12:1  Alif Lam Ra Those are the Signs of the Clear Book.

12:2  We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur´an so that hopefully you will use your intellect.

12:3  We tell you the best of stories in revealing this Qur´an to you, even though you were unaware of it before it came.

12:4  When Yusuf told his father, ´Father! I saw eleven bright stars, and the sun and moon as well. I saw them all prostrate in front of me.´

12:5  He said, ´My son, don´t tell your brothers your dream lest they devise some scheme to injure you, Shaytan is a clear-cut enemy to man.

12:6  Accordingly your Lord will pick you out and teach you the true meaning of events and perfectly fulfil His blessing on you as well as on the family of Ya´qub as He fulfilled it perfectly before upon your forebears, Ibrahim and Ishaq. Most certainly your Lord is Knowing, Wise.´

12:7  In Yusuf and his brothers there are Signs for every one of those who wants to ask.

12:8  When they declared, ´Why! Yusuf and his brother are dearer to our father than we are although we constitute a powerful group. Our father is clearly making a mistake.

12:9  Kill Yusuf or expel him to some land so that your father will look to you alone and then you can be people who do right.´

12:10  One of them said, ´Do not take Yusuf´s life but throw him to the bottom of the well, so that some travellers may discover him, if this is something that you have to do.´

12:11  They said, ´Our father! What is wrong with you that you refuse to trust us with Yusuf when in truth we only wish him well?

12:12  Why don´t you send him out with us tomorrow so he can enjoy himself and play about? All of us will make sure that he is safe.´

12:13  He said, ´It grieves me to let him go with you I fear a wolf might come and eat him up while you are heedless, not attending him.´

12:14  They said, ´If a wolf does come and eat him up when together we make up a powerful group in that case we would truly be in loss!´

12:15  But when, in fact, they did go out with him and gathered all together and agreed to put him at the bottom of the well, We then revealed to him that: ´You will inform them of this deed they perpetrate at a time when they are totally unaware.´

12:16  That night they came back to their father in tears,

12:17  saying, ´Father, we went out to run a race and left Yusuf together with our things and then a wolf appeared and ate him up but you are never going to believe us now, not even though we really tell the truth.´

12:18  They then produced his shirt with false blood on it. He said, ´It is merely that your lower selves have suggested something to you which you did; but beauty lies in showing steadfastness. It is Allah alone who is my Help in face of the event that you describe.´

12:19  Some travellers came that way and then dispatched their water-drawer who let his bucket down. He said, ´Good news for me, I´ve found a boy!´ They then hid him away among their goods. Allah knew very well what they were doing.

12:20  They sold him for a pittance, a few small coins, considering him to be of little worth.

12:21  The Egyptian who had bought him told his wife, ´Look after him with honour and respect. It´s possible he will be of use to us or perhaps we might adopt him as a son.´ And thus We established Yusuf in the land to teach him the true meaning of events. Allah is in control of His affair. However, most of mankind do not know.

12:22  And then when he became a full-grown man, We gave him knowledge and right judgement too. That is how We reward all doers of good.

12:23  The woman whose house it was solicited him. She barred the doors and said, ´Come over here!´ He said, ´Allah is my refuge! He is my lord and has been good to me with where I live. Those who do wrong will surely not succeed.´

12:24  She wanted him and he would have wanted her, had he not seen the Clear Proof of his Lord. That happened so We might avert from him all evil and lust. He was Our chosen slave.

12:25  They raced to the door. She tore his shirt at the back. They met her husband by the door. She said, ´How should a man whose intention was to harm your family be punished for what he did except with prison or painful punishment?´

12:26  He said, ´It was she who tried to seduce me.´ A witness from her people then declared, ´If his shirt is torn in front, she speaks the truth and he has clearly told a shameless lie.

12:27  If his shirt is torn at the back, then she has lied and he has clearly told the simple truth.´

12:28  He saw the shirt torn at the back and said, ´The source of this is women´s deviousness. Without a doubt your guile is very great.

12:29  Yusuf, ignore all this, and you, my wife, should ask forgiveness for your evil act. There is no doubt that you are in the wrong.´

12:30  Some city women said, ´The governor´s wife solicited her slave. He´s fired her heart with love. We see that she´s the one to blame.´

12:31  But when she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them and made a sumptuous meal and then she gave a knife to each of them. She said, ´Go out to them.´ When they saw him, they were amazed by him and cut their hands. They said, ´Allah preserve us! This is no man. What can this be but a noble angel here!´

12:32  She said, ´You see! It´s him you blamed me for. I tried seducing him but he refused. If he does not do what I order him, he will be put in prison and brought low.´

12:33  He said, ´My Lord, the prison is preferable to me than what they call on me to do. Unless You turn their guile away from me, it may well be that I will fall for them and so become a man of ignorance.´

12:34  His Lord replied to him and turned away from him their female guile and deviousness. He is the One Who Hears, the One Who Knows.

12:35  Then, after they had seen the Signs, they thought that they should still imprison him for a time.

12:36  Two servants entered prison along with him. One said, ´I dreamt that I was pressing grapes.´ The other said, ´I dreamt I carried bread upon my head and birds were eating it. Tell us the true meaning of these dreams. We see that you´re one of the righteous.´

12:37  He said, ´No meal to feed you will arrive before I have informed you what they mean. That is part of what my Lord taught me. For I have left the religion of a people who clearly have no iman in Allah and are kuffar about the world to come.

12:38  I hold fast to the creed of my forebears Ibrahim and Ishaq and Ya´qub. We don´t associate anything with Allah. And that is how Allah has favoured us and all mankind, but most do not give thanks.

12:39  My fellow-prisoners, are many lords better, or Allah, the only One, the Conqueror?

12:40  What you serve apart from Him are only names which you and your forefathers have made up There is no mandate for them from Allah. Allah alone is qualified to judge. His order is to worship none but Him. That is in truth the straight and upright deen, but most of mankind simply do not know.

12:41  My fellow-captives, one of you will serve his lord with wine, the other of you will be crucified and birds will eat his head. The thing you asked about is foreordained.´

12:42  He said to the one of them he knew was saved, ´Please mention me when you are with your lord,´ but Shaytan made him forget to remind his lord, and so he stayed in prison for several years.

12:43  The King declared, ´I dreamt of seven fat cows which seven thin ones ate and seven green ears of wheat and seven others which were dry. O counsellors! Explain my dream to me if you are those who can interpret visions!´

12:44  They said, ´A jumbled mass of mixed-up dreams! We do not know the meaning of such things.´

12:45  The one of them who had been saved then said, remembering after a period, ´I will tell you what it signifies, so send me out.´

12:46  ´O truthful Yusuf, tell us of seven fat cows which seven thin ones ate and seven green ears of wheat and seven others which were dry so that I can return to them and let them know.´

12:47  He said, ´Sow for seven years in the normal way and leave that which you harvest in the ear except for a small amount from which you eat.

12:48  Then after that seven hard years will arrive in which you can eat from what you set aside for them, except for a little which you store.

12:49  Then after that another year will come in which the people will be helped by rain in plenty and when they once more will press.´

12:50  The King said, ´Bring him to me straight away!´ but when the envoy came to him, he said, ´Go back to your master and enquire of him what happened about the women who cut their hands. My Lord has knowledge of their cunning guile.´

12:51  He said, ´What was this past affair of yours when you solicited Yusuf?´ Then they said ´Allah forbid! We know no bad of him.´ The governor´s wife then said, ´The truth has now emerged. Indeed I tried to seduce him then and he has simply told the honest truth.

12:52  In this way he may know at last that I did not dishonour him behind his back and that Allah most surely does not guide the deviousness of the dishonourable.

12:53  I do not say my self was free from blame. The self indeed commands to evil acts — except for those my Lord has mercy on. My Lord, He is Forgiving, Merciful.´

12:54  The King said, ´Bring him to me straight away! so I may draw him very close to me.´ When he had spoken with him, he declared, ´Today you are trusted, established in our sight.´

12:55  He said, ´Entrust the country´s stores to me. In truth I am a knowing guardian.´

12:56  And thus We established Yusuf in the land so he could live in any place he pleased. We grant Our grace to anyone We will and We do not allow to go to waste the wage of any people who do good.

12:57  But the wages of the akhira are the best for people who have iman and fear their Lord.

12:58  The brothers of Yusuf came into his presence and he knew them but they did not know him.

12:59  Then, having supplied their needs, he said to them, ´Bring me your brother, your father´s youngest son. Do you not see that I dispense full measure and am the most hospitable of hosts?

12:60  But if you do not bring him here to me, your measure from me then will be denied and you will not come near to me at all.´

12:61  They said, ´We will request our father for him. That is something we will surely do.´

12:62  He told his serving men, ´Put back their goods into their saddlebags for them to find when they arrive back to their families so that perhaps they will return again.´

12:63  Then when they got back to their father´s house, they said, ´Father! Our measure will be denied. Please send our brother with us so we may obtain our measure. We will take care of him.´

12:64  He said, ´How will my trusting him to your care be different from entrusting his brother before? The Best of Guardians, however, is Allah. He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.´

12:65  Then when they opened up their saddlebags and found their merchandise returned to them, they said, ´Our father! What more could we ask! Here is our merchandise returned to us. We can provide our families with food, and guard our brother and get an extra load. That is an easy measure to obtain.´

12:66  He said, ´I will not send him out with you until you make a covenant with Allah to bring him home unless you are overwhelmed.´ When they had made their covenant, he said, ´Allah is Guardian over what we say.´

12:67  He said, ´My sons! You must not enter through a single gate. Go in through different gates. But I cannot save you from Allah at all, for judgement comes from no one but Allah. In Him I put my trust, and let all those who put their trust, put it in Him alone.´

12:68  But when they entered as their father said, it did not save them from Allah at all, yet a need in Ya´qub´s soul was satisfied. He had knowledge which We had taught him, but most of mankind simply do not know.

12:69  Then when they entered into Yusuf´s presence, he drew his brother close to him and said, ´I am your brother. Do not be distressed concerning all the things they used to do.´

12:70  Then when he had supplied them with their needs, he put the goblet in his brother´s bag. A herald called out, ´Caravan! You are thieves!´

12:71  They turned to them and said, ´What are you missing?´

12:72  They said, ´We´re missing the goblet of the king. The man who brings it will get a camel´s load. Regarding that I stand as guarantor.´

12:73  They said, ´By Allah, you know we did not come to corrupt the land and that we are not thieves.´

12:74  They said, ´What is the reparation for it if it in fact transpires that you are liars?´

12:75  They said, ´Its reparation shall be him in the saddlebags of whom it is discovered. With us that is how wrongdoers are repaid.´

12:76  He started with their bags before his brother´s. and then produced it from his brother´s bag. In that way We devised a cunning scheme for Yusuf. He could not have held his brother according to the statutes of the King — only because Allah had willed it so. We raise the rank of anyone We will. Over everyone with knowledge is a Knower.

12:77  They said, ´If he steals now, his brother stole before.´ But Yusuf kept it to himself and still did not disclose it to them, saying, ´The plight that you are in is worse than that. Allah knows best the matter you describe.´

12:78  They said, ´Your Eminence! He has an old and venerable father, so take one of us instead of him. We see without a doubt that you are of the people who do good.´

12:79  He said, ´Allah forbid that we should take anyone but him with whom our goods were found. In that case we would clearly be wrongdoers.´

12:80  When they despaired of him, they went apart to talk alone. The eldest of them said, ´You know full well your father had you make a covenant with Allah concerning this, and how before you failed him with Yusuf. I will not leave this land until I have permission from my father, or Allah decides about the case on my behalf. Truly He is the justest Judge of all.

12:81  Return now to your father and say to him, "Your son stole, father. We can do no more than testify to what we know and we are not the guardians of the Unseen.

12:82  Ask questions of the town in which we were and of the caravan in which we came for we are surely telling you the truth."´

12:83  He said, ´It´s merely that your lower selves suggested something to you which you did. But beauty lies in having steadfastness. Perhaps Allah will bring them all together. He is indeed All-Knowing and All-Wise.´

12:84  He turned himself away from them and said, ´What anguish is my sorrow for Yusuf!´ And then his eyes turned white from hidden grief.

12:85  They said, ´By Allah, you will not ever cease to mention Yusuf, till you waste away or are among the people of the grave!´

12:86  He said, ´I make complaint about my grief and sorrow to Allah alone because I know things from Allah you do not know.

12:87  My sons! Seek news of Yusuf and his brother. Do not despair of solace from Allah. No one despairs of solace from Allah except for people who are kafirun.´

12:88  So when they came into his presence, they said, ´Your Eminence! Hardship has hit us and our families. We bring scant merchandise, but fill the measure for us generously. Allah always rewards a generous giver.´

12:89  He said, ´Are you aware of what you did to Yusuf and his brother in ignorance?´

12:90  They said, ´Are you Yusuf?´ He said, ´I am indeed Yusuf, and this here is my brother. Allah has acted graciously to us. As for those who fear Allah and are steadfast, Allah does not allow to go to waste the wage of any people who do good.´

12:91  They said, ´By Allah, Allah has favoured you above us. Clearly we were in the wrong.´

12:92  He said, ´No blame at all will fall on you. Today you have forgiveness from Allah. He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.

12:93  Go with this shirt of mine and cast it on my father´s face and he will see again. Then come to me with all your families.´

12:94  And when the caravan went on its way, their father said, ´I can smell Yusuf´s scent! You probably think I have become senile.´

12:95  They said, ´By Allah! Your mind is still astray.´

12:96  But when the bringer of the good news came, he cast it on his face and sight returned. He said, ´Did I not say to you before, I know things from Allah you do not know?´

12:97  They said, ´Our father, may we be forgiven for all the many wrongs that we have done. We were indeed greatly mistaken men.´

12:98  He said, ´I will ask my Lord to pardon you. He is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.´

12:99  Then when they entered into Yusuf´s presence, he drew his parents close to him and said, ´Enter Egypt safe and sound, if Allah wills.´

12:100  He raised his parents up onto the throne. The others fell prostrate in front of him. He said, ´My father, truly this is now the interpretation of the dream I had. My Lord has made it all come true; and He was kind to me by letting me out of prison and brought you from the desert when Shaytan had caused dissent between me and my brothers. My Lord is kind to anyone He wills. He is indeed All-Knowing and All-Wise.

12:101  My Lord, You have granted power to me on earth and taught me the true meaning of events. Originator of the heavens and earth, You are my Friend in this world and the Next. So take me as a Muslim at my death and join me to the people who are righteous.´

12:102  This is news of the Unseen which We reveal to you. You were not with them when they decided what to do and devised their scheme.

12:103  But most people, for all your eagerness, are not muminun.

12:104  You do not ask them for any wage for it. It is only a reminder to all beings.

12:105  How many Signs there are in the heavens and earth! Yet they pass them by, turning away from them.

12:106  Most of them do not have iman in Allah without associating others with Him.

12:107  Do they feel secure that the all-enveloping punishment of Allah will not come upon them, or that the Last Hour will not come upon them all of a sudden when they least expect it?

12:108  Say: ´This is my way. I call to Allah with inner sight, I and all who follow me. Glory be to Allah! I am not one of the idolaters!´

12:109  We sent none before you but men inspired with revelation from among the people of the cities. Have they not travelled in the land and seen the final fate of those before them? The abode of the Next World is better for those who have taqwa. So will you not use your intellect?

12:110  Then when the Messengers despaired and thought themselves denied, Our help came to them, and those We willed were saved. Our violent force cannot be averted from people who are evildoers.

12:111  There is instruction in their stories for people of intelligence. This is not a narration which has been invented but confirmation of all that came before, a clarification of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for people who have iman.