Tafsir of Surah Yusuf - Verse 4

Yusuf's Dream

Allah says, `Mention to your people, O Muhammad, among the stories that you narrate to them, the story of Yusuf.' Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) mentioned his dream to his father, Prophet Ya`qub (Jacob), son of Prophet Ishaq (Isaac), son of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), peace be upon them all. `Abdullah bin `Abbas stated that the dreams of Prophets are revelations from Allah. Scholars of Tafsir explained that in Yusuf's dream the eleven stars represent his brothers, who were eleven, and the sun and the moon represent his father and mother. This explanation was collected from Ibn `Abbas, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, Sufyan Ath-Thawri and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. Yusuf's vision became a reality forty years later, or as some say, eighty years, when Yusuf raised his parents to the throne while his brothers were before him,

وَخَرُّواْ لَهُ سُجَّدَا وَقَالَ يأَبَتِ هَـذَا تَأْوِيلُ رُؤْيَـى مِن قَبْلُ قَدْ جَعَلَهَا رَبِّى حَقًّا

(and they fell down before him prostrate. And he said: "O my father! This is the interpretation of my dream aforetime! My Lord has made it come true!")

Moving on the verse 4, the text takes up the story of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) which opens with the following words: إِذْ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لِأَبِيهِ يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَ‌أَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ‌ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ‌ رَ‌أَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ (It happened) [ when Yusuf said to his father, 'My father, I have seen eleven stars and the Sun and the Moon; I have seen them all prostrating to me.]

This was the dream seen by Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) interpreting which Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said: ` The eleven stars meant the eleven brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) and the Sun and the Moon meant his father and mother.'

According to al-Qurtubi, though the mother of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) had passed away from this mortal world before this event, but in her place, his father was wedded to her sister. A maternal aunt already has love and concern for her sister's children as their natural mother would normally have. Now when she, after the death of her sister, comes to be the wife of the father, she would customarily be referred to as the mother.

According to a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, there are three kinds of dreams—those of wish fulfillment, fear of Satan and good tidings from God. A common man’s dream may be of any of these kinds, but a Prophet’s dream is always from God. Sometimes it is direct in meaning and sometimes it is purely symbolic. Joseph lived in the nineteenth century B.C. His father, Jacob, was a resident of Palestine. Joseph and his brother Benjamin (Bin Yamin) were born of the same mother, while their ten older brothers had different mothers. In Joseph’s dream the sun and the moon stood for his parents and the eleven stars meant his eleven brothers. This dream predicted that prophethood would be conferred on Joseph and it also signified that the political power and worldly glory ordained for him would be decreed by God after his reaching Egypt; after which all his family members would be compelled to recognize his greatness. Looking at Joseph’s personality and his popularity, his ten step brothers were jealous of him, so his father Jacob (Ya‘qub), on hearing his dream, immediately advised Joseph not to mention it to his stepbrothers, as they would otherwise become even more hostile towards him. Feeling jealous of a person on account of his greatness shows an evil nature. One who has this trait in him ought to turn to God in repentance, because this is a proof that he is not reconciled to God’s will; he is following the lead of Satan rather than God’s guidance.