SURAH 12 Yusuf
Proclaim in the name of Allah the gracious the merciful
1) Alif Laam Raa. These are evidences of the uniquely distinct constitution.
2) We have revealed it as a proclamation in a uniquely distinct language in a uniquely distinct structure so that you the mankind could learn reasoning to become a rational people.
3) So let Us furnish you the mankind by means of this Quran with a purposeful information to abide by because when you act without it you will act like ignorant people.
4) Call to mind the time when Joseph said to father of his nation, O father! I see bright future in unity of people as a community therefore I would like to see the leadership and the following accept my vision for their better future.
5) He replied, O son of my nation! Disclose not this dream of yours to your fellow community members just as yet in case they scheme a plot against you and catch you unprepared because the opposition based upon harmful and destructive mindset and attitude is an open enemy of humanity.
6) Rest assured it will happen as you imagined because you will be chosen by your Lord for His mission so He will teach you how to diagnose problems properly relating individuals and communities and find their proper solutions that is how He will fulfil His mission through you and the ideological children of Jacob as He fulfilled it through your ideological forefathers Abraham and Isaac before you. That is how your Lord makes obvious for mankind that He rules through wisdom.
7) Indeed in the account of Joseph and his brethren there are lessons for would be leaders and supporters as to how they should or should not conduct themselves in relation to fulfilment of their needs and desires as a people.
8) His community fellows who stood against his vision for society said to each other, see Joseph and his supporters they are loved and respected more by our community leadership than us even though we are a group of powerful people of this society. Our leadership is obviously wrong in not considering us for the leadership of our community.
9) Some said to others, in order to throw Joseph out of community leadership contest let us fight Joseph thereby force him out of this place to some far-off land so that the attention of leadership of your people focuses upon you alone as proper candidates for leadership of the community because only after doing that you can be of those who reach their ambition.
10) At this one of them said, you cannot fight Joseph but if you must do something instead get hold of him quietly and throw him into some dungeon till he could be picked up by some bandits so that he is out of our way.
11) So they ask their chief administrator, O chief of our nation! Why do you not appoint us as security guards over Joseph instead of those already responsible for it because we surely are his sincere well-wishers?
12) Pass on his security responsibility to us for future so that he could move about for taking care of his business without worrying about his security. We will indeed take good care of him.
13) He said to them, I will be anxious if you accompanied him because I am concerned in case some bandit attacks him the while you are caught unprepared off your guard.
14) They said, if a bandit could attack him despite our number and strength then surely we would be a worthless people.
15) That is how they were able to take him away because they plotted to place him into a dungeon. However We revealed this to Joseph that a time will come when you will remind them about this act of theirs but just now they do not perceive the consequences of what they are doing.
16) At the end of the period of their responsibility for security of Joseph they returned to their chief crying in tears.
17) They said, O our chief, we went on our individual business ahead of each other leaving Joseph behind to look after our things and at length the bandit attacked and made off with him. It is not that you are going to be satisfied with our this action but we are telling the truth.
18) That is how through animosity they brought about denial of his right to succession of community leadership. He said, no I am not satisfied with your explanation rather people involved in your group have made you to cook up a tale regarding this matter. However steadfast persistence is needed for reaching the truth about this matter, so universal law of Allah should be relied upon regarding that which you assert.
19) At length a party of bandits came by and they sent one of them to carry out the deal so he laid down his weaponry and came to see the merchant. After seeing the young man he said, O goodness! What a young man and took him to his group. Even though they kept him in hiding like a great treasure yet Allah makes obvious what they did.
20) His brethren sold him cheap in a hurry for a petty price of a few Dirhams to bandits, for that is what he was worth in their sight.
21) The Egyptian who bought Joseph from the bandits and freed him said to his community, treat him honourably as if he is one of us, he could prove very beneficial for us or we can adopt him as a son of our nation. That is how We established Joseph in that piece of land and taught him the sense of handling all the affairs that need proper handling in a country. Allah has set laws to govern all affairs though most of the people learn not to realise it.
22) When he reached maturity We had already bestowed on him ability of gathering information about things and ways of making sense of all that. That is how We reward those who work hard for the good of the mankind.
23) However the ruling elite and priestly class of the community under whose jurisdiction he was decided to try and change his way of doing things by closing all the ways of doing things to him saying, come join our way of doing things. He replied, I seek protection in universal laws of Allah Lord of mine Who has entrusted me with responsibility of this good land to manage things therein properly. Surely those who transgress His set limits therefore prosper not.
24) Yet party of ruling and priestly classes went ahead in order to try and change his mind and he too would have inclined towards its way of doing things had he not been shown by his Lord the results of their course of actions. That is how We shielded him from doing anything whereby he could harm and destroy others and bring gloom and doom upon himself therefore he remained true follower of Our guidance.
25) As each of the parties tried to outdo the other its own way the opposite party was involved in foul play right from the start because it attacked his person instead of his vision in order to shatter his personality. That is how the opponent party landed both the parties at the court of the chief of the community saying to him, what punishment does someone who intended harm and destruction against your community deserve other than imprisonment or a painful chastisement?
26) Joseph said, it was this party of rulers and priests that tried to move me away from my way of doing things and a group of people of this community was present at this event and saw all this. The community chief said that if his vision was attacked the right way then party of rulers and priests is telling the truth and he is lying
27) but if it was attacked the wrong way then he is speaking the truth and the party of rulers and priests is lying.
28) So when community chief examined the statements of the witnesses and came to conclusion that he was attacked the wrong way in order that his personality is destroyed he said to party of rulers and priests, it is one of the tricks of you the party of rulers and priests. Your conspiracy was mighty indeed!
29) He said, O Joseph, ignore their way of doing things and O party of rulers and priests, seek correction of the way you do things because you were indeed the ones who did the things wrong way.
30) However the word spread among communities of the township that party of ruling elite and priestly class under the governor of Egypt has conspired to change the way of doing things of its civil servant because the rest of the community has fallen madly in love with him the way he does things for it. In fact, we see it totally lost in his love.
31) At length when the embarrassing remarks became unbearable for party of ruling elite and priestly class, it invited them and prepared for them a banquet and gave each of them an opportunity to scrutinise his way of doing things. As they engaged in cross examination of his way of doing things, the party called on Joseph to come out to face them. When they examined him they were so amazed that they ended up shooting themselves in the foot so they exclaimed spontaneously, good Lord! He looks nothing like an ordinary person rather he looks like a highly ranked knowledgeable official of a noble descent.
32) The party of ruling elite and priestly class said, this is he about whom you blamed me. No doubt I conspired to change him but he escaped my set out trap for him. If he does not do things the way I say, he should be thrown into prison indeed to be disgraced.
33) Joseph said, O my Lord! I rather go to prison than do things the way they demand of me but unless You inspire me with some way out of their cunning trap for me I may end up trapped among them and forced to become of those who live not by your guidance.
34) That is how his Lord inspired him with proper response warding off their cunning trap from him and that is how He makes obvious for mankind that He is indeed comprehensive in observation of all things.
35) But even after all the evidence they had seen they still decided to send him to prison for a time.
36) Two young men were also in the prison with him. One day they discussed with each other their individual ambitions so one of them said, I had a dream that in time I will become source of knowledge for the people. The other said, I had a dream of taking on responsibility of livelihood for people in which partake people who prove to be excellent in this kind of work. Tell us how can we have such outcomes for our these ambitions, we ask you about it because we see that you are a man who directs others for the good of each other.
37) Joseph replied, I will explain to you how you should go about fulfilling your dreams before you start working on them to get the outcomes you desire because this is part of the knowledge about making sense of things which my Lord has taught me. In fact, I have nothing to do with rule of people who do not commit to working for peace and prosperity of mankind according to guidance of Allah because they deny people the right to fruit of their hard work in the end.
38) So I follow the guidance of Allah and guide others to do the same just like my forefathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It is not fitting that we take any sovereigns other than Allah. This is our task/mission set by Allah for the good of the mankind yet most of the people do not become a people worth the name.
39) O my fellow inmates! Tell me, what is better, many different sovereigns or just one sovereign, Allah, the Irresistible?
40) Those you serve other than Him as rulers are nothing but mere names which you and your forefathers have invented, for which Allah has revealed no proof. Surely sovereignty belongs to none but Allah Who has ordained that you serve none as ruler save Him. That is the way of doing things which is proper yet most of the people do not learn to understand it.
41) As to your dreams O my inmates! Each of you will be released soon from the prison and one of you will serve wine of knowledge to your king and the other will be placed firmly on state affairs of which people will have their provisions. That is how your dreams will become realities regarding which you asked for directions.
42) Then to the one who he thought will advise his king said, mention me to your lord. But the lack of attention made him forget to mention Joseph to his king, so he remained in the prison a few more years.
43) Then one day the king of Egypt said to his counsel, I see a number of big splits in my people in which are involved many weak members of our society but I also see a number of long periods of stability and prosperity as well as number of periods of instability and exploitation and hardship. O chiefs! Explain to me how can I reach my desired outcome if you can analyse the situation and the circumstances and plan ahead in order to guide me.
44) They replied, these are depressing thoughts and we are not skilled in dealing with situations like this.
45) Thereupon one of the two released prisoners remembered after a long time and spoke up, I will tell you how to handle this situation just send me to Joseph.
46) So he came and said, O Joseph my truly well wishing friend! Explain to us how to handle the situation wherein are involved a number of big splits in people in which are involved many weak members of society and also wherein are possible a number of long periods of stability and prosperity as well as number of periods of instability and exploitation and hardship, so that I return to the people who sent me and let them know the solution to their problems.
47) He replied, you should actively cultivate good relations among all people in the land for a number of years till it becomes a normal way of life then whatever good relationship you manage to develop maintain it in its good state though you will participate in this program just a little.
48) However your failure to reach the target after this advice could bring upon you a number of years of hardship and troubles that will render useless whatever steps you would have taken already save a little which you may have specifically paid attention to.
49) But if you managed to repair and maintain your society after that will come a period of abundant prosperity during which the people will benefit greatly.
50) However instead of following the program as told by Joseph the king said, bring this man to me. When the messenger came Joseph said to him, go back to your king and ask him about the case of those communities that lost their case due to loss of their ability to produce worthy argument. Indeed my Lord has exposed their plot for people to see for what it was.
51) The king called them in to his court and questioned them saying, what do you say about the incident when you attempted to wrong foot Joseph? They replied, Allah forbid! We know of no harmful motive on his part against our community. The party of ruling elite and priestly class that was under governor of Egypt said, now that the truth has come to light, it was I who attempted to wrong foot him against his way of doing things. The fact is, he is absolutely trustable.
52) Joseph said, by this inquiry I meant to let the governor of Egypt know that I did not betray him in his absence regarding the responsibility he assigned to me and that Allah does not let the plots of the treacherous succeed for long.
53) This I did, not because I am free of human needs and desires but to prove that human needs and desires prompt one to do harm to others unless one follows program of my Lord for peace and prosperity of mankind and that is how program of my Lord protects humanity against harm and destruction.
54) The king said, bring him to me so that I appoint him to assist me in taking care of affairs of the kingdom. When Joseph was brought to the king and they had mutual talk the king said, from now on you have an honourable place among us and you will enjoy our full confidence.
55) Seeing the situation that kingdom was going to be destroyed through disintegration by civil wars if right steps were not taken Joseph requested the king, let me deal with the people and resources of the land. Certainly I know how to manage things to avoid what is otherwise inevitable and rest assured I have all the knowledge needed for the task ahead.
56) Thus We established Joseph in the land to live therein in any way he wished within Our set limits. We bestow understanding of Our program for peace and prosperity upon whoever works for it because We do not let the reward of people who do good for each other go to waste.
57) Yet the reward in the hereafter will be even better for those who commit to working for peace and are consistent with Our constitution for the good of mankind.
58) After a period of time there came brethren of Joseph to Egypt looking for food to buy so they entered his office. He recognized them but they recognized him not.
59) When he had given them their due provisions he said, come again to me with other bother of yours with permission from father of your nation. Do you not see that I give full measure and provide the best hospitality?
60) But if do not come to me with him then you will have no grain, nor will you be allowed to approach me.
61) They replied, we will certainly try our best to get him from his father. This we will surely do.
62) Joseph told his officials to put their money into their saddlebags such that they should come to know about it only when they reach their people so that they lack not money to come back.
63) When they returned to father of their nation they said, Father! Grain is henceforth denied to us unless we take with us our brother therefore send our brother with us so that we may get our measure, we will take full responsibility for his safety and security.
64) He said, should I trust you for his security as I once trusted you for security of his brother? However laws of Allah are unique when it comes to security of mankind because He is provider of the program that ensures peace and prosperity of humanity.
65) However at length when they opened their baggage they discovered that their money had been returned to them by the king out of generosity. Father! They cried with joy, what more can we ask for? Here is our money given back to us. So we can buy more food for our people and we will take good care of our brother if you let him go with us because we can get an extra caravan load of grain.
66) Jacob replied, I will never send him with you unless you swear in the name of Allah under oath that you will surely bring him back to me unless you are overcome by some other situation rendering you helpless. After they had sworn under oath he said, Allah is our witness over this pledge you made.
67) Then he said, my children! Do not enter the capital of Egypt all together at once through one gate that they take you wrongly instead enter from the different gates and separately. Not that I can avail you aught against laws of Allah but that be cautious because none can judge things for what they are free of error save Allah. In His laws I put my trust and in His law let all those who need someone to put their rust in should put their trust.
68) When they entered the city as their father had advised them it worked for them but it did not cover them fully like the plan of Allah for them that was to unfold. Of course, Jacob did his best to address the concern he had in his mind, after all he possessed the knowledge which We had given him even though most of the people do not bother to learn to be sensible.
69) When they entered upon Joseph, he called his brother alone to himself and said, it is I your brother Joseph, so grieve not at what they have been doing to us and our people.
70) At length when Joseph had finished arranging the loading of their provisions, he gave a party in honour of his brother. Later on when they were on a journey back home a crier called out to them saying, O people of the caravan! You must be thieves.
71) They turned back and asked, what have you lost?
72) The officials said, we have lost the grain measuring tool of the king and the one who brings it back will be awarded a camel-load of corn, I guarantee it.
73) Josephs brethren said, by Allah! You should know by our behaviour during our stay here that we did not come here to cause trouble in your land and we are no thieves.
74) The official said, what should be the punishment for the thief if you prove to be the liars?
75) They replied, the reward for him in whose pack you find the royal grain measuring instrument will be that he should compensate you for what he did to you, that is how we punish those who do wrong.
76) After this Joseph first began to search the packs of others before the pack of his brother. Finally he took it out of his brothers pack. Thus We directed Joseph under Our law for Israel, for He could not hold back his brother under the law of the king but Allah planned otherwise. We exalt in ranks whoever works according to Our set out laws because above all the learned is the One Who makes information obvious for them.
77) After accusation of theft the brethren of Joseph remarked, This is no surprise if he has committed a theft because his brother also committed a theft before him. Despite hearing this Joseph suppressed his feelings and did not reveal anything to them but said to himself, what a terrible situation you people are putting yourselves in and Allah will make obvious the truth about that about which you accuse me.
78) They said, O noble governor! The father of the accused is a great leader of the nation who may not take this lightly, so take one of us instead of him. We surely see that you are one of those who do good for others.
79) Joseph replied, I seek protection through law of Allah therefore far from me be that we seize other than the one with whom we found our property or we will be unjust indeed.
80) When they lost their hope of moving Joseph, they went aside to confer in private. The leading one among them said to rest, you know that your father had taken a solemn pledge in the name of Allah and you also know how you fell short of your duty to Allah with respect to Joseph therefore I am not going to leave this land until the father of our nation permits me or Allah decides for me the matter some other way because He is unique of all those who claim to be the rulers.
81) So go back to father of your nation without me and say, father, your son has committed theft. We did not see him stealing but we can testify only to what we know. How could we guard against this unforeseen situation?
82) You may enquire from the people of the city where we lodged and the caravan in which we travelled that we are indeed telling the truth.
83) When Jacob is told this he said, no! You yourselves have contrived a story once more. However I will remain steadfastly persistent in pursuing this case. May be thereby Allah will bring them all back to me because He makes his wisdom known to mankind through His rule.
84) He turned his face away from them crying, Alas for Joseph! His eyes became used to grief and he became overwhelmed by sorrow.
85) They said, by Allah! you will not cease to remember Joseph until you ruin your health or kill yourself by this grief.
86) He said, I complain of my distress and grief to Allah Alone and I know from Allah what you know not.
87) O my children! Go and search for Joseph and his brother. Never give up hope in mercy of Allah, in fact none despairs of mercy of Allah except people who fail to put their trust in His guidance.
88) When they went back to Egypt and entered the office of Joseph they said, O noble governor! We and our people are in distress because we are running short on money so please give us full quota and also more out of your own generosity. Surely Allah rewards those who help others.
89) Hearing this he said, do you know what you did to Joseph and his brother while acting out of ignorance
90) In surprise they cried, what! Are you really Joseph? He said, Yes! I am Joseph and this is my brother. Allah has indeed been gracious to us all. In fact he who is consistent with laws of Allah for the good of humanity Allah does not let the reward of such good people go to waste.
91) They said, by Allah! surely we can now see why Allah has chosen you instead of us. We have indeed been guilty of side stepping His guidance.
92) Joseph said, there is no blame on you today. May Allah protect you all! He is unique of those who claim to be merciful!
93) Go take the news of my khilaafah and cast it before my father, he will rediscover his happy sight. Thereafter come back to me with all the members of your community.
94) When the caravan started from Egypt the father of their nation in Canaan said, Certainly I feel the presence of power of Joseph even though you the people around me may think I am out of my mind.
95) They said, by Allah! You are still suffering from your old illusion.
96) However when the bearer of the good news arrived, he cast the news of his khilaafah before him so he regained his happy sight then he said, did I not tell you that I know due to understanding of set laws of Allah what you do not learn to understand things?
97) They said, Father! Bring about harm and destruction free community for our future because we have inflicted harm and destruction upon each other in the past and suffered because of that.
98) He replied, soon I will bring about a harm and destruction free community for you as advised by my Lord, surely He protects mankind through His program for blissful life for them.
99) After a while when they came to Joseph he asked leaders and supporters of his community to become his protectorates and said, now that you have come to Egypt if program of Allah is implemented fully and remains enforced then you will find yourselves at peace in here.
100) That is how he raised the managers of his community and the managed to heights of dignified life because they all accepted his proposal so he said, O father of my nation, this is the fulfilment of my vision that I had long ago, because my following of law of my Lord has turned it into a reality. It was goodness of His mission indeed as planned by Him that He brought me out of prison to put me to work whereby He brought you all here from the unproductive land even though the opposers had stirred up strife between me and my community brethren. For sure my Lord fulfils His plan subtly in mysterious ways. Surely He makes His wisdom obvious for mankind to learn from to make sense of thing.
101) O Lord! You have indeed given me the kingdom and taught me all the knowhow about all the affairs of the kingdom. The originator of the heavens and the earth, Your law has been my protector from the beginning of my life and it will remain my protector in the life to come, so fulfil me completely so long as I remain committed to your law.
102) O Muhammad, even though this account which We have revealed to you is a collection about the past events when you the people were not there with brethren of Joseph who together conspired and schemed against him
103) but they are revealed for you so that you too strive as he did in the face of adversity because most people are not going to commit to working for peace otherwise.
104) This is why you should not demand any wage for educating people with this information, it is because this Quran is to be made accessible for all the people in the world through hard work for their benefit.
105) There are many proofs for it through out the heavens and the earth which people come across yet they pay no attention to them
106) and as a result most of them who commit to working for peace in the name of Allah yet abide by laws of other than Allah.
107) Do they feel that by doing things this way they will remain secure from gloom and doom as is decreed law of Allah for them or that the hour of uprising will not come upon them all of a sudden while they are not expecting it?
108) Tell them clearly, the way Joseph did things is my way too and I invite all of you the people in the world to Allah on the basis of verifiable information that I and my supporters possess. Behold! Sovereignty only belongs to Allah and I am not of those who abide by rule of any other than Allah.
109) All the messengers We sent before you O Muhammad, were human beings of great courage, to such We sent Our revelations after choosing them from among the people of their own township. Have these people who oppose Our guidance not travelled through the land and seen what was the end of those who passed away before them due to ignoring Our advice? From the end results of their ways of doing things you should be able to know that the end result was better for those who did things the way they were consistent with Our advice for their own good. So why dont you learn things to understand things so that you do things the way they benefit you as a united human community?
110) Respite was always granted to nations until the messengers gave up hope of reformation of their people so they left them to themselves because they came to the conclusion that their people will keep on denying each other their rights to provision, however Our advice came to be of help to those who chose to do things Our way whereby We delivered them their goal but Our foretold consequences could not be averted by those who lived their lives against Our advice and became criminals inflicting harm and destruction upon each other thereby ended up destroyed.
111) There is a lesson in these like accounts of the nations of the past for the people who learn things to understand them for their own betterment. This account of Joseph revealed in the Quran is not an invented tale but a confirmation of previous scriptures, a detailed exposition of all things mankind need to live a good life because it is a roadmap to prosperity for a people who commit to working for peace.