[Pooya/Ali Commentary 12:3] The story of Yusuf son of Yaqub son of Is-haq son of Ibrahim as given in the Quran is not identical with the Biblical story. The atmosphere is wholly different. The Biblical story is a folk-tale in which morality has no place. It exalts the clever and financially-minded Jew against the Egyptian, and to explain certain ethnic and tribal peculiarities in later Jewish history, Yusuf is shown as buying up all the cattle and the land of the poor Egyptians for the state under the stress of famine conditions, and making the Jews "rulers" over the Firawn's cattle. The Quranic story, on the other hand, is less a narrative than a highly spiritual sermon or allegory explaining the seeming contradictions in life, the enduring nature of virtue in a world full of flux and change, and the marvellous working of Allah's eternal purpose in His plan as unfolded to us on the wide canvas of history. Imam Ali said to Imam Hasan: "O my son, although I have not lived with the people gone by but I have so closely studied their deeds, the events which took place, and the traditions and vestiges they have left behind, as if I have become one of them, as if I have lived with the first and the last of them". (Nahj al Balagha) It is the most detailed of any story in the Quran and is full of description of vicissitudes of human life, and therefore deservedly appeals to men and women of all classes. It paints in vivid colours, with their spiritual implications, the most varied aspects of life-Yaqub's old age and the confidence between him and his little beloved son, the elder brothers' jealousy, their plot, Yaqub's grief, the sale of Yusuf into slavery for a petty price, carnal love contrasted with purity and patience and fortitude, chastity, false charges, prison, the divine gift of interpretation of the dreams, evil life and spiritual life, innocence raised to honour, forgiveness and benevolence, matters of administration, humility in glory, filial love, and the ultimate triumph of piety and truth. When the tribal chiefs of the Quraysh asked the Holy Prophet about the cause of the migration of the children of Yaqub to Egypt from Syria, this surah was revealed. Aqa Mahdi Puya says: Except four verses (the first three and the seventh according to Ibn Abbas) this surah was revealed in Makka on the eve of the Holy Prophet's migration to Madina. If true, it proves that the date and the sequence of the revelations were not taken into consideration by the Holy Prophet. It must be noted that like Yusuf the Holy Prophet also had to leave his birth place on account of the conspiracy of his near relatives. This surah gave confidence and hope to him that they would also encounter the same fate as the brothers of Yusuf met. Like Yusuf the Holy Prophet also declared clemency for his relatives and tribesmen. After the fall of Makka he said: "I say that which my brother Yusuf said to his brothers in the end." Yusuf son of Yaqub was a very beautiful youth. The truth, which Yusuf, the prophet of Allah, saw in his vision, was unpalatable to his half-brothers, who plotted against him and sold him into slavery to a merchant for a few pieces of silver. Yusuf was taken by the merchant into Egypt, was bought by a great Egyptian court dignitary, Aziz. The beauty of Yusuf was so irresistible that the dignitary's wife fell in love with him on first sight and sought to entice Yusuf to the delights of earthly love, but Yusuf, a faithful servant of Allah and His prophet, did not yield to the temptation. His self-control and faith in Allah could not be shaken just for the pleasure of a fleeting moment. He preferred the misery of imprisonment to the disgrace he would have to face if he had succumbed to the lure of Shaytan. Although some commentators have given many notes of mystic nature connected with the story of Yusuf, yet it is advisable to rely upon that which has been narrated in the Quran. The knowledge and wisdom of the Holy Prophet is based upon the revelations sent to him from Allah. These verses narrate the story of Yusuf. Those who want to know other details, not mentioned in the Quran, may refer to the "Glimpses of the Prophets", an English translation of Hayat ul Qulub, published by this Trust. Yusuf, born of Yaqub's beloved wife Rachel, occupied the first place in his father's affections. Rachel gave birth to another child, Benjamin, Yusuf's real brother, after which she died. When Yusuf was about twelve years of age he dreamed a dream in which he saw a light had enveloped the whole environment. Every creature was singing the song of Allah's glory. Then the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to him. As soon as Yaqub, also a prophet of Allah, heard this dream, he knew its interpretation immediately. (It is reported on the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari that one day Bashan, a Jew of Madina, came to the Holy Prophet and asked him whether he knew the names of the stars which Yusuf saw in his dream. The Holy Prophet gave him the following names: Hurban, Turaq, Zi-al, Zulkitfani, Qabisth, Wathab, Amud, Faluq, Masbah, Saduh, Zul Qarh.) Yaqub advised Yusuf not to relate his dream to his brothers who hated and envied him because they saw that their father loved him more than all of them, and that Yusuf was a very beautiful boy, a gift of Allah bestowed on him as a distinctive excellence. There was a tree in Yaqub's house. Whenever a son was born, a new branch used to grow on the tree. As soon as that son reached puberty, Yaqub would cut the branch and give it to the boy to be used as a staff. On the birth of Yusuf no such branch grew. Yaqub prayed to Allah. In reply Allah sent a heavenly branch for Yusuf. The brothers envied him for this divine favour. Yusuf dreamed another dream that all the brothers planted their staves in the earth, but his staff grew higher and higher and reached the sky. Then a violent storm destroyed the staves of his brothers, leaving his staff intact. Yaqub told him that the dream showed his high position near Allah. His brothers became furious with jealousy and hatred-all negative and wicked characteristics are the promptings of Shaytan, an open enemy of man. As a chosen prophet of Allah Yusuf had to understand and interpret signs and events aright. The dreams of the righteous prefigure events correctly. Yusuf could look back to his fathers upto Ibrahim, the upright, who through all adversities kept his faith pure and won through. In Yusuf's story there is good and evil contrasted in many different ways. The brothers of Yusuf proposed to kill him so that the favour of their father might be given to them alone, but one of them suggested to throw him in a well, in which case some travellers passing by would pick him up and remove him to a far country and they would be free from the charge of murder. The plot having been formed, they approached their father to let Yusuf go with them to play and enjoy. Yaqub had strong misgivings and apprehension. He told them that while they were attending to their own affairs a wolf might devour him. In the end they prevailed upon him and took Yusuf with them, and threw him into a well. Allah was with Yusuf in his sufferings and sorrows and reassured him that one day they would stand before him, seeking his help, not knowing that he was their betrayed brother. They stained Yusuf's shirt with the blood of a goat and showed it to their father to convince him that while they were playing a wolf had devoured Yusuf who was guarding their things. Yaqub did not believe them. He saw that there had been some foul play.