Part 80

from a grape-vin e, which had produced leaves a nd ri pe grapes

and he took them and squeezed Ihem into the king's cup and

then he gave it to him to drink . The baker sa w th ree baskets of

bread on his head and three birds of prey eati ng from the top

baske t. They both related thei r dream s to Yoo su f ~ and asked

him to interpret th em for th em, say in g, ( " Ve ril y, we thi nk yo u

;:Ire one of the MllhsillOOIl (doers o f good ):' ) (Som'all YoosuJ

12:36) He infomled them tha t he was know ledgeab le regardi ng

the interpretation of their dreams and sk illed in sll ch maile rs.

He sa id, ( "No fo od will come to you (i n wakefulness or in

Melllioll {if,he j}/ngcIIY of Ihrahecm 355

dream} as your pro vis io n. but I wi ll inform (in wakefulness)

its intcrpretation before it (th e food) comes to yo u: ' ) (Soorah

YOOSII! 12:37) It was said that th c meaning is: no matter what

visio ns you sec, I will interpret them for you befo re it happens;

and it will be as I sa id. It was also sa id that it mean s: I w ill

inform you of w ha t food w iI1 come to yo u before it arrives,

whether it be sweet or bitter, as ' Eesa i:&Y said , ( "A nd I info rm

YO LI of what you eat, a nd wha t you store in your hOllses." )

(Soorah Ali '/111/'011 3:49) I-Ie sa id to them , "Thi s is fro m the

thin gs that A llah ha s ta ug ht to me, beca use I believe in Him ,

affirm Hi s O neness and adhere to th e Re lig io n of my noble

fat hers, Ibrahee m , AI-Khaleel 'h9, Ishaq ~ and Ya ' qoob. "

( "And never could we attribu te an y partners what soevcr \0

AI1ah. Thi s is from the Grace of A llah to us." ) That is, th at He

has g uidcd li S to thi s. ( " And to mankind ." ) That is, that He

has commanded us to ca ll the m to I-lim , g uid e th em and direct

th cm to Him . He (i.e. bel ief in Hi m) is firml y em bedd ed in

the ir innate nalures and impl anted in the ir natural disposit ions.

( "B ut most me n thank not (i .c . they neither be lieve in Allah ,

no r worsh ip Il il11), " ) (SoO/'ail YOOSII! 12:38)

Then he ca ll ed upon them to beli eve in A ll ah's O neness

and he ce nsured the worshi p o f' anyone other than A llah and

bel itt led and exp ressed sco rn f'or the wors hip of' ido ls. He sa id ,

( "0. YOll two companions o f th e pr iso n! Are many diOc rent

(god s) better. or Allah, the One. the Irres istible? You do not

worship besides Him but o nl y name s wh ic h YOll have named

( forg ed) , yo u and your fath e rs, for which A llah ha s sent down

no authority. The command (or the judgment) is fo r non e but

Al lah." ) (SoO/'ail )00.1'11[12:39 ,40), Tha t is, He is the Di sposer

of (t he afTairs of) His creat io n and He is the Doe r of what He

w ill s, Who g uides who m He w ill s and in creases in error whom

I-Ie w ill s. ( " l ie has commandcd th at YO ll worship nonc but

Him (i.c. His Monotheism):' (SoO/'ali Yooslif I 2:40) . Thai is,

A lo ne, witho ut ascribing partners 10 Hi m. ( "That is the st rai g ht

Religion ," ) (SoO/'o" YOOSII! 12:40), That is, the true Reli gion

and the Straight Pat h. ( " But most mell kn ow not.'· ) (Soorall

roo.wf 12:40). That is, they will not be guided 10 it, in spite o f

it s clarity and ils obviousness. Hi s preachin g to them both in

th is s ituati on was or th e utmos t perfection, because thei r hea rts

exto lled hi m and were rcady 10 accept what he sa id. T herefore it

was appropriate to ca ll the m to Iha l which was more beneficial

to the m than abo llt that w hich they asked and requ ested from

him . Then he undertook th at whi ch was in cumbent upon him

and guided to that to whi ch he had been gu ided, saying, ( "0.

you two compan ions or the prison! As ror one or you. he (as

a serva nt) wi ll pour out wi ne ror his lo rd (ki ng or master) 10

dri nk." ) (So01'a" Yooslif I2:4 1). The sc holars sa id that he was

the cup-bea rer. ( "A nd as ror the ot her. he will be cmcified

a nd birds will em from his head," ) (SoO/'ail YOOSII! 12:4 1)

The scholars sa id th at he was th e baker. " Thus is the case

judged concerni ng whi ch YO li bo th did inquire," ) (Soom h

YOO.\· I!( 12:4 1). T hat is, thi s will happen, and it is inevitab le,

no matter what. Thi s is why it was sa id in a IlOdeet", " A vision

nutt ers over a man as long as it is not int erprcted, bu t whc n it

is interpreted, it happens." (2 8)

A ll ah, Most High, says. And he sa id to the one whol11 hc

knew to be saved . "!\ Icntion me to your lord (i.e. your king, so

as to ge t mc out o r the priso n}." But Slmitall made him ro rgct

to mcmion it 10 his lord. So he (Yoosul) stayed in prison a few

(mo re ) years. ) (Sooro" YOOS I{( 12:42)

(28) This is .HI authentic Ilt/deelll namllcd by Abu OawOO£i (5020). At-Tirmi-

dhi (22 79), tbn Majah (3914). Ahmad ( 15749) and i\d-Oarimi (2148), on

the authority of Laqect Ibn Sabirnh ~ .

1\ /ell l;OIl of/he Progeny of Ibrahecm

Allah, Most High, informs us thal Yoosuf ~ said to the one

whom he knew would be saved, w hic h was the cup-bearer,

( " Menti on me to yo ur lord." ) , That is, mention my case

and th e situation that I am in to your king; I am imprisoned,

without ha ving committed any crim e. Thi s is ev idence of the

pe rmi ss ibi lity of taking the necessary steps to achieve one's

objec ti ve and this is not in consistent with trusting in the Lord

of lords (taIVakkuf). As for the saying of Him, Most Hi gh: (

But S/wilall made him forget to mention ilIa his lord ) (SoOl'oII

Yoosuf 12:42). ThaI is, Satan caused the man who was saved to

forget to mention what Yoo s llr ~ had entrusted to him.

He, Most High , says, ( And th e kin g (of Egypt) said , "Veril y,

I saw (i n a dream) seven fal cows, whom se ven lea n ones were

devouring - a nd o f seven grcen ears of eorn, and (sevcn) others

dry, 0, notables! Ex pla in to me my dream, if it be that you can

interpret dreams," T hey sai d, "M ixed up false dream s and we

arc not ski lled in the in terpreta ti on of dreams," Th en the man

who was re leased (one of th e two who we re in pri son), now at

le ngth remembered a nd sa id , " [ wi[ 1 tell YOll its inte rpreta tion,

so send me forth ," (I-Ie sa id), "0, Yoosuf, the man of truth !

Ex plai n to LI S (the dream) o f seven fat cows whom seven [can

ones were devouring, and of seven green ea rs of com, and

(seven) othe rs dry, that I may retu rn to the peop le, and that

th ey may know," (Yoos uf) said, " For seven consecuti ve years,

you shall sow as usua l and that (th e ha rvest) w hich you reap

yo u sha ll leave in cars, (a ll ) - except a litt le of it w hic h yo u

may eat. The n will com e an er that , seven hard (years), which

will devour what you have laid by in advan ce for th em, (a ll)

except a litt le of tha t which you have guarded (stored), Theil

the rea ft er w ill come a yea r in wh ich people will have abundant

ra in and in which they w ill press (w i,l}e and o il)," ) (SoO/'oll

358 Menlion of lite Progeny of /braheem ~

This was one of the means by which Yoosuf &JJ obtained

hi s release from prison, with honor and respect. To wit, thi s

vision was seen by th e king of Egypt, who was Ar~Riyyan Ibn

AI -Waleed Ibn Tharwan, Ibn Arashah Ibn Faran Ibn 'A mr Ibn

' Imlaq Ibn Lawuz Ibn Sam (Shem) Ibn Noo h ~ .

The People of th e Scripture sa id that he saw in the dream that

he was on the edge of a river and seven fat cows had emerged

from it and they began to graze in a meado w there; then seven

lean, weak cows emerged fro m that ri ver and they began to

graze along with th e first seven. Then they tumed upon them

and devoured them. Th en he awoke in a stal e of alarm. Then he

slep t again and saw seve n green ears of wheat on a single stalk

and suddenl y, seven thin , withered ears ate them. Then the

king awoke in a state of alann. When he informed his counci l

of elders and hi s peopl e about what he had seen, there was

no one among th em who was sk ill ed in the in terpretation of

dreams. Indeed , ("Mixed up rai se drea ms." ) (SoO/'a" Yoosuf