'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, exalted and glorified is He, said: "O companions of the prison! Are many lords differing better, or Allah, the One, the Subduer?" "What you worship besides Him are nothing but names you have named, you and your forefathers. Allah has not sent down any authority for them. The judgment is only for Allah. He has commanded that you not worship except Him. That is the correct religion, but most people do not know." "O companions of the prison! As for one of you, he will give his lord wine to drink, and as for the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will eat from his head. The matter has been decreed concerning which you inquire." "And he said to the one he thought would be saved, 'Mention me before your lord.' But Satan caused him to forget the mention of his lord, so he remained in prison for several years." His description of them as "O companions of the prison" is either because of their relationship to him by their companionship in the prison, as He, exalted and glorified is He, said: 'the companions of Paradise' and 'the companions of Hellfire,' and similar to this, or he intends their companionship with him in the prison, so he attributed them to the prison by that, as if he said: 'O my companions in the prison.' This is similar to what was said about the disbelievers: 'Indeed, the idols are their partners.' And he presented to them the long matter of the idols by describing them as differing, and he described Allah, exalted and glorified is He, with oneness and subjugation. This is a kind and gentle approach and a taking of a light argument before many that might repel the nature of the ignorant and oppose it. And thus is the way in arguing with the ignorant, that one should take a light degree of argument that they can accept. If they accept it, it becomes necessary for them to follow with another degree above it, and then likewise forever until they reach the truth. And indeed, taking the ignorant with all the doctrine that is presented to them at once repels them for the time being and makes them oppose it, and they have been tested with many differing lords who serve the children of this world and hope for them. And His saying: "except names" some of the speakers have gone to the view that he referred in this verse to the names upon the named things and expressed them by it since they are entities with names. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the name which is: (Alif, Lam, Meem) may run in the language in the manner of the soul, the self, and the eye. If you take the verse in that way, the meaning is correct. And this name is not, in this regard, like the naming which is: a man and a stone. And if it is intended by these names in the verse the names of the idols which are like Al-Lat and Al-Uzza and similar to that in naming them gods, it is possible that he means: except for beings with names, and he omitted the addition and placed the addition to it in its place. It is also possible - and this is the preferred choice, if Allah wills - that he means: what you worship besides Him as deities, and you have no connection to a god except according to the fact that you named your idols gods. So your worship is not for a god except by name only, not in reality. As for the reality, it is the same as other stones and wood. Your worship is attached only according to the name that you have set, so that is your object of worship if your matter is fulfilled. He expressed this meaning with the wording mentioned in the verse. And from this verse, there is a misunderstanding by those who said: (In our saying: a man and a stone) that the name is the named in every case, and this issue has become clear at the beginning of the commentary.

And the object of "you named" the second is omitted, its estimation is: gods. This is on the assumption that the names refer to the beings of the idols. As for the chosen meaning that their worship is only for meanings given by the names and are not present in the idols - then his saying "you named them" is like saying: you placed them. The pronoun refers to the names, and he emphasized the pronoun to connect to it.

And the sultan is: the proof, and his saying: ﴿Indeed, the judgment is only for Allah﴾ means: there is nothing for your idols which you named gods in terms of judgment, decrees, and provisions. So what is their state then? It is possible that he intends to respond to their judgment in setting up gods besides Allah, the Exalted: and they have no right to transgress Allah's command that no one should be worshipped besides Him. And "the upright" means: the straight, and ﴿But most of the people do not know﴾ due to their ignorance and the predominance of disbelief.

Then he called out ﴿O companions of the prison﴾ a second time so that their souls would gather to hear the answer. It has been narrated that he said to Nabwa: As for you, you will return to your position and the cupbearer of your lord. And he said to Mijlath: As for you, you will be crucified, and all of that will be after three days. It has been narrated that they said to him: We have not seen anything; we only dreamed to test you. And it has been narrated that he did not say that except the one who informed him about the crucifixion, and it was said: they saw it then denied it.

And a group read: "He will serve his lord" from saqa, and a group read: "He will be served" from asqa, and both are two languages for one meaning. And Ikrimah and Al-Jahdari read: "He will be served" with a dammah on the ya and a fatha on the qaf, meaning: what he will be given to drink. And he informed them, Yusuf, peace be upon him - about an unseen matter he knew from Allah, the Exalted - that the matter had been decreed and aligned with destiny.

And His saying: ﴿And he said to the one he thought would be saved﴾. The thought here means certainty; because what has preceded from His saying: ﴿The matter has been decreed﴾ necessitates that, and it is certainty in what has not yet come into existence. And Qatadah said: The thought here is in its literal sense because the expression of the vision is a thought.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the saying of Yusuf, peace be upon him: ﴿The matter has been decreed﴾ indicates revelation, and the saying of Qatadah can only be understood if it is meant by his saying: ﴿The matter has been decreed﴾, that is: My words have been decreed, and I have said what I have, and Allah knows what will happen afterwards.

And in the verse, there is another interpretation, which is: that 'thought' is attributed to the one who was told that he would serve his lord wine, because he was filled with the grandeur of joy from what he was given good tidings of, and he became in the rank of one who hopes when he thought and was overcome by his belief that he would be saved, and this is contrary to what happened to the other, who is known for being crucified.

And the meaning of the verse is: Yusuf said to the cupbearer of the king when he knew that he would return to his former state with the king: Remember me with the king. It is possible that he wants him to remind him of his knowledge and his position, and it is possible that he wants him to remind him of his injustice and what he was tested with without right, or to remind him of both.

And the pronoun in 'So he forgot him' is said to refer back to Yusuf, peace be upon him, meaning: He forgot at that time to complain to Allah, and he inclined to rely on a creature. It has been narrated that Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to him and admonished him from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, regarding that, and his imprisonment was prolonged as a punishment for that. It is said that it was revealed to him: O Yusuf, you have taken a creature as a protector besides Me, so I will surely prolong your imprisonment. And it is said that the pronoun in 'So he forgot him' refers back to the cupbearer, as said by Ibn Ishaq, meaning: He forgot the mention of Yusuf with his lord, so the mention was added to his lord while he was with him, and the lord - according to this interpretation - is the king.

And the term 'bidh' in the speech of the Arabs has been disputed. The majority hold that it is from three to ten, as said by Ibn Abbas. Based on this, this is the understanding of Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, regarding claims and oaths. Abu Ubaidah said: 'Bidh' does not reach the contract or half of the contract; rather, it is from one to four. Al-Akhfash said: 'Bidh' is from one to ten. Qatadah said: 'Bidh' is from three to nine. This is supported by what has been narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq in the story of his danger with Quraysh during the dominance of the Romans over Persia: 'Did you not know that 'bidh' is from three to nine?!' Mujahid said: 'From three to seven.' Al-Farra said: 'The term 'bidh' is not mentioned except with tens; it is not mentioned with hundreds or with thousands.' What has been narrated regarding this verse is that Yusuf, peace be upon him, was imprisoned for five years, then the story of the two young men was revealed to him. He was punished for his saying: 'Mention me before your Lord' by remaining in prison for seven years. Thus, the duration of his imprisonment was twelve years. It was said: He was punished by remaining for two years. Al-Hasan said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'If it were not for his words, he would not have remained in prison as long as he did.' Then Al-Hasan wept and said: 'When a matter befalls us, we flee to the people.'