12:1  Alif Lam Ra. These are verses of the clear Book

12:2  WE have revealed it - the Qur'an in Arabic - that you may understand

12:3  WE relate unto thee the best of narrative in that WE have revealed to thee this Qur'an though thou wast, before this among those unaware of the truth

12:4  Remember the time when Joseph said to his father, O my father, I saw in a dream eleven stars and the sun and the moon - I saw them making obeisance to me.

12:5  He said, `O my dear son, relate not thy dream to thy brothers, lest they contrive a plot against thee, for Satan is to man an open enemy

12:6  `And thus, as thou hast seen, thy Lord shall choose thee and teach thee the interpretations of things divine and perfect HIS favour upon thee and upon the family of Jacob as HE perfected it upon thy two forefathers - Abraham and Isaac. Verily, thy Lord is All-Knowing, Wise.

12:7  Surely, in Joseph and his brethren there are Signs for the inquirers

12:8  When they said to each other, `Verily, Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than we are, although we are a strong party. Surely, our father is in manifest error

12:9  So contrive to kill Joseph or cast him out to some distant land, so that your father's favour may become exclusively yours, and you can thereafter repent and become a righteous people.

12:10  One of them said, `Kill not Joseph, but if you must do something, cast him into the bottom of a deep well; some of the travelers will pick him up

12:11  They said, `O our father, why dost thou not trust us with respect to Joseph, when we are certainly his sincere well-wishers

12:12  `Send him with us tomorrow that he may enjoy himself and play, and we shall surely keep guard over him.

12:13  He said, `It grieves me that you should take him away, and I fear lest the wolf should devour him while you are heedless of him.

12:14  They said, `Surely, if the wolf should devour him while we are a strong party , then we shall indeed be great losers.

12:15  So, when they took him away, and agreed to put him into the bottom of a deep well, and carry out the malicious design, WE sent revelation to him, saying, `Thou shalt surely one day tell them of this affair of theirs, and they did not know.

12:16  And they came to their father in the evening, weeping

12:17  They said, `O my father, we went forth racing with one another and left Joseph with our things, and the wolf devoured him, but thou wilt not believe us though we are telling the truth

12:18  And they came with false blood on his shirt. He said, `This what you say is not true but your souls have made a great thing appear light in your eyes. So comely patience is now called for. And it is ALLAH alone Whose help is sought against what you assert.

12:19  And there came a caravan of travelers and they sent their water-drawer. And he let down his bucket into the well. `Oh, good news !' said he, `Here is your youth !' And they hid him as a piece of merchandise, and ALLAH well knew what they did

12:20  And they sold him for a paltry price, a few dirhems, and they were not at all keen on it

12:21  And the man from Egypt who bought him said to his wife, `Make his stay among us honourable. Maybe we will benefit from him or we may adopt him as a son.' And thus did WE establish Joseph in the land, and WE did so that WE might also teach him the interpretation of things. And ALLAH has full power over HIS decree, but most men know not

12:22  And when he attained his age of full strength, WE granted him judgment and knowledge. And thus do WE reward those who do good

12:23  And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him against his will. And she bolted the doors, and said, `Now come.' He said, `I seek refuge with ALLAH. HE is my Lord. HE has made my stay with you honourable. Verily, the wrongdoers never prosper.

12:24  And she made up her mind with regard to him, to seduce him, and he made up his mind with regard to her, to resist her. If he had not seen manifest Sign of his Lord, he could not have shown such determination. Thus did it come about that WE might turn away from him all evil and indecency. Surely, he was one of Our chosen servants

12:25  And they both raced to the door, and in the struggle she tore his shirt from behind, and they found her lord at the door. She said to him, `What shall be the punishment of one who intended evil to thy wife, save imprisonment or a grievous chastisement?

12:26  Joseph said, `She it was who sought to seduce me against my will.' And a witness of her household bore witness saying, `If his shirt is torn from the front, then she has spoken the truth and he is a liar

12:27  `But if his shirt is torn from behind, then she has lied and he is of the truthful'

12:28  So when he saw his shirt torn from behind, he said, Surely, this is a device of you women. Your device is indeed mighty

12:29  `O Joseph, do thou overlook this mischief and thou, O woman, ask forgiveness for thy sin. Certainly thou art of the guilty.

12:30  And the women in the city said, `The wife of Aziz seek to seduce her slave-boy against his will. He has infatuated her with love. Indeed we see her in manifest error.

12:31  And when she heard of their sly whisperings, she sent for them and prepared for them a repast, and gave everyone of them a knife and then said to Joseph, `Come forth to them.' And when they saw him they found him to be a person of great dignity and in their amazement cut their hands, and said, ALLAH be glorified ! This is not a human being; this is but a noble angel.

12:32  She said, `And this is he whom you blamed me. I did seek to seduce him against his will, but he preserved himself from sin. And now if he do not what I bid him, he shall certainly be imprisoned and become one of the humbled.

12:33  Thereupon Joseph prayed: `O my Lord, prison is dearer to me than what they invite me to do; and unless thou turn away their guile from me I shall be inclined towards them and be of the ignorant.

12:34  So his Lord heard his prayer, and turned away their guile from him. Verily, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing

12:35  Then it occurred to them (the chiefs) after they had seen the Signs of his innocence that to preserve their good name, they should imprison him for a time

12:36  And with him there entered the prison two young men. One of them said, `I see myself in a dream pressing wine.' And the other said, `I see myself in a dream carrying upon my head bread of which the birds are eating. Inform us of the interpretation thereof; for we see thee to be of the righteous.

12:37  He replied, `The food which you are given shall not come to you but I shall inform you of the interpretation thereof before it comes to you. This is on account of what my Lord has taught me. I have renounced the religion of the people who do not believe in ALLAH and who are disbelievers in the Hereafter

12:38  `And I have followed the religion of my fathers - Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It behoves us not to associate anything as partner with ALLAH. This is of ALLAH's grace upon us and upon mankind, but most men are ungrateful

12:39  `O my two companions of the prison, are many lords differing among themselves better or ALLAH, the One, the Most Supreme

12:40  You worship nothing besides ALLAH, but mere names that you have named, you and your fathers; ALLAH has sent down no authority for that. The decision rest with ALLAH alone. HE has commanded that you shall not worship anything, save HIM. That is the right religion, but most men know not

12:41  `O my two companions of the prison, as for one of you he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head. The matter about which you inquired has been decreed.

12:42  And of the two he said to him whom he thought to be the one who would be released, `Mention me to thy lord.' But Satan caused him to forget mentioning it to his lord, so he remained in prison for some years

12:43  And the King said to his courtiers, `I see in a dream seven fat kine which seven lean ones were eating, and seven green ears of corn and seven others withered. O ye chiefs, explain to me the meaning of my dream if you can interpret dreams.

12:44  They replied, `These are confused dreams and we do not know the interpretation of confused dreams.

12:45  And he of the two who was released and who now remembered after a time, said, `I will let you know its interpretation, therefore, send ye me.

12:46  And he came to Joseph and said, `Joseph ! O thou man of truth, explain to us the meaning of seeing in a dream seven fat kine which seven lean ones devour, and of seven green ears of corn and seven others withered; that I may return to the people so that they may know the interpretation.

12:47  Joseph replied, `You shall sow for seven years, working diligently throughout; then leave, what you reap in its ear, except a little which you shall eat

12:48  `Then shall come after that seven hard years, which shall consume all that you shall have laid by in advance for them except a little which you may preserve

12:49  `Then shall come after that a year in which people shall be relieved and which they shall give presents to each other

12:50  And the King said, `Bring him to me.' But when the messenger came to him, he said, `Go back to thy lord and ask him how fare the women who cut their hands; for, my Lord well knows their crafty design.

12:51  The King said to the women, `What was the truth of that matter of yours when you sought to seduce Joseph against his will?' They said, `He kept away from sin for fear of ALLAH - we have known no evil against him.' The wife of Aziz said, `Now has the truth come to light. It was I who sought to seduce him against his will and surely, he is of the truthful.

12:52  Joseph said, I ask for this inquiry to be made so that the Aziz might know that I was not unfaithful to him in his absence and that ALLAH suffers not the device of the unfaithful to succeed

12:53  `And I do not hold my own self to be free from weakness - surely the soul is prone to enjoin evil - save that whereon my Lord has mercy. Surely, my Lord is Most Forgiving, Merciful.

12:54  And the King said, `Bring him to me that I may take him specially for my own person. And when he had spoken to him, he said, `Thou art this day a person of established position and trust with us.

12:55  Joseph said, `Appoint me over the treasures of the land, for I am a good keeper, and possessed of knowledge of these matters.

12:56  And thus did WE establish Joseph in the land. He dwelt therein wherever he pleased. WE bestow Our mercy on whomsoever WE please and WE suffer not the reward of the righteous to be lost

12:57  And surely the reward of the Hereafter, is better for those who believe and fear God

12:58  And Joseph's brethren came and presented themselves before him; and he knew them, but they recognized him not

12:59  And when he had provided them with their provision, he said, `Bring me your brother on your father's side. Do you not see that I give you full measure of corn and that I am the best of hosts

12:60  `But if you bring him not to me, then there shall be no measure of corn for you from me, nor shall you come near me.

12:61  They replied, `We shall try to induce his father to part with him and we will certainly do it.

12:62  And he said to his servants, `Put their money back into their saddle-bags that they may recognize it when they return to their family; haply, they may come back.

12:63  And when they returned to their father, they said, `O our father, any further measure of corn has been denied us, so send with us our brother that we may obtain our measure, and we will surely be able to take care of him.

12:64  He said, `Can I trust you with him, except with the same result as when I trusted you with his brother before. But ALLAH is the Best Protector, And HE is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.

12:65  And when they unpacked their goods, they found their money returned to them. They said, `O our father, what more can we desire? Here is our money returned to us. We shall bring provision for our family, and guard our brother and we shall have an extra measure of a camel-load. That is a measure which is easy to obtain.

12:66  He said, `I will not send him with you until you give me a solemn promise in the name of ALLAH that you will surely bring him to me, unless it be that you are encompassed.' And when they had given him their solemn promise, he said, `ALLAH watches over what we say.

12:67  And he said, `O my sons, enter not by one gate, but enter by different gates, and I can avail you naught against ALLAH. The decision rest only with ALLAH. In HIM do I put my trust and in HIM let all who would trust put their trust.

12:68  And when they entered in the manner their father had commanded them, Jacob's purpose was fulfilled but it could not avail them anything against ALLAH, except that there was a desire in Jacob's mind which he thus satisfied; and he was surely possessed of great knowledge WE had taught him, but most men know not

12:69  And when they visited Joseph, he lodge his brother with himself. And he said, `I am thy brother; so grieve not at they have been doing.

12:70  And when he had given them their provisions, he put the drinking cup in his brothers saddle-bag. Then a crier cried. 'O ye men of the caravan, you are surely thieves.

12:71  They said, turning around towards them, `What is that you miss?

12:72  They replied, `We miss the King's measuring-vessel and whoso brings it shall have a camel-load of corn and I am surety for it.

12:73  They answered, `By ALLAH, you know well that we came not to make mischief in the land, and we are not thieves.

12:74  They said, `What then shall be the punishment for it, if you are found to be liars?

12:75  They replied, `The punishment for it - he in whose saddle-bag it is found shall himself be the penalty for it. Thus do we punish the wrongdoers.

12:76  Then he began with the search of their sacks before the sack of Joseph's brother; then he took it out of the sack of his brother. He could not have taken his brother under the King's law unless ALLAH had so willed. WE raise in degrees of rank whomsoever WE please; and over every possessor of knowledge is One, Most-Knowing

12:77  They replied, `If he has stolen, a brother of his had also committed theft before.' But Joseph kept it a secret in his heart and did not disclose it to them. He simply said, `You are in a worst condition; and ALLAH knows best what you allege.

12:78  They said, `O noble chief, he has a very aged father, so take one of us in his place; for we see thee to be one of those who are benevolent.

12:79  He replied, `ALLAH forbid that we should take any other but him with whom we have found our property; for then we would certainly be unjust.

12:80  And when they despaired of him, they retired, conferring together in private. Then their leader said, `Know ye not that your father has taken from you a solemn pledge in the name of ALLAH and how, before this, you failed in your duty with respect to Joseph? I will not therefore, leave the land until my father permits me or ALLAH decides for me. And HE is the Best of judges

12:81  `Go back to your father and say, `O our father, thy son committed theft, and we have stated only what we know and we could not be guardians over the unseen

12:82  `And inquire of the people of the town wherein we were, and of the caravan with which we came, and certainly we are speaking the truth.

12:83  He replied, `Nay, but your minds have embellished to you an evil thing. So now there is nothing left for me but goodly patience. May be ALLAH will bring them all to me; for HE is the All-Knowing the Wise.

12:84  And he turned away from them and said, `O my grief for Joseph ! ' And his eyes were filled with tears because of the grief, and he was suppressing his sorrow

12:85  They said, `By ALLAH, thou wilt not cease talking of Joseph until thou art wasted away or thou art of those who perish.

12:86  He replied, `I only complain of my sorrow and my grief to ALLAH, and I know from ALLAH that which you know not

12:87  `O my sons, go ye and inquire about Joseph and his brother and despair not of the mercy of ALLAH; for none despairs of ALLAH's mercy save the disbelieving people.

12:88  And when they came before Joseph again, they said, `O noble chief, poverty has smitten us and our family, and we have brought a paltry sum of money, but nonetheless give us full measure, and be charitable to us. Surely, ALLAH does reward the charitable.

12:89  He said, `Do you know what you did to Joseph and his brother in ignorance?

12:90  They replied, `Art thou Joseph?' He said, `Yes, I am Joseph and this is my brother. ALLAH has indeed been gracious to us. Verily, whoso fears ALLAH and is steadfast - ALLAH never suffers the reward of the good to be lost.

12:91  They replied, `By ALLAH; surely, ALLAH has preferred thee above us and we have indeed been sinners.

12:92  He said, `No blame shall lie on you this day; may ALLAH forgive you ! And HE is the Most Merciful of those Who show mercy

12:93  Go with this shirt of mine and lay it before my father; he will come to know everything. And bring to me the whole of your family.

12:94  And when the caravan departed, their father said, `Surely, I perceive the scent of Joseph, even though you take me to be a dotard.

12:95  They replied, `By ALLAH, thou art assuredly still in thy old error.

12:96  And when the bearer of glad tidings came, he laid the shirt before him and he became enlightened. Then he said, `Did I not say to you, `I know from ALLAH what you know not?

12:97  They said, `O our father, ask of ALLAH forgiveness of our sins for us; we have indeed been sinners.

12:98  He said, `I will certainly ask forgiveness for you of my Lord. Surely HE is the Most Forgiving, the Merciful

12:99  And when they came to Joseph, he put up his parents with himself and said, `Enter Egypt in peace, if it please ALLAH.

12:100  And he raised his parents upon the throne and they all fell down prostrate before ALLAH for him. And he said, `O my father, this is the fulfillment of my dream of old. My Lord has made it come true. And he bestowed a favour upon me when he took me out of the prison and brought you from the desert after Satan had stirred up discord between me and my brethren. Surely, my Lord is Benignant to whomsoever HE pleases; for HE is the All-Knowing, the Wise

12:101  `O my Lord, Thou hast bestowed a portion of sovereignty upon me and taught me the interpretations of dreams. O Maker of the heavens and the earth, Thou art my Protector in this world and in the Hereafter. Let death come to me in a state of submission to Thy Will and join me to the righteous.

12:102  That is of the tidings of the unseen, which WE reveal to thee. And thou wast not with them when they agreed upon their plan while they were plotting

12:103  And most men will not believe even though eagerly desire it

12:104  And thou does not ask of them any reward for it. It is but a source of honour for all mankind

12:105  And how many a Sign is there in the heavens and the earth, which they pass by, turning away from it

12:106  And most of them believe not in ALLAH without at the same time associating partners with HIM

12:107  Do they, then, feel secure from the coming on them of an overwhelming punishment from ALLAH or the sudden coming of the Hour upon them while they are unaware

12:108  Say, `This my way; I call unto ALLAH standing on sure knowledge, - I and those who follow me. Holy is ALLAH, and I am not of those who associate gods with ALLAH

12:109  And WE sent not before thee as Messengers any but men to whom WE sent revelation, from among the people of the towns. Have they not then traveled in the earth so that they should see what was the end of those before them? And surely, the abode of the Hereafter is better for those who fear ALLAH. Will you not then use you understanding

12:110  And when the Messengers despaired of the disbelievers and the disbelievers were convinced that they had been told only lies, Our help came to the Messengers, and then were saved those whom WE please. And Our chastisement cannot be averted from the sinful people

12:111  Assuredly, in their narrative is a lesson for men of understanding. It is not a thing that has been forged, but a fulfillment of that which is before it and a detail exposition of all things, and a guidance and a mercy to people who believe