'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Yusuf, peace be upon him.

This surah is Meccan. It is narrated that the Jews asked the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, about the story of Yusuf, so the surah was revealed because of that. It is narrated that the Jews instructed the disbelievers of Mecca to ask the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, about the reason that allowed the Children of Israel to be in Egypt, so the surah was revealed. It is said that the reason for its revelation was to console the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding what his people were doing to him, similar to what the brothers of Yusuf did to Yusuf. The story of Yusuf has not been repeated in meaning in the Qur'an as the stories of the prophets have been repeated. In it is evidence against those who objected that eloquence is established by the repetition of speech. In those stories is evidence against those who said about this: if it were repeated, its eloquence would become weak.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Alif Lam Ra. Those are the verses of the clear Book﴾ ﴿Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an so that you may understand﴾ ﴿We relate to you the best of stories by what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an, and indeed, before it you were among the unaware﴾

The discussion on the openings of the surahs has preceded. And "the Book" refers to the Qur'an. Its description as "the clear" is said to be from the perspective of its rulings, its lawful and unlawful matters. It is said to be from the perspective of its admonitions, guidance, and light. It is said to be from the perspective of the clarity of the Arabic language and its excellence, as it contains six letters that have not been gathered in any other language. - This saying has been narrated from Mu'adh ibn Jabal. - It is possible that it is clear in the prophethood of Muhammad due to its miraculous nature. The correct view is that it is clear in all of these aspects. The pronoun in His saying, "We have sent it down," refers to the Book. The sending down may mean affirmation, or it may describe the recitation and wording. Al-Zajjaj said: The pronoun in "We have sent it down" refers to the news of Yusuf.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is weak.

And His saying, "so that you may understand," may relate to "We have sent it down," meaning: We have sent it down so that you may understand. It may relate to His saying: "Arabic," meaning: We made it Arabic so that you may understand, as it is your language. And "Qur'an" is in the state, and "Arabic" is an adjective for it. It is said that "Qur'an" is a substitute for the pronoun, and this has some consideration. It is said that "Qur'an" is a prelude to the state, and "Arabic" is a state. This is like saying: "I passed by Zayd, a righteous man."

And His saying, exalted is He: "We narrate to you" is the verse. Ibn Mas'ud narrated that the companions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, became weary of a matter and said: 'If you would narrate to us, O Messenger of Allah.' So this verse was revealed. Then they became weary of another matter and said: 'If you would inform us, O Messenger of Allah.' So it was revealed: "Allah has revealed the best narration, a Book" [Az-Zumar: 23]. And "narration" is the informing of what has occurred of matters, as if the news is a following by words just as the trace is followed. And His saying: "by what We have revealed to you" means: by Our revelation. And "the Qur'an" is a description of "this," and it is permissible for it to be a substitute, and the conjunction of the explanation in it is weak. And "if" is the lightened form of the heavy one, and the lam in its news is the lam of confirmation. This is the view of the Basri scholars, and the view of the people of Kufa is that "if" means "it has," and the lam means "except." And the pronoun in "before it" refers to the general narration of what is in all of the Qur'an. And "from the heedless" [Al-A'raf: 205] means: from the knowledge of this narration. And whoever said that the pronoun in "before it" refers back to "the Qur'an" made "from the heedless" mean the saying of Him, exalted is He: "And He found you lost and guided" [Ad-Duha: 7], meaning: on a path other than this religion with which you were sent. And he, peace be upon him, was not in the misguidance of the disbelievers nor in their heedlessness, for he never associated partners with Allah. Rather, he was seeking guidance from his Lord, glorified and exalted is He, and was a monotheist. And the one who is asking about the confused path is linguistically referred to as lost.