And when He clarified that He narrates to him [from] the news of the messengers that which strengthens his heart, he said, affirming and explaining that the Book has another reason for its observation which is more specific than the first: ﴿We narrate to you﴾. And He magnified this story with a manifestation of greatness and confirmed that by saying, ﴿the best of stories﴾, meaning the recounting (p-7) or the recounted, by following some of the narrative as we teach it to one another, so we clarify it in the best explanation - because he who recounts the narrative - is to strengthen your heart and affirm your prophethood and support it in the best arrangement and most precise system and most complete style and most thorough articulation and most creative manner, along with what we detail it with from the jewels of wisdom and the wonders of meanings from the roots and branches. And it is the story of Yusuf, peace be upon him, a long story which is in the Torah in more than twenty pages, which only the skilled scholars of theirs can master. Whoever reflects on its recounting in it or in other histories of theirs will taste the meaning of His saying, ﴿the best of stories﴾, until indeed some of the Jews embraced Islam due to what they saw of the beauty of its recounting. Al-Bayhaqi narrated in the latter part of the proofs with his chain from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that "a scholar from the Jews entered upon the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, one day and he was a reader of the Torah. He coincided with him while he was reciting the Surah of Yusuf, peace be upon him, as it was revealed to Musa, peace be upon him, in the Torah. The scholar said to him: O Muhammad! Who taught you this? He said: Allah taught it to me. So he returned to the Jews and said to them: Do you know, by Allah, that Muhammad reads the Quran as it was revealed in the Torah! So he went with a group of them until they entered upon him, and they recognized him by the description and looked at the seal of prophethood between his shoulders. They began to listen to his recitation of the Surah of Yusuf, and they were amazed by him and said: O Muhammad! Who taught you this? The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: Allah taught it to me. So the people embraced Islam at that time." (p-8) And He, glorified is He, has included in it from the subtleties, lessons, and wisdoms a great matter. And He mentioned in it the goodness of Yusuf's, peace be upon him, companionship with his brothers, and his patience towards their harm, and his forbearance towards them, and his overlooking when he met them, and his generosity in forgiveness, and the prophets, the righteous, the angels, the devils, mankind, the jinn, the livestock, the birds, and the stories of kings, kingdoms, merchants, scholars, the ignorant, men, women, their plots, and the oneness of Allah, prophethood, the miraculous, interpretation, governance, social relations, managing livelihood, and all the benefits that are suitable for religion and this world. And He mentioned the beloved and the beloved one, and He did not include in it anything from other than it, unlike other stories. And its consequence is towards goodness, safety, unity, forgiveness from Allah, and pardon for all ﴿by what We have revealed﴾, meaning because of Our revelation ﴿to you﴾.

And when the revelation of the Qur'an was a gathering of good things, He specified the intended meaning by the indication and the proper name, saying: "This is the Qur'an" about which they said: Indeed, it is fabricated. So we follow in it the stories after story after story, and the wisdom after wisdom, until no doubter doubts and no skeptic hesitates that it is from Us and by Our permission, and its matter is clearer in its absence of ambiguity than the sun.

And when they were with their knowledge of him, blessings and peace be upon him, knowing that he was distanced from knowledge and scholars, and their action in denying was the action of one who denies that, he means by saying: "And if" that is, and indeed the matter and the story "you were". And when his being did not consume the past time, the neighbor affirmed and said: "from before it" that is, this book or our revelation to you by it "was of the heedless" that is, about this story and others, confirming it with various types of confirmation. He is looking at his saying at the end of it: "And you were not with them when they all agreed on their matter while they were plotting" [Yusuf: 102] after his turning away from one to another which he accepted: "And your Lord is not heedless of what you do" [Hud: 123]. And goodness: is a meaning that the mind accepts and seeks to obtain the one characterized by it various means. The root, ghafala, in every arrangement revolves around covering and concealment, from the covering in which something is placed so that nothing can be seen from it or it can see anything as long as it is in it. And from it is ghaflah - for the skin that is on the fruit, and ghafl - with the damm: what has no relation to the earth, and a heedless creature, with no mark, because the lack of a sign leads to ignorance of it as if it is in a covering from which nothing can be seen. And from it is a heedless man: he has no lineage with him, because that is closer to his ignorance. And taghafil: is to take something without feeling, it has appeared that the purpose of the surah is to describe the book after wisdom and detail by clarifying all the intended purposes for which it was revealed. Imam Abu Ja'far ibn al-Zubair said: This surah is among what was narrated to him, blessings and peace be upon him, from the news of the messengers and the accounts of those who preceded him, in which there is the confirmation granted in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And all that We relate to you of the news of the messengers is that We may strengthen your heart" [Hud: 120] and from what was referred to in Surah Al-An'am - as has been mentioned - and it was singled out for its severity and was not arranged with the stories of the messengers even though they are in one surah due to the difference in the content of those stories. Do you not see that those stories are about the sending of those who have been mentioned, blessings and peace be upon them, and how their people received them and the destruction of their deniers? As for this story, its essence is relief after hardship and an introduction to the goodness of the outcome of patience. Indeed, He, the Most High, tested Jacob, blessings and peace be upon him, with the loss of his two sons, his eyesight, and the scattering of his sons. And He tested Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, with the well, the sale, the wife of the Aziz, the loss of the father and the brothers, and imprisonment. Then He tested them all with the encompassing distress and the lack of means: "We have been touched with distress, we and our families, and we have come with goods that are of little worth, so give us full measure and be charitable to us" [Yusuf: 88]. Then Allah took care of them with understanding, gathering them together, restoring their father's sight, uniting their hearts, and lifting what the devil had caused them to lose. And the salvation of Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, from the plot that was plotted against him and his purity in the presence of the king and the women, and all of that was a result of beautiful patience and the majesty of certainty in the goodness of receiving the decrees with submission and acceptance during the ongoing tests and the long duration. Then during this magnificent story, there was the repentance of the wife of the Aziz and her return to the truth and her testimony for Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, for what Allah granted him of purity from all that tarnishes. Then the release of the Aziz for him - to what was drawn in this magnificent story of wonders and lessons: "Indeed, there was in their stories a lesson for those of understanding" [Yusuf: 111]. This story has been distinguished by itself and has not been matched with what was mentioned of the stories of Noah, Hud, Salih, Lut, Shu'ayb, and Musa, blessings and peace be upon them, and what transpired in their nations. For this reason, it was separated from them. And it has been indicated in a surah at its beginning to the outcome of those who were patient, content, and submitted so that the believers may be alerted to what is contained therein. And He has explicitly stated to them what this surah has summarized in its indication in His saying, the Most High: "And Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession upon the earth" [An-Nur: 55] - to His saying, "secure". And the story of Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, in its entirety is most similar to the condition of the believers in their struggles in the beginning and their migration and their separation from their people and their lack of means until Allah gathered them together: "And remember the favor of Allah upon you when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together, and you became by His favor brothers" [Al-Imran: 103]. And Allah inherited them the earth and supported them and granted them victory. That was due to their great faith and immense patience. This is what necessitated the separation of this story from those stories - and Allah knows best. As for the delay in mentioning it from them, it is suitable for its condition and because it is news of the outcome of those who believed and took heed and stood firm at what He has set for them, so it did not harm them what had happened. And it was not mentioned following the stories of Al-A'raf due to what remained of the completion of those stories that occurred in Surah Hud. Then the mention of the conditions of the believers with those who were with them from the hypocrites and their patience with them is what should precede and follow this story in terms of the outcome of patience and encouragement for it - as has been mentioned. Thus, it was delayed until after Surah Hud, blessings and peace be upon him, for the entirety of this - and Allah, the Most High, knows best. Then the Surah of Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, was also suitable to mention following His saying, the Most High: "Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds; that is a reminder for those who remember" [Hud: 114] and His saying: "And be patient, for indeed Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good" [Hud: 115] and His saying: "And if your Lord had willed, He would have made mankind one nation" [Hud: 118] - the verse, and His saying: "And say to those who do not believe, 'Work according to your position; indeed, we are working'" [Hud: 121] "And wait; indeed, we are waiting" [Hud: 122]. So contemplate that, either its relation to the first, for indeed the regret of the brothers of Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, and their acknowledgment of their wrongdoing and the virtue of Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, over them.

Certainly, Allah has preferred you over us, even though we were wrongdoers. And His pardon for them, "There is no blame upon you today; Allah will forgive you". And the regret of the wife of the Aziz and her saying, "Now the truth has become clear" - all of this is in the context of the removal of the good deed by the bad deed. It is as if this is an example of what the believers have known about the removal of the good deed by the bad deed. As for the connection of the Surah to His saying, "And be patient, for indeed Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good" - this is a command from Him, glorified and exalted is He, to His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to be patient with his people. He followed with the condition of Jacob and Joseph, blessings and peace be upon them, and what was from their affair and their patience with the long duration and the continued trials of Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, with the well, the separation from his father, and the prison until Allah saved him in the best salvation after the length of those hardships. Do you not see the words of our Prophet when he mentioned Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, and testified to him with the greatness of the condition and the immense patience, saying, "If I had remained in prison as long as my brother Joseph remained, I would have answered the caller"? So reflect on his excuse for him, blessings and peace be upon them, and his testimony to the great status of Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him. "And all that We relate to you of the news of the messengers is that by which We make firm your heart."

When it was said to him, "And be patient, for indeed Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good" [Hud: 115], he follows the state of Jacob and Joseph, blessings and peace be upon them, from the doers of good. "And We granted him Isaac and Jacob" [Al-An'am: 84] - up to His saying, "And thus do We reward the doers of good" [Al-An'am: 84]. The verse includes the mention of Jacob and Joseph, blessings and peace be upon them, and our Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, has commanded to follow them in patience. And it was said to him, "So be patient as those of determination among the messengers were patient" [Al-Ahqaf: 35]. And Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, is among those of determination. Then the state of Jacob and Joseph, blessings and peace be upon them, in their patience and their vision of the good outcome of patience in this world, along with what Allah has prepared for them of great reward, is something we can relate to the state of our Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in enduring the hardships from Quraysh and leaving his homeland. Then he followed that with his triumph over his enemies, the honor of his religion, the manifestation of his word, and his return to his land in a state that brought joy to the eyes of the believers, and what Allah granted him and his companions. So reflect on that. What we mentioned is clarified by the conclusion of the surah with His saying, "Until when the messengers despaired and thought that they had been denied, Our victory came to them" [Yusuf: 110]. The essence of all this is the matter of patience and the good outcomes for the allies of Allah in it. As for the reference to His saying, "And if your Lord had willed, He would have made mankind one nation, but they will not cease to differ" [Hud: 118], I do not relate this nor am I astonished by the state of brothers who are virtuous, from one father among the prophets of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and the righteous among His servants, where there occurred among them a division that Allah made a lesson for those of understanding. As for the reference to the verse of warning, it is clear, and it seems that the words are in strength, "Work according to your position - and wait." We will not be patient with you for the duration of the patience of Jacob and Joseph, blessings and peace be upon them. For indeed, by the grace of Allah, the reason for the arrival of this surah follows the surah of Hud - and Allah knows best. The end.