Surah Yusuf, Ayah 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.

The Quran has been revealed for the guidance of the whole world. However, since its first addressees were the Arabs, it was revealed in the Arabic language. Now it is the duty of those who have Faith in it to translate its teachings into every language and to convey them to all the nations of the world. The Quran’s teachings have been communicated in different modes and styles: sometimes in the language of reasoning based on the phenomena of nature, sometimes in the language of warning and good tidings, and sometimes in the language of history. The message of chapter 12, is conveyed in the form of the story of Joseph (Yusuf). In this chapter, people of Faith are told, by means of a prophet’s story, that God is all-powerful. He helps those who come forward to promote the cause of Truth, finally making them successful in spite of the intrigues of opponents, on the condition that the people should be God-fearing and should have the quality of patience; they should have the fear of God in their hearts and regardless of the circumstances, should persevere on the path of Truth.