Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:37
He said, "You will not receive food that is provided to you except that I will inform you of its interpretation before it comes to you. That is from what my Lord has taught me. Indeed, I have left the religion of a people who do not believe in Allah, and they, in the Hereafter, are disbelievers.
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: قَالَ لا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ إِلا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمَا ذَلِكُمَا مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي رَبِّي إِنِّي تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَهُمْ بِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ (He said: No food will come to you that is provided to you as sustenance but that I will inform you, while you are awake, of its interpretation before it reaches you. This is from what my Lord has taught me. I have forsaken the religion of a people who do not believe in Allah and who are disbelievers in the Hereafter.) [12:37]
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, the Exalted, says: قَالَ Yūsuf to the two young men who asked him for the interpretation of a dream: لا يَأْتِيكُمَا — O young men — in your sleep — طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ إِلا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ — while you are awake — قَبْلَ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمَا .
Upon what we have said concerning this the exegetes are agreed.
Mention of who said that:
19284 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī — who said: "Yūsuf said to the two of them: لا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ in sleep — إِلا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ while awake."
19285 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: "Yūsuf said to the two of them: لا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ — he says: in your sleep — إِلا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ ."
By His word بِتَأْوِيلِهِ is meant: that to which the food they had seen come to them in their sleep leads and toward which it issues.
ذَلِكُمَا مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي رَبِّي — he says: This which I say I know of dream interpretation is from what my Lord has taught me, so that I know it. إِنِّي تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ — the report began freely (mubdaʾ), that is to say: I have forsaken the religion of a people. The meaning, however, is: I did not incline toward it — he began with it freely, because the opening itself already indicated its meaning.
إِنِّي تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ — he says: I have abandoned the religion of those who do not hold Allah to be true and do not acknowledge His oneness (waḥdāniyya). [note 45] وَهُمْ بِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ — he says: And, in addition to abandoning belief in Allah's oneness, they also reject the return and the resurrection, and they acknowledge neither rewards nor punishments.
"Hum" is repeated twice: وَهُمْ بِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ — because between the two stands بِالآخِرَةِ , so that the first "hum" is regarded as effaced and the second forms the support — as is said: وَهُمْ بِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ [Sūrat al-Naml: 3 / Sūrat Luqmān: 4] — and as is said: أَيَعِدُكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ إِذَا مِتُّمْ وَكُنْتُمْ تُرَابًا وَعِظَامًا أَنَّكُمْ مُخْرَجُونَ [Sūrat al-Muʾminūn: 35].
If someone asks: What is the nature of this report and its meaning from Yūsuf? And where is his answer to the two young men concerning what they asked about the interpretation of their dream, in this word?
Then we say: Yūsuf deemed it undesirable to answer them about the interpretation of their dream, because he knew that this would be unpleasant for one of the two of them. He therefore turned away from it and took recourse to something else, so that they would give up their request for an answer to what they had asked him.
With the like of this the scholars spoke.
Mention of who said that:
19286 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj — concerning His word إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَعْصِرُ خَمْرًا وَقَالَ الآخَرُ إِنِّي أَرَانِي أَحْمِلُ فَوْقَ رَأْسِي خُبْزًا تَأْكُلُ الطَّيْرُ مِنْهُ نَبِّئْنَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ — that he said: "He deemed it undesirable to do the interpretation for the two of them, and informed them of something they had not asked him, in order to show them that he possessed knowledge. The king used to, when he wished to have someone killed, have a certain well-known food prepared for him and sent to him. So Yūsuf said: لا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ up to His word يَشْكُرُونَ — but they did not release him. He turned them away and deemed the interpretation undesirable for them. They, however, did not release him until he gave them the interpretation; he turned them away and said: يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَأَرْبَابٌ مُتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ up to His word يَعْلَمُونَ — but they did not release him until he gave them the interpretation, whereupon he said: يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَمَّا أَحَدُكُمَا فَيَسْقِي رَبَّهُ خَمْرًا وَأَمَّا الآخَرُ فَيُصْلَبُ فَتَأْكُلُ الطَّيْرُ مِنْ رَأْسِهِ . They said: We saw nothing — we were only jesting! He said: قُضِيَ الأَمْرُ الَّذِي فِيهِ تَسْتَفْتِيَانِ ."
Abū Jaʿfar said: On the basis of this interpretation which Ibn Jurayj gave, لا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ refers to the waking state and not to sleep. He thus informed them — on this view — that he possessed the knowledge of what the food that had come to them from the king or from someone else would signify; for he had known the kind which, when it came to one of them, would be a sign of the death of the one to whom that food was sent; and the kind which, when it came to him, would be a sign of something else. He thus informed them that he had that knowledge.
