His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And the king said, 'Bring him to me so that I may employ him for myself.' When he spoke to him, he said, 'Indeed, today you are with us in a position of trust and honor.'" "He said, 'Appoint me over the storehouses of the land. Indeed, I am a knowledgeable guardian.'" "And thus We established Yusuf in the land, that he may settle therein wherever he wills. We cause Our mercy to enter whom We will, and We do not allow the reward of the doers of good to be lost." "And the reward of the Hereafter is better for those who have believed and were conscious of Allah." The meaning: When the king became certain of Yusuf's innocence from what was attributed to him, and he realized in the story his trustworthiness, and he also understood his patience and endurance - his status was elevated in his eyes, and he was certain of his good character, he said: "Bring him to me so that I may employ him for myself." This was what Yusuf, peace be upon him, aimed for - by his steadfastness in prison - to rise to the highest ranks. So reflect that the king first said - when he confirmed his knowledge -: "Bring him to me," only. When Yusuf did what he did, and his trustworthiness, patience, high ambition, and sound judgment became evident, he said: "Bring him to me so that I may employ him for myself." When he came to him and spoke to him, he said: "Indeed, today you are with us in a position of trust and honor." This indicated that he saw in his words and eloquence what confirmed the news or elevated it; for a person is hidden beneath his tongue. Then when he engaged in the affairs, he advanced until he was appointed to the position of the Aziz. And "trustworthy" is from trust, and a group said: it means safe. This is weak; for it deviates from the style of speech, and it diminishes the honor of Yusuf greatly. It is narrated that when the king drew Yusuf near, he said to him: "I will share everything with you except that I prefer you not to share with me in my family, and that you do not eat with me." Yusuf said to him: "Do you disdain to eat with me?! I have more right to disdain; I am the son of Ibrahim the Friend, the son of Ishaq the Sacrificed, the son of Yaqub the Truthful." In this narration, there is distance and weakness. Ibn Maysarah said: This only occurred at the beginning of his matter; he used to eat with the Aziz. When the story of the woman occurred, she said to the Aziz: "Will you allow this one to eat with you?" He said to him: "Go eat with the servants," and he was disdainful and said what has preceded. As for the apparent from his story at the time of the king's conversation, he was in a state of servitude; otherwise, it would have been appropriate for him to distance himself from the work of the disbeliever; for the people were idolaters, and Yusuf's conversation with the companions of the prison confirms that. And Allah, exalted and majestic is He, named Pharaoh the king of Egypt; for it is a narrative of a name whose rule has passed and its time has ended. If he were alive, it would have been a ruling for him if it were said to a disbeliever: "king or prince." For this reason, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, wrote to Heraclius and said: "The great one of the Romans," and did not say: "king" or "prince"; for that is a ruling, and the truth is that he should submit and they should submit. As for his being their great one, that is a characteristic that does not leave him however it changes, and if the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, had written to him: "the prince of the Romans," he would have clung to that argument in a manner similar to the clinging of Ziyad in his saying: "By Allah, Abu al-Hasan testified for me."

And His saying, the Most High: "Make me in charge of the treasuries of the earth". Yusuf, peace be upon him, understood from the king that he was to be in charge of its management and to seek assistance by his insight in governance. He put forth his hand to act in what he could do justly, and to ensure kindness to those who deserve it, and to place the truth with its people and among its people.

Some of the people of interpretation said: In this verse, there is what permits a virtuous man to work for a wicked man, provided it is known that he is entrusted with doing what does not oppose him. He can amend from it what he wishes. However, if his work is according to the choice of the wicked man and his desires and wickedness, then it is not permissible for him to do that.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And Yusuf's request for the work is merely a consideration from him, peace be upon him, for his desire that justice be established. This is similar to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq entering into the caliphate, despite his advising from the Ansar that he should not govern over two men, the hadith in its entirety. It is permissible for the virtuous to work and to seek work if he sees that there is no compensation from it, and it is also permissible for a person to praise himself with the truth if his matter is unknown.

And the treasuries is a general term for all that the kingdom stores of food, wealth, and others. And "Preserving and Knowing" are two attributes that encompass the aspects of safeguarding and protection, with no flaw accompanying them for a worker. People have specified with these two attributes certain things, like their saying: "Preserving in accounting, Knowing in tongues," and the saying of some of them: "Preserving what has been entrusted to me, Knowing the years of famine." All of this is specification without justification, and what is intended by His attributing is that the king should know the aspect by which he deserves to be in charge of the treasuries of the earth. Thus, he is characterized by preserving what is gathered from every direction that needs to be preserved, and he knows the consumption altogether. It has been narrated from Malik ibn Anas that he said: "Egypt is the treasury of the earth," and he used this verse as evidence. And His saying: "Treasuries of the earth" refers to the land of Egypt; for the kingdom of Pharaoh was only through it. It confirms that it is called the treasury of the earth due to its status in the lands of the earth and its centrality. From it, people move to the corners of the earth, and it is the place of every trader.

And His saying, the Most High: "And thus We established Yusuf". The reference with "thus" is to what has preceded of the beautiful actions of Allah towards him, meaning: And for these specified actions, We elevated him in ranks and transferred him, so We established him in the earth.

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

It was narrated that the Aziz died during those nights. Ibn Ishaq said: Rather, the king dismissed him, then the king died. Qitfir was appointed by the king in his place and married his wife. When she entered upon him as a bride, he said to her: Is this not better than what you wanted? She replied: O truthful one, I was in the height of beauty and I was a young virgin, and my husband did not consummate the marriage. My soul overcame me in love for you. So Joseph entered upon her and found her a virgin, and she bore him two children. It was narrated that the king dismissed the Aziz and appointed him in his position. Then the kingdom of Joseph grew, and he overcame the state of the king entirely. Mujahid said: The king embraced Islam at the end of his affair, and the matter of the Aziz faded away, and his world perished, and his wife became poor and aged. One day, she encountered Joseph on a path, and the soldiers were around him and behind him. On his head were banners inscribed with: 'This is my path; I call to Allah with insight, I and whoever follows me. And glorified is Allah; I am not of the polytheists.' [Joseph: 108]. She shouted at him and said: Glory be to Him who honors the servants through obedience and humiliates the masters through disobedience. He recognized her, and she said to him: Be kind to me and provide me with something. So he called her and spoke to her, and he felt compassion for her condition. He prayed to Allah, the Exalted, and He restored her beauty to her and married her.

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

And it has been narrated in this manner from the stories that cannot be verified for their authenticity, and it would take a long time to recount them.

The majority read: 'Wherever He wills' as a statement about Joseph, while Ibn Kathir alone read: 'Wherever We will' with the pronoun of the speaker, meaning: Wherever Allah wills concerning the actions of Joseph, differing from his actions. Abu Hatim reported this reading from Al-Hasan, Shaiba, Nafi, and Abu Ja'far - in contrast to the three Medinan ones. Abu Ali said: Either this reading is to be understood as: 'Wherever He wills from the places of worship and acts of devotion,' which are acts that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, desires and wills, or it could mean: 'Wherever Joseph wills.' However, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, attributed the will that belongs to Joseph to Him, as he is a servant among His servants, and his will was by the power and strength of Allah, the Exalted, as He said: 'And you did not throw when you threw, but it was Allah who threw.' [The Spoils: 17].

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

And all of this from Abu Ali is an inclination towards an isolationist view and a caution against the actions of the servants being from two doers. So reflect on it. The 'lam' in His saying: 'We established Joseph' may be in the same manner as that in His saying: 'He followed you' [The Ant: 72] and 'To interpret the dream' [Joseph: 43]. His saying: 'He takes residence' is in the accusative case as a state, and 'wherever He wills' is in the accusative as a circumstance or as the object, as Al-Shamakh said:

......................

Wherever the edges are cauterized.

And the rest of the verse is clear.

And when it has been established in this verse that the good deeds of the servant and the adherence to the path of truth do not go to waste with Allah, and that there must be a good outcome for him in this world, it follows that the state of the Hereafter is more praiseworthy and more deserving to be made an objective and goal. This is what is derived from the verse according to the connection between faith and piety among people. In it, there is also an indication that his state in the Hereafter is better than his great state in this world.