يوسف
Joseph
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
alif-lam-ra til'ka āyātu l-kitābi l-mubīni
Alif, Lām, Rā. These are the verses of the clear Book.
innā anzalnāhu qur'ānan ʿarabiyyan laʿallakum taʿqilūna
Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’ān that you might understand.
naḥnu naquṣṣu ʿalayka aḥsana l-qaṣaṣi bimā awḥaynā ilayka hādhā l-qur'āna wa-in kunta min qablihi lamina l-ghāfilīna
We relate to you, [O Muḥammad], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur’ān although you were, before it, among the unaware.
idh qāla yūsufu li-abīhi yāabati innī ra-aytu aḥada ʿashara kawkaban wal-shamsa wal-qamara ra-aytuhum lī sājidīna
[Of these stories mention] when Joseph said to his father, "O my father, indeed I have seen [in a dream] eleven stars and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating to me."
qāla yābunayya lā taqṣuṣ ru'yāka ʿalā ikh'watika fayakīdū laka kaydan inna l-shayṭāna lil'insāni ʿaduwwun mubīnun
He said, "O my son, do not relate your vision to your brothers or they will contrive against you a plan. Indeed Satan, to man, is a manifest enemy.
wakadhālika yajtabīka rabbuka wayuʿallimuka min tawīli l-aḥādīthi wayutimmu niʿ'matahu ʿalayka waʿalā āli yaʿqūba kamā atammahā ʿalā abawayka min qablu ib'rāhīma wa-is'ḥāqa inna rabbaka ʿalīmun ḥakīmun
And thus will your Lord choose you and teach you the interpretation of narratives [i.e., events or dreams] and complete His favor upon you and upon the family of Jacob, as He completed it upon your fathers before, Abraham and Isaac. Indeed, your Lord is Knowing and Wise."
laqad kāna fī yūsufa wa-ikh'watihi āyātun lilssāilīna
Certainly were there in Joseph and his brothers signs for those who ask, [such as]
idh qālū layūsufu wa-akhūhu aḥabbu ilā abīnā minnā wanaḥnu ʿuṣ'batun inna abānā lafī ḍalālin mubīnin
When they said, "Joseph and his brother are more beloved to our father than we, while we are a clan. Indeed, our father is in clear error.
uq'tulū yūsufa awi iṭ'raḥūhu arḍan yakhlu lakum wajhu abīkum watakūnū min baʿdihi qawman ṣāliḥīna
Kill Joseph or cast him out to [another] land; the countenance [i.e., attention] of your father will [then] be only for you, and you will be after that a righteous people."
qāla qāilun min'hum lā taqtulū yūsufa wa-alqūhu fī ghayābati l-jubi yaltaqiṭ'hu baʿḍu l-sayārati in kuntum fāʿilīna
Said a speaker among them, "Do not kill Joseph but throw him into the bottom of the well; some travelers will pick him up - if you would do [something]."
qālū yāabānā mā laka lā tamannā ʿalā yūsufa wa-innā lahu lanāṣiḥūna
They said, "O our father, why do you not entrust us with Joseph while indeed, we are to him sincere counselors?
arsil'hu maʿanā ghadan yartaʿ wayalʿab wa-innā lahu laḥāfiẓūna
Send him with us tomorrow that he may eat well and play. And indeed, we will be his guardians."
qāla innī layaḥzununī an tadhhabū bihi wa-akhāfu an yakulahu l-dhi'bu wa-antum ʿanhu ghāfilūna
[Jacob] said, "Indeed, it saddens me that you should take him, and I fear that a wolf would eat him while you are of him unaware."
qālū la-in akalahu l-dhi'bu wanaḥnu ʿuṣ'batun innā idhan lakhāsirūna
They said, "If a wolf should eat him while we are a [strong] clan, indeed, we would then be losers."
falammā dhahabū bihi wa-ajmaʿū an yajʿalūhu fī ghayābati l-jubi wa-awḥaynā ilayhi latunabbi-annahum bi-amrihim hādhā wahum lā yashʿurūna
So when they took him [out] and agreed to put him into the bottom of the well... But We inspired to him, "You will surely inform them [someday] about this affair of theirs while they do not perceive [your identity]."
wajāū abāhum ʿishāan yabkūna
And they came to their father at night, weeping.
qālū yāabānā innā dhahabnā nastabiqu wataraknā yūsufa ʿinda matāʿinā fa-akalahu l-dhi'bu wamā anta bimu'minin lanā walaw kunnā ṣādiqīna
They said, "O our father, indeed we went racing each other and left Joseph with our possessions, and a wolf ate him. But you would not believe us, even if we were truthful."
wajāū ʿalā qamīṣihi bidamin kadhibin qāla bal sawwalat lakum anfusukum amran faṣabrun jamīlun wal-lahu l-mus'taʿānu ʿalā mā taṣifūna
And they brought upon his shirt false blood. [Jacob] said, "Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. And Allāh is the one sought for help against that which you describe."
wajāat sayyāratun fa-arsalū wāridahum fa-adlā dalwahu qāla yābush'rā hādhā ghulāmun wa-asarrūhu biḍāʿatan wal-lahu ʿalīmun bimā yaʿmalūna
And there came a company of travelers; then they sent their water drawer, and he let down his bucket. He said, "Good news! Here is a boy." And they concealed him, [taking him] as merchandise; and Allāh was Knowing of what they did.
washarawhu bithamanin bakhsin darāhima maʿdūdatin wakānū fīhi mina l-zāhidīna
And they sold him for a reduced price - a few dirhams - and they were, concerning him, of those content with little.
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