Al Islam

1383. Bid‘ denotes a variety of numbers but is generally understood to mean from three to nine (Lane). (close)

1546. Important Words:

بضع (some) is derived from بضع (bad‘a). They say بضعه i.e. he cut it; or he cut it into pieces. بضع means, a part or portion of the night; a time thereof. The word denotes a variety of numbers but is generally understood to mean from three to nine. بضع رجال means, from three to nine men. The expression فلبث فی السجن بضع سنن means, and he remained in the prison from three to nine years (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

When this prisoner busied himself with the satanic occupation of preparing wine for and offering it to his master, the purifying influence of Joseph’s holy company was gone and he forgot to speak of him to the King. (close)

1547. Important Words:

عجاف (withered) of which the singular is اعجف is derived from عجف i.e. it (a beast) became lean, meagre and emaciated. اعجف means, lean, meagre or emaciated, having lost fatness or plumpness. وجه اعجف means, a face that has little flesh (Lane).

تعبرون (you can interpret a dream) is derived from عبر. They say عبر السبیل (‘abara) i.e. he travelled or passed along the way as though he cut it. عبر النھر (‘abbara) means he conveyed him across the river. عبر الرؤیا means, he interpreted or explained the dream and told its final sequel or result. They say عبر عما فی نفسه i.e. he declared or explained what was in his mind. They say عبرت عن فلان i.e. I spoke for such a one. The Quranic expression ان کنتم للرؤیا تعبرون means, if you be the interpreters of the dream, or if you can interpret a dream (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

It appears from this verse that the King was so fully convinced that his vision was real and true that he not only asked the learned men of his court to interpret it but also wished them to tell him what he should do to escape its evil effects, if any. The vision seemed to be so vivid that the King was deeply affected by it and his fright became the means of Joseph’s deliverance from the prison. (close)

1548. Important Words:

اضغاث (confused) of which the singular is ضغث (dighthun) is derived from ضغث (daghatha) which means, he collected together the thing. ضغث الحدیث means, he confused or confounded the tradition or story. ضغث of which the plural is اضغاثmeans, a handful of things mixed together; what is confused and without truth and reality (Lane).

احلام (dreams) is the plural of حلم (hulm) which means, a dream or vision in sleep, especially one that is evil (Lane).

Commentary:

By "such dreams" is here meant "the evil dreams" of the kind mentioned above, namely, dreams which cannot be interpreted by reason of their being vague and confused. In such dreams truth is often mixed with falsehood, and, not being free from the wanderings of the mind, they cannot be said to be wholly divine. But, as later events showed, the dream of the King was not of that nature. (close)

1549. Important Words:

اذکر (remembered) which is derived from ذکر is really اذتکر and gives the same meaning as تذکر i.e. he remembered or he became reminded of (Lane).

امة (time). See 11:9.

Commentary:

The verse shows that the man who escaped was an ordinary person and not a court dignitary. This is why he asked the permission of the court to go to Joseph. The words, I will let you know its interpretation, show that, because of his past experience, this man was sure that Joseph would be able to interpret the vision correctly. In ancient times priests and religious divines exercised great influence in the royal courts. (close)

1550. Commentary:

The words, that I may return to the people so that they may know, show that the butler addressed them to Joseph with a view to inspiring hope in him that when he returned to the court with the interpretation, the people would realize that Joseph was a holy man and was innocent of the wicked charge imputed to him. The butler also meant by these words to offer an excuse for his failure so far to fulfil his promise to Joseph, which was that no favourable opportunity had yet offered itself to bring his case to the notice of the King and that it was only now that a suitable opportunity had presented itself. (close)

1551. Important Words:

دابا (working hard and continuously). See 3:12.

Commentary:

Joseph, while interpreting the dream, not only advised the people to lay up corn for the years of famine but also suggested to them the way in which they could safely do so, viz. by leaving the corn in the ear, for that was the safest way of preserving it. It is quite possible that Joseph should have deduced this method of preserving corn from the words of the dream itself, for after being shown seven fat and seven lean cows, the king was shown seven green and seven dry ears, and from this repetition Joseph might have deduced the remedy for the impending calamity. (close)

1384. Arabia, in the Holy Prophet’s time, was visited with a terrible famine which lasted for seven long years. It was so severe that people were forced to eat carrion (Bukhari). (close)

1552. Commentary:

Joseph explains that the seven years of famine would be so severe that all that the people had stored up during the first seven years of plenty would be eaten up except very little which they might have saved, for fear lest the famine should become prolonged or for the purpose of seed.

Here we have another point of resemblance between Joseph and the Holy Prophet. Just as in the time of Joseph, Egypt was visited with a severe seven-year famine, so in the Holy Prophet’s time Arabia had a terrible famine which lasted for seven long years. It was so severe that some people were forced to eat carrion. At last, the Holy Prophet was requested to pray to God for the removal of the famine. He prayed to God and the famine left the land after the people had been reduced to a most pitiable plight (Bukhari and Muslim). This is the twelfth point of resemblance between these two noble Prophets. (close)

1385. In their ignorance of the meaning of the word Yughathu which besides meaning, 'They will be rained upon' also means, 'They will be relieved of their distress' or 'They will be aided and helped,' some Christian writers have objected that as it very seldom rains in Egypt and that the fertility of its soil depends upon the flooding of the Nile, the Quranic statement is against the elementary facts of geography. Obviously, the latter two meanings quite agree with the text of the Qur’an. But if the word be taken in the first-mentioned sense, even then there is no ground for any objection, for though the fertility of the soil of Egypt depends on the flooding of the Nile, the flooding of the Nile itself depends on rain on the mountains in which lies its source. (close)

1386. Ya‘sirun is derived from ‘Asira which means, (l) he pressed or squeezed the thing so as to force out its juice, etc.; (2) he aided or succoured or saved or preserved (him); (3) he gave something to someone or did some benefit to someone (Lane). (close)

1553. Important Words:

یغاث (shall be relieved) is derived from غاث (aorist یغیث) and غاث (aorist یغوث) and اغاث. They say غاث الله البلاد (aorist یغیث) i.e. God watered the country with rain; sent down rain on the land. غاثه (aorist یغوث) or اغاثه means, he aided or helped him; he removed from him trouble or affliction. اغاثنا المطر means, the rain gave us relief. (Lane & Aqrab).

یعصرون (give presents) is derived from عصر which means: (1) he pressed or squeezed the thing so as to force out its juice, etc.; (2) he took or collected the produce of the earth; (3) he aided or succoured or saved or preserved (him); (4) he gave something to someone or did some benefit to someone (Lane).

Commentary:

Thinking in their ignorance that the verb is used only in the sense "they shall be rained upon," some Christian critics of the Quran have objected that as it very seldom rains in Egypt and the fertility of its soil depends entirely on the flooding of the Nile, therefore the statement that "the people shall be rained upon" betrays the ignorance of the Revealer of the Quran of even the elementary facts of geography. But these critics, instead of exposing the ignorance of the Quran, have betrayed their own ignorance of the Arabic language. The verb as shown under Important Words is used in three different senses, i.e. (1) sending down rain; (2) helping and aiding; and (3) relieving and removing trouble. Of these the latter two quite agree with the text of the Quran. But even if the word be taken in the first-mentioned sense there is no ground for objection, for though it is true that the fertility of the soil in Egypt depends on the flooding of the Nile, the flooding of the Nile itself depends on the rain on the mountains where lies its source. So if Joseph is represented here as saying that after seven years of famine, rains would fall, he obviously meant to say that rains would fall in such parts of the land as would cause the swelling of the Nile, which would bring relief to the famine-stricken people of Egypt.

The objection that the Quran has used an ambiguous and equivocal word is also devoid of all substance. The ambiguity lies in the critics’ own minds. The Quran has every right to use any word in the sense in which it is used in the Arabic language. If the critics of the Quran are not conversant with the particular use of a certain word, they should blame their own ignorance and not the Quran. In fact, the beauty of the Quranic style lies in the fact that it has used a word which applies with equal appropriateness to the times both of Joseph and the Holy Prophet, whose respective peoples were visited with a severe seven-year famine. Of the three meanings of the word یغاث given under Important Words, the first applied to the time of the Holy Prophet and the latter two to that of Joseph. Thus instead of exposing any weakness in the diction of the Quran, the use of this word emphasizes its excellence. (close)

a. 12:32. (close)

1387. Realizing that Joseph was no ordinary person the King wanted to release him from the prison forthwith. But Joseph refused to be released until a full inquiry was made into his case and he was proved to be innocent of the charge laid against him. His object in demanding an inquiry seems to be two- fold: First, that the King might know that he was innocent so that on no future occasion his mind might be poisoned against him by evilly-disposed persons on the basis of the alleged cause of his imprisonment. Secondly, that Potiphar, his benefactor, might not remain under the impression that Joseph had proved faithless to him. (close)

a. 12:32. (close)

1554. Commentary:

When the King saw that the wise men of his court had failed to interpret his dream and that Joseph had not only interpreted it rightly but had also suggested a remedy for the impending affliction, and when he learnt from his butler that Joseph’s previous interpretation of two dreams had also turned out to be true, he realized that Joseph was no ordinary man and desired to release him from the prison forthwith. But Joseph refused to be released until a full inquiry was made into his case and he was proved to be innocent of the charge laid against him. His object in demanding an inquiry seems to be twofold: firstly, that the King might know that he was innocent so that on no future occasion might his mind be poisoned against him by evilly-disposed persons on the basis of the alleged cause of his imprisonment; secondly, that Potiphar, his benefactor, might not remain under the impression that he had proved faithless to him.

The Holy Prophet is reported to have once said that if he had remained in prison for so long a time as Joseph did and, like Joseph, had received the orders of his release, he would at once have left the prison (Bukhari & Muslim). This readiness of the Holy Prophet to leave the prison in contrast to the hesitancy of Joseph to do so shows the former to be spiritually superior to the latter. It is true that the vindication of one’s honour is an act of virtue, but to welcome the opportunity for discharging one’s duties as a Prophet of God, as the Holy Prophet’s reported readiness implied, leaving one’s honour to take care of itself, is certainly an act of much higher spiritual eminence.

The words, how fare the women who cut their hands, spoken by Joseph show that the incident of the cutting by the women of their hands did actually take place; otherwise Joseph could not have referred to it in these words. Either the women, while absorbed in conversation, had inadvertently cut their hands, or they might have declared that, by bringing a false accusation against Joseph, they had cut their own hands i.e. had landed themselves in a false position. If these words had only expressed the women’s state of mind and nothing actual had happened, Joseph could not have referred to "the cutting of the hands." (close)

a. 12:32. (close)

1388. The words seem to show that the incident of the cutting of their hands by the women did actually take place; otherwise Joseph could not have referred to it. Either in amazement or being absorbed in conversation, some of them did inadvertently cut their hands. Or the words might mean that by bringing a false accusation against Joseph the women had cut their own hands, i.e. they had landed themselves into a false position. But if nothing actual had happened, Joseph could not have referred to 'the cutting of the hands.' Hasha Lillahi also means, God forbid; or how far is Allah from every imperfection (Lane). (close)

a. 12:32. (close)

1555. Important Words:

ماخطبکن (what was the matter with you) خطب (khatbun) is the noun-infinitive from خطب (khataba). They say خطب القوم i.e. he addressed the people and delivered to them an exhortation or admonition. خطب المرأة means, he asked or demanded the woman in marriage. خطب means, a thing, an affair, or a business, small or great, that one seeks or desires to do or that may be a subject of discourse; a great thing or affair; or the cause or occasion of a thing or an event; or an affliction or calamity. They say ماخطبك i.e. what is the thing or affair or business that thou seekest or desirest to do; or, what is the cause of thy coming? (Lane).

Commentary:

This verse shows that the King had become so convinced of the righteousness of Joseph that, on hearing of the accusation against him, he at once believed it to be false. This is why the women, judging from the way in which the King questioned them, realized that he looked upon Joseph as a righteous man, and so they confessed the truth. But by so doing they only bore witness to the innocence of Joseph, without in any way accusing Potiphar’s wife. The latter, however, fearing lest after exonerating Joseph of all blame the women might proceed to testify to her misconduct, hastened to confess her guilt, although she had not yet been questioned by the King. She did this to escape the greater shame of being condemned out of the mouth of others and perhaps also to win some credit for speaking the truth without being questioned. (close)