Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:3
We relate to you, [O Muhammad], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an although you were, before it, among the unaware.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the word of Allah, the Exalted: نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ بِمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ (We relate to you the most beautiful of stories through that which We have revealed to you — this Qurʾān — even though before it you were among the heedless.) [12:3]
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, the Praised in His praise, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: "We relate to you" — O Muḥammad — "the most beautiful of stories" through Our revelation of this Qurʾān to you, and in it We inform you of the earlier reports, the tidings of the bygone nations, and the books We sent down in the ages past. [note 20] وَإِنْ كُنْتَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ — Allah, the Exalted, says: And you were — O Muḥammad — before We revealed this to you, among those heedless of it: you did not know it, nor anything of it. [note 21] As in:
18772 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ — from the earlier books and the earlier matters of Allah concerning the nations — وَإِنْ كُنْتَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ .
It has been mentioned that this verse was sent down upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ because his companions asked him to tell them stories.
Mention of the narration concerning this:
18773 — Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Awdī related to me, saying: Ḥakkām al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of ʿAmr al-Mulāʾī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: They said: "O Messenger of Allah, would that you would tell us some stories?" He said: Then was sent down: نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ . [note 22]
18774 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb ibn Sayyār Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Qays, who said: They said: "O Prophet of Allah" — and he mentioned something similar.
18775 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of al-Masʿūdī, on the authority of ʿAwn ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: The companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once grew weary and said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell us something!" Then Allah, the Almighty and Powerful, sent down: اللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ [Sūrat al-Zumar: 23]. Then they grew weary again and said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell us something above the narration and below the Qurʾān!" — they meant stories. Then Allah sent down: الر تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ * إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ * نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ بِمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ . They desired the narration, and He directed them to the most beautiful narration; they desired the stories, and He directed them to the most beautiful of stories. [note 23]
18776 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-ʿAṭṭār related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Khallād al-Ṣaffār informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Qays, [on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra], on the authority of Muṣʿab ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Saʿd, who said: The Qurʾān was sent down to the Prophet ﷺ, and he recited it to them for a time. Then they said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell us stories!" Then Allah sent down: الر تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ up to His word لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ , the complete verse. Then he recited it to them for a time, after which they said: "O Messenger of Allah, now tell us ḥadīth!" Then Allah sent down: اللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابًا مُتَشَابِهًا [Sūrat al-Zumar: 23]. Khallād said: another man added to it: they said, O Messenger of Allah — or Abū Yaḥyā said: "a word has dropped out of my note" — whereupon Allah sent down: أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ [Sūrat al-Ḥadīd: 16]. [note 24]
