His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿When Yusuf said to his father, O my father, indeed I have seen [in a dream] eleven stars and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating to me﴾

The agent of "when" is an implied verb, the meaning of which is, "mention when." It is permissible that "we relate" works here, as if the meaning is: "we relate to you the situation when." Al-Makki reported that the agent here is ﴿from among the heedless﴾ [Yusuf: 3], and this is weak.

Talhah ibn Musarif read: "Yusuf" with a hamzah and an open 'sīn'. In this, there are six dialects: "Yusuf" with a dammah on the 'yā' and a sukoon on the 'wā' and with an open 'sīn' and with a dammah and with a kasrah, and likewise with a hamzah. The majority read: "O my father" with a kasrah on the 'tā', the 'yā' was omitted from "my father" and the 'tā' was made a substitute for it, as stated by Sibawayh. Ibn 'Amir alone, and Abu Ja'far, and Al-A'raj read: "O my father" with an open 'tā'. Ibn Kathir and Ibn 'Amir would pause with the 'hā'. As for Ibn 'Amir's reading with an open 'tā', it has two interpretations: either it is "O my father" then the 'alif' was omitted for ease and the opening remained indicating the 'alif', or it is in the same manner as their saying: "O Talhah, come here," they softened it then returned the marker and did not regard it after the softening. This is like their saying: "The Yamamah gathered" then they said: "The people of Yamamah gathered," they returned the term of the people and did not regard it.

Abu Ja'far, Al-Hasan, and Talhah ibn Sulayman read ﴿eleven stars﴾ with a sukoon on the 'ain' to allow the movements to follow, and to show that the two names have been made one. It is said that he truly saw stars and the sun and the moon, and Ya'qub interpreted them as his brothers and his parents. This is the opinion of the majority. It is said that the brothers and the father and the mother, because his mother was dead. It is said that he only saw his brothers and parents and expressed them by the stars and the sun and the moon, and this is weak. Al-Tabari translated this then included from Qatadah, Al-Dahhak, and others words that are possible to be as he translated and to be like the saying of the people. The interpreters said: the moon's interpretation is the father, and the sun's interpretation is the mother, so some people derived from the precedence of the mother the obligation of being dutiful to the mother and increasing it over being dutiful to the father. Al-Tabari reported from Jabir ibn Abdullah that a Jew named Bustanah came to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and said: "Inform me about the names of the stars that Yusuf saw, peace be upon him." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was silent before him, and Gabriel, peace be upon him, descended and informed him of their names. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, called the Jew and said: "Are you a believer if I inform you of that?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Jariyan, Al-Tariq, Al-Dhayyal, Dhul-Katifayn, Qabis, Wathhab, 'Amudayn, Al-Faylaq, Al-Musbah, Al-Dharuh, Dhul-Fargh, Al-Diya, and Al-Nur." The Jew said: "By Allah, indeed these are their names."

The repetition of "I saw them" is due to the length of the speech, and the flow of the pronouns of these stars in this verse follows the pronouns of those who have reason, for it was described by actions that are specific to those who have reason.

It is narrated that the vision of Yusuf was on the Night of Decree, which is a Friday night, and that it appeared after forty years. It is said: after eighty years.