Tafsir for verse: 12:36
وَدَخَلَ مَعَهُ ٱلسِّجۡنَ فَتَيَانِۖ قَالَ أَحَدُهُمَآ إِنِّيٓ أَرَىٰنِيٓ أَعۡصِرُ خَمۡرٗاۖ وَقَالَ ٱلۡأٓخَرُ إِنِّيٓ أَرَىٰنِيٓ أَحۡمِلُ فَوۡقَ رَأۡسِي خُبۡزٗا تَأۡكُلُ ٱلطَّيۡرُ مِنۡهُۖ نَبِّئۡنَا بِتَأۡوِيلِهِۦٓۖ إِنَّا نَرَىٰكَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ ٣٦ ﴿36
36And two men entered the prison with him. One of them said, “I have seen myself (in dream) pressing wine.” And the other said, “I saw myself carrying bread on my head of which the birds were eating. Let us know its interpretation. We see you are a man of good deeds.”
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Commentary

'With' indicates the meaning of companionship and its establishment. You say: I went out with the prince, meaning accompanying him. Therefore, their entry into the prison must be together. They are two young servants of the king: his baker and his cupbearer. It was raised to him that they were called by that name. [The saying 'it was raised to him that they were called by that name' in the authentic sources: it was raised to him the speech, meaning: it was elevated to him. (A)] So he ordered them to the prison, and they were admitted at the same time that Yusuf, peace be upon him, was admitted. 'Indeed, I see in a dream' refers to a past state. 'I am pressing wine' means grapes, naming the grapes by what they will become. It was said: wine - in the language of Oman - is the name for grapes. And in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: 'I am pressing grapes' from the good-doers, from those who express the vision well. 'Ummi' means: they are proficient in it. They saw him recount his dream to some of the people of the prison, and they interpreted it for him, and they said that to him. Or from the scholars, because they heard him mention to the people what they knew that he was knowledgeable. Or from the good-doers to the people of the prison. So be good to us by relieving us from the distress through the interpretation of what we saw if you have a hand in the interpretation of dreams. It was narrated that if one of them fell ill, he would visit him, and if he was in need, he would gather for him. And from Qatadah: there were people in the prison who had lost hope and their sorrow had prolonged, so he kept saying: Rejoice. Be patient and you will be rewarded. Indeed, this has a reward. They said: May Allah bless you, how good your face is and how good your character is! We have been blessed in your companionship, so who are you, young man? He said: I am Yusuf, son of the chosen one, Allah's Prophet Yaqub, son of the one who was sacrificed, Allah's Prophet Ishaq, son of the friend of Allah, Ibrahim. The prison guard said to him: If I could, I would free you, but I treat you well, so be in any of the houses of the prison you wish. It was narrated that the two young men said to him: We have loved you since we saw you. He said: I urge you by Allah not to love me, for by Allah, no one has ever loved me except that a trial came upon me from their love. My aunt loved me, and a trial came upon me from her love. Then my father loved me, and a trial came upon me from his love. Then the wife of my companion loved me, and a trial came upon me from her love. So do not love me - may Allah bless you both. And from Al-Shabi, they pretended to have dreams to test him. The cupbearer said: I see myself in a garden, and there is a vine with three clusters of grapes on it. I picked them and pressed them into the king's cup and gave it to him to drink. And the baker said: I see above my head three baskets containing various types of food, and wild birds are pecking from them. If you ask: To what does the pronoun in 'Inform us of its interpretation' refer? I say: To what he recounted to him. The pronoun functions like a demonstrative pronoun in its manner, as if it were said: Inform us of the interpretation of that.

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Al-ZamakhshariAbū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī
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