Joseph

30Some women of the city started to gossip, saying: 'The Chief Minister's wife is trying to attract her slave-boy.

Love for him has taken over her heart.

It is clear to us that she is totally wrong.

'

31When she heard about their gossip, she invited them and set a banquet for them.

She gave each one a knife, then said 'to Yusuf, 'Come out in front of them.

' When they saw him, they were so stunned 'by his beauty' that they cut their hands,¹⁰ and wondered, 'Good God!

This cannot be human; this must be a noble angel!

'

32She said, 'This is the one you criticized me about!

I actually tried to attract him to me, but he strongly refused.

And if he does not do what I order him to, he will certainly be thrown in jail and put to shame.

'¹¹

33Yusuf prayed, 'My Lord!

I would rather be in jail than do what they are inviting me to.

And if You do not turn their tricks away from me, I might give in to them and fall into ignorance!

'

34So his Lord responded to him, turning their tricks away from him.

Surely He hears and knows 'everything'.

35And so, even after seeing all the proofs of his innocence, those in charge decided to put him in jail for a while,¹²

36And two other servants went to jail with Yusuf.

One of them said, 'I dreamt I was squeezing wine.

' The other said, 'I dreamt I was carrying some bread on my head, from which birds were eating.

' Then both said, 'Tell us their meaning; we can see that you are such a good man.

'

37Yusuf replied, 'I can even tell you what kind of meal you will be served before you receive it.

This 'knowledge' is from what my Lord has taught me.

I have avoided the faith of people who disbelieve in Allah and deny the Next Life.

38Instead, I follow the faith of my fathers: Ibrahim, Ishaq, and Ya'qub.

It is not 'right' for us to make anything equal to Allah.

This is part of Allah's favours to us and human-ity, but most people are not grateful.

39O my fellow prisoners!

Which is far better: many different lords or Allah the One and Supreme?

40Whatever 'idols' you worship instead of Him are just names which you and your fathers have made up¹³ -a practice Allah has never approved.

It is only Allah Who de-cides.

He has commanded that you wor-ship none except Him.

That is the upright faith, but most people do not know.

41O my fellow prisoners!

The 'first' one of you will serve wine to his master, and the other will be hung on a stake and the birds will eat from his head.

What you asked me about has been decided.

42Then he said to the one he knew would survive, 'Mention me in front of your master:'¹⁴ But Satan made him forget to mention Yusuf to his master,

so he stayed in jail for several years.

43And 'one day' the King said, 'I dreamt of seven fat cows eaten up by seven skinny ones, and seven green ears of grain and 'seven' others dry.

O chiefs!

Tell me the meaning of my vision if you can explain dreams.

'

44They replied, 'These are just confused dreams and we do not know how to explain such dreams.

'

45Finally, the surviving prisoner remembered 'Yusuf after a long time and said, 'I will tell you the true meaning of this dream; just send me off 'to Yusuf.

''

46He said, 'Yusuf, O man of truth!

Explain for us the dream of seven fat cows eaten up by seven skinny ones, and seven green ears of grain and 'seven' others dry, so I can

go back to the people and let them know.

'

47Yusuf replied, 'You will plant 'grain' for seven straight years, then store all harvest in the stallks, except for the little you will eat.

'

48Then after that will come seven years of great difficulty, forcing you to live on whatever 'grain' you have saved, except the little you will store for seed.

49Then after that will come a year in which people will receive lots of rain and they will squeeze 'oil and wine.

'

50The King 'then' said, 'Bring him to me.

' When the messenger came to him, Yusuf said, 'Go back to your master and ask himn about the case of the women who cut their hands.

Surely my Lord is fully aware of their tricks.

'

51The King asked 'the women', 'What did you get when you tried to attract Yusuf?

' They replied, 'God forbid!

We know nothing bad about him.

' Then the Chief Minis-ter's wife confessed, 'Now the truth is out.

It was I who tried to attract him, and he was actually telling the truth.

'

52From this, Yusuf should know that I did not lie about him in his absence, because Allah does not guide the plans of the dishonest.

53I do not claim to be perfect either The soul always invites the person to sin, except those shown mercy by my Lord.

Indeed, my Lord is Forgiving and Merciful.

54The King 'then' ordered, 'Bring him to me.

I will hire him in my service.

' And when Yusuf spoke to him, the King said, 'Today you are highly respected and fully trusted by us.

'

55Yusuf suggested, 'Put me in charge of the store-houses of the land; I am very reliable and skilled!

'

56This is how We established Yusuf in the land to settle wherever he chose.

We shower Our mercy on whoever We want, and We never waste the reward of those who do good.

57And the reward of the Next Life is far better for those who have faith and keep Allah in mind.

58Later, Yusuf's brothers arrived and came to him.

¹⁵ He recognized them but they did not know who he actually was.

59After he had provided them with their supplies, he demanded, 'Bring me your brother on your father's side.

Do you not see that I give full measure and I am the best host?

'

60But if you do not bring him to me 'next time', I will have no grain for you, and you will never come close to me again.

61They promised, 'We will try to convince his father to let him come.

We will do our best.

'

62Yusuf ordered his servants to slip his brothers' money into their packs so they would find it after re-turning to their family and perhaps come back.

63When Yusuf's brothers returned to their father, they argued, 'O our father!

We have been denied 'future' supplies.

So send our brother with us so we can receive our full supplies, and we will definitely watch over him.

'

64He replied, 'Should I trust you with him as I once trusted you with his brother Yusuf'?

But Allah is the best Protector, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.

'

65When they opened their packs, they found that their money had been returned to them.

They argued, 'O our fa-ther!

What more can we ask for?

Here is our money, fully returned to us.

Now we can buy more food for our family, watch over our brother, and receive an extra camel-load of grain.

That load would be easy to get.

'

66Ya'qub insisted, 'I will not send him with you until you swear to me by Allah that you are going to bring him back to me, unless it

is absolutely impos-sible for you.

' Then after they had given him their oaths, he said, 'Allah is a Wit-ness to what we have said.

'

67He then instructed them, 'O my sons!

Do not enter 'the city' from the same gate, but from separate gates.

' I cannot help you against 'the plan of Allah in any way.

It is only Allah Who decides.

In Him I put my trust.

And in Him let the faithful put their trust.

'

68Then when they entered as their father had instructed them, this did not help them against Allah's plan in any way.

It was just a concern that Ya'qub said he had.

He was truly blessed with 'great' knowledge because of what We had taught him, but most people do not have such knowledge.

69When they came to Yusuf, he took his brother Benjamin' aside and said to him, 'I am actually your brother 'Yusuf!

' So do not be stressed by what they did in the past.

'

70When Yusuf had provided them with supplies, he slipped the royal cup into his brother's pack.

Then an an-nouncer shouted, 'O people of the cara-van!

You must be thieves!

'

71They asked, turning back, 'What have you lost?

'

72The announcer 'along with the guards' replied, 'We have lost the King's measur-ing cup.

¹⁸ And whoever brings it will be awarded a camel-load 'of grain'.

I guar-antee it.

'

73Yusuf's brothers replied, 'By Allah!

You know very well that we did not come to cause trouble in the land and that we are not thieves.

'

74Yusuf's men asked, 'What should be the penalty for stealing, if you are lying?

'

75Yusuf's brothers replied, 'Whoever is found with the cup in his pack will pay with his free-dom.

This is how thieves are punished in our law.

'

76Yusuf began searching their packs be-fore that of his brother 'Benjamin', then brought it out of his brother's pack.

This is how We inspired Yusuf to plan.

He could not have taken his brother under the King's law, but Allah made it hap-pen.

We raise the rank of whoever We want.

But above all those blessed with knowledge there is only One Who knows everything.

77To distance themselves,' Yusuf's brothers argued, 'If he has sto-len, so did his 'full' brother before.

'¹⁹ But Yusuf swallowed his rage, revealing nothing to them, and said 'to himself, 'You are in such an evil position,' and Allah knows best 'the truth of

what you claim.

'

78They begged, 'O Chief Minister!

He has a very old father, so take one of us instead.

We can see that you are such a good man.

'

79Yusuf replied, 'God forbid that we take anyone except the person We found our property with.

Otherwise, we would really be unfair.

'

80When they lost all hope in him, they spoke privately.

The oldest of them said, 'Do you not realize that your father had taken a strong oath by Allah from you, or how you failed him about Yusuf

before?

So I am not leaving this land until my fa-ther allows me to, or Allah decides for me; He is the best to decide.

'

81Go back to your father and say, 'O our father!

Your son is guilty of stealing.

We can only tell what we saw with our own eyes.

We nev-er knew that this was going to happen.

'²¹

82'Ask 'the people of the land where we were and the caravan we travelled with.

We are definitely telling the truth.

'

83He cried, 'No!

You must have made up something evil.

So 'I am left with nothing but' beautiful patience!

²² I trust Allah will return them all to me.

Surely He 'alone' has perfect knowledge and wisdom.

'

84He turned away from them, saying, 'Oh no, poor Yusuf!

' And his eyes turned white as he choked with stress.

²³

85They said, 'By Allah!

You will not stop thinking of Yusuf until you lose your health or even your life.

'

86He replied, 'I complain about my suffering and sadness only to Allah, and I know from Allah what you do not know.

'

87O my sons!

Go and search for Yusuf and his brother.

And do not lose hope in the mercy of Allah; no one loses hope in Allah's mercy except those with no faith.

'

88When they came to Yusuf, they begged, 'O Chief Minister!

We and our family have been through a lot of pain, and we have come with only a few worthless coins, but please' give us our full supplies

as an act of kindness to us.

Surely Allah rewards those who are kind.

'

89He asked, 'Do you remember what you did to Yusuf and his brother in your ignorance?

'

90They replied 'in shock,' 'Are you really Yusuf?

' He said, 'I am Yusuf, and here is my brother 'Benjamin'!

Allah has truly been kind to us.

Surely whoever keeps Him in mind and is patient, then Allah definitely never wastes the reward of those who do good.

'

91They confessed, 'By Allah!

Allah has truly favoured you over us, and we have certainly done wrong.

'

92Yusuf said, 'There is no blame on you today.

May Al-lah forgive you!

He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy!

'

93Go with this shirt of mine and put it over my father's face, and he will be able to see again.

Then come back to me with your whole family.

'