In fact, what you are telling them is for their own good. It is only an advice to heed to and a lesson to learn from. And it is for everyone. The text here also carries a hint to the effect: When the purpose behind your effort is no worldly gain, in fact it is nothing but the reward of the Hereafter and the betterment of your people, then, that purpose of yours already stands achieved. Why would you then grieve over it?

The story of Joseph is in itself a proof of the Quran being the revelation of God and not the discourse of a human being. This incident occurred about two and half thousand years prior to the advent of the Prophet Muhammad. He had neither witnessed this train of events himself, nor was it recorded in history books so that he could have read about it, nor could he have heard it from others. It was found only on the pages of the Torah, and before the age of the printing press, the Torah was a book which was known only to a few Jewish scholars at Jewish centres and not to anybody else. Moreover, the events pertaining to Joseph’s life have been described in the Quran in such a way that, in spite of their tallying basically with the descriptions in the Torah, they differ in respect of details. This difference is in itself a proof of the Quran being the revelation of God, because throughout the Quran its description appears to be very rational and natural. The descriptions given in the Quran are clearly consistent with Jacob’s and Joseph’s prophetic character, while the descriptions given in the Torah are not. Similarly, many very important aspects, for instance, Joseph’s speech in the prison ( 5: 37-40 ), which is mentioned in the Quran, find no place in the Bible or in the Talmud: even certain historical errors that are found in the Bible are not repeated in the Quran. For example, the Bible says that the king of Egypt in Joseph’s period was Pharaoh. In actual fact, the dynasty which assumed the title of Pharaoh became the rulers of Egypt only five hundred years after Joseph. During the period of Joseph, Egypt was ruled by an Arab dynasty, the Hyksos, known as the shepherd kings. (See Bible, chapter ‘Genesis’). The refusal to accept the Truth here is due to an apparent lack of reason. But as soon as a convincing argument is presented to an individual, he should immediately accept it. Most often the real reason for denial of the Truth is stubbornness. People do not accept the Truth because they do not want to do so. Acceptance of the Truth generally involves humbling oneself and this is a very difficult task for a human being. This is one reason why arrogant people never change their ways, in spite of valid arguments or reasoning being used to convince them. They will tolerate the downgrading of the truth, but they are not ready to humble themselves; they forget that those who keep a low profile in this world will be glorified in the Hereafter, whereas one who does not do so will be forever reduced to insignificance in the next world.