And when this is something that people consider great in this world, and its honor is not truly counted except when it is connected to the bliss of the Hereafter, he alerted to what he has in the Hereafter, of which this is not counted as anything in comparison to it. So he said, confirming the denial of the disbelievers regarding that: "And the reward of the Hereafter is better." And when the context of the rulings is in a general manner to relate them to descriptions that the context is desired in or feared from, he expressed it in the best and most eloquent way. He said: "For those who have believed," meaning those who possess this description, "and they were," meaning by their innate nature, "fearing [Allah]," meaning they continuously establish the fear of Allah and take precautions from Him. This is for them a share and elevates them in rank, as has been previously explained regarding what indicates the perfection of their faith and piety.

And when it was known that among His attributes is that He carries out what He has been entrusted with in the best manner and looks into it with the best gaze, it was as if it was said: So the king appointed him over the treasures of the earth, and he managed them as Allah commanded him and taught him until the matter was rectified, goodness came, and evil departed. This was mentioned to indicate its implications from the story of his brothers, which is the intended subject - as will come. It has been understood from this story that the prevailing nature of Egypt is wretchedness: with the oppression of the stranger, the humiliation of the weak, and the submission to the strong. They wronged him by imprisoning him after his innocence was established. Then he forgave them and treated them well by what he preserved of their lives. Then he freed them after he had enslaved them, and returned to them their wealth after he had seized it with what he had of the harvests. They repaid him for that by enslaving his children and the children of his brothers after him and subjected them to severe torment. The clearest evidence that this is the nature of the land is that when the Children of Israel went out with Moses, blessings and peace be upon him, and he freed them from all that humiliation and honored them with what Allah honored them with from the great signs and the clear Book, they were all few, and they would often rebel against what they could not bear to rebel against. And if he commanded them with a command from Allah, they turned away from it - as has been mentioned about the Torah in [Al-A'raf and Al-Baqarah] and others. So Allah punished them with wandering, and He would call them the crooked generation - due to what He knew of their bad nature, until all who grew up in the land of Egypt died. Then their children began to obey the commands until they possessed what Allah had promised [their forefathers] of lands. And this has been mentioned in the Psalms of David, blessings and peace be upon him, in many places, including in Psalm 94: 'Come, let us worship and bow down and prostrate before the Lord our Creator, for He is our God and we are the flock of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts and provoke Him as on the day of trial in the wilderness where your fathers tested Me. They observed My works for forty years, I was grieved with that generation and said: It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath that they shall not enter My rest.' Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders, and they did not remember the abundance of Your mercy when they angered You while ascending from the Red Sea. So You saved them in Your name to show Your wonders. The Red Sea was rebuked and dried up, and they passed through the depths as if they were in dry land, saving them from the hands of the enemies, and rescuing them from the hands of the haters. And the water was released upon their haters, and not one of them remained. So they believed in Your words and glorified Your praises. Then they hurried and forgot His works, and did not wait for His will. They craved desire in the wilderness, tested Allah where there was no water, so He gave them their request and sent them satiety for their souls. They angered Moses in the camp and Aaron, the saint of the Lord. The earth opened and swallowed Dathan, and closed upon the company of Abiram. And fire blazed in their assemblies, and the flame consumed the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb and worshipped the molded image, and exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox that eats grass. They forgot Allah who saved them, who did great things in Egypt and wonders in the land of Ham, and terrible things in the Red Sea. He said: He would have destroyed them had it not been for Moses, His chosen one, who stood before Him to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them. They despised the pleasant land, and did not believe His word, and murmured in their tents, and did not listen to the voice of the Lord. So He raised His hand against them to destroy them in the wilderness, and to scatter their descendants among the nations, and to disperse them in the lands, because they drew near to Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead, and provoked Him with their works, and death was multiplied among them suddenly. Then Phinehas arose and interceded for them, and the plague was stopped from them. So that was enough righteousness for a generation after generation forever. Then they provoked Him at the waters of strife, and Moses was grieved for their sake, and they angered his spirit, and rebelled against his words. They did not destroy the nations which the Lord commanded them, but mingled with the peoples and learned their works. So it became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons, and offered sacrifices to the idols of Canaan, and defiled the land with blood, and became unclean with their works, and committed whoredom with their deeds. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people, and He abhorred His inheritance. He gave them into the hand of the nations, and their enemies ruled over them, and they were subdued under their hands many times, and they provoked Him with their thoughts, and they were humbled by their wickedness. - End; But if you reflect, you will find that Allah, the Exalted, raises the status of the stranger whom they oppress and elevates his honor and establishes his glory - as He did with Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, after imprisonment, and with the Children of Israel after enslavement. And He is the best protector and the best supporter! Let the one residing there beware of being overcome by its nature, so that he becomes characterized by all of that from lack of jealousy and hatred of the stranger, and boldness in falsehood, and cowardice in truth, and complete humiliation to the tyrants, and the flattery in speech, by continually attending to the commands of Allah and carrying them out in obedience to Him, and following His Messenger and loving Him, and reflecting on His biography and the biographies of His followers, and cherishing all of that, until he becomes of a nature that separates him from the nature of the land, as the worshippers of it did, and the people of piety from it and its ascetics - may Allah protect us from the evils of our souls and the misdeeds of our actions, and we ask Him to grant us a good ending, and to make us among those who will never have any fear.

He mentioned what has passed after what has preceded of this story from the Torah: He said: So when two years had passed, Pharaoh saw a vision as if he were standing on the shore of the sea. And as if seven cows had risen from the Nile, beautiful in appearance and fat in flesh, grazing in the meadow. And as if seven other cows had risen behind them from the Nile, ugly in appearance and lean in flesh. They stood beside the fat cows on the bank of the river. Then the ugly cows swallowed the beautiful fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke from his sleep, and he slept again and saw a second time as if seven ears of grain had sprouted on a single stalk, full and ripe. And as if seven other ears, thin and dry, had sprouted after them, which the scorching wind had struck. Then the thin ear reached the seven full ears. Pharaoh awoke and his vision troubled him. So when morning came, Pharaoh's soul was anxious. He sent and called all the magicians and all the wise men of Egypt, and he told them his vision, but no one could interpret it for Pharaoh.

Then the chief of the cupbearers spoke before Pharaoh and said: I remember my sin today when Pharaoh was angry with his servant, and he put me in the prison of the captain of the guard. I was imprisoned along with the chief baker. We both saw a vision in one night, and each of us interpreted his vision. There was with us in the prison a young Hebrew with the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. He interpreted for each of us according to his vision, and all that he interpreted for us came true. As for me, the king restored me to my position, but as for that one, he ordered to have him hanged.

So Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him. They brought him from the prison, and he shaved his hair and changed his clothes, and he entered and stood before Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him: I have seen a vision and there is no one to interpret it for me. I have been informed that you hear a vision and interpret it with the best interpretation! Joseph, blessings and peace be upon him, answered Pharaoh and said: Do you think that I answer Pharaoh with peace without the command of Allah, the Most High?

Then Pharaoh said to Yusuf: "Indeed, I saw in a dream as if I were standing on the bank of the river. And as if seven fat cows came up from the river, beautiful in appearance and fat in flesh, grazing in the meadow. And as if seven lean cows came up after them, ugly in appearance and very emaciated in flesh. I have not seen such emaciation in all the land of Egypt. So the weak, ugly cows swallowed those seven fat cows, and they entered their bellies, and their appearance did not become distinguishable. And as if their appearance was ugly as it was before. Then I woke up and lay down again. I also saw in the dream as if seven ears of grain, beautiful, were in one stalk, full of fat and good. And as if seven ears of grain, emaciated, which the scorching wind had struck, sprouted behind them. So the weak, emaciated ear swallowed the seven good ears of grain. I related that to the magicians, but I did not find anyone to explain it.

Then Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him, said to Pharaoh: "The dream, O Pharaoh, is one. Allah has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven fat cows and the seven good ears of grain are seven years of abundance. The dream is one, and the seven weak cows that came after them and the seven emaciated ears of grain that were struck by the scorching wind will be seven years of famine. And this is the statement I have told Pharaoh. Indeed, Allah has made clear what is imminent that He is about to do. And indeed, these seven years will come with plenty and great abundance in all the land of Egypt. And after them will come seven other years in which there will be famine, and all the abundance and the good that was in all the land of Egypt will be forgotten. And the people of the land will perish from hunger because of the distress that will come after it due to its severity. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh a second time because the matter is determined before the Lord, and Allah is hastening His action.

And now let Pharaoh look for a wise and discerning man. Then let him appoint him over the land of Egypt, and let him take a fifth of the produce during the seven years of abundance, and let them gather all the crops of these coming years of plenty, and store the crops under the hand of Pharaoh. And let the grain be kept in the villages, and let the surplus be prepared and preserved for the people of Egypt for the seven years of famine that are to come in all the land of Egypt, so that the people of the land are not destroyed by hunger.

So this saying was pleasing to Pharaoh and to his servants. Pharaoh said to his leaders: Is there anyone like this man in whom the spirit of Allah is present? Then Pharaoh said to Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him: If Allah has informed you of all this, no one understands like you. You are appointed over my house, and regarding your command and my words about you, all the people accept. I am only greater than you in the pulpit. And Pharaoh said to Yusuf: Look, I have appointed you over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh took off his ring from his little finger and placed it on Yusuf's little finger, blessings and peace be upon him. He dressed him in linen garments and adorned him with a gold necklace. He placed him on some of his mounts and proclaimed before him: This is a father and an appointed one, and his authority is over all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said to Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him: I have commanded that no one should gesture with their hands or step with their feet without your command in all the land of Egypt.

And Pharaoh called Yusuf: The elucidator of secrets, and he married him to Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar, the chief of Alexandria. Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him, emerged as the governor over all the land of Egypt. He had been with Pharaoh for thirty years when he stood before him, and he toured all the land of Egypt.

The land produced abundantly in all seven years of plenty, filling the storehouses and gathering the grain from the fields of every village and what surrounded it, so that there were storehouses in it. Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him, stored grain like a hill, or in one version, like the sand of the sea, very much until it became uncountable.

Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him, had two sons born to him before the onset of the year of famine. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar, the chief of Alexandria, bore him. Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him, named his first son Manasseh, because he said: Indeed, Allah has made me forget all my toil and what was in my father's house. And he named the other Ephraim, saying: Because Allah has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. Then the years of abundance that were in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the years of famine began to come, just as Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him, had said. The famine was in all the land of Egypt, and there was no bread in all the land of Egypt. All the people of Egypt became hungry, and the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians: Go to Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him, and do whatever he commands you.