Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:4
[Of these stories mention] when Joseph said to his father, "O my father, indeed I have seen [in a dream] eleven stars and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating to me."
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: إِذْ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لأَبِيهِ يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ (When Yūsuf said to his father: O my father, I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon — I saw them prostrating before me.) [12:4]
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, the Exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And you were — O Muḥammad — among those heedless of the tiding of Yūsuf ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm — when he said to his father Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq: يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا — he says: I saw in my sleep eleven stars.
It has been said that the dreams of the prophets were revelation (waḥy).
18778 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning His word إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ — that he said: The dreams of the prophets were revelation (waḥy).
18779 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا — that he said: The dreams with them were revelation (waḥy).
It has been mentioned that the eleven stars which he saw prostrating in his sleep together with the sun and the moon are the following:
18780 — ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd al-Kindī related to me, saying: Al-Ḥakam ibn Ẓuhayr related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sābiṭ, on the authority of Jābir, who said: A man from the Jews came to the Prophet ﷺ — he was called "Bustāna al-Yahūdī" — and said: O Muḥammad, tell me about the stars which Yūsuf saw prostrating before him; what are their names? He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained silent and did not answer him. Then Jibrīl descended to him and informed him of their names.
He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent someone to him and asked: Will you believe if I tell you their names? He said: Yes! He said: Jaribān, al-Ṭāriq, al-Dhiyāl, Dhū al-Kanafāt, [note 25] Qābis, Waththāb, ʿAmūdān, al-Falaiq, al-Muṣbiḥ, al-Ḍarūḥ, Dhū al-Fargh, al-Ḍiyāʾ, and al-Nūr. The Jew said: By Allah, those are indeed their names! [note 26]
وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ — he says: And the sun and the moon I saw prostrating in my sleep.
He said "sājidīna" (prostrating, with the masculine plural ending in wāw-nūn), although one speaks of stars, the sun, and the moon with the ending "fāʿila" and "fāʿilāt" and not with the wāw-nūn ending, [note 27] for the wāw-nūn ending is only a marker of the plural noun of male humans, or of jinn, or of angels. This, however, was said in this way because "sujūd" (prostration) is an act of those who in the plural form are designated with the yāʾ-nūn or the wāw-nūn ending; thus the plural form of their names was expressed after the pattern of the plural form of those who perform this act, as is said: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ (O ants, enter your dwellings) [Sūrat al-Naml: 18].
It was also said "raʾaytuhum" (I saw them) although earlier "innī raʾaytu aḥada ʿashara kawkaban" (I saw eleven stars) had already been said; the verb is repeated, and that is in the manner of speech of one who says "kallamtu akhāka kallamtuhu" (I spoke with your brother, I spoke with him), as a confirmation of the verb by repetition.
It has also been said that the eleven stars were the brothers of Yūsuf, and the sun and the moon are his two parents.
Mention of who said that:
18781 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning His word إِذْ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لأَبِيهِ يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا — his brothers — eleven stars — وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ — by that he means: his two parents.
18782 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī — concerning His word إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ ... the complete verse — that he said: He saw his two parents and his brothers prostrating before him. If he was asked: from whom? then he said: If this is true, then Ibn ʿAbbās has explained it.
18783 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning His word أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ — that he said: The stars are his brothers, and the sun and the moon are his two parents.
18784 — 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 رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا his brothers — وَالشَّمْسَ his mother — وَالْقَمَرَ his father.
18785 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān said: They were his two parents and his brothers.
18786 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: Ubayy ibn Sulaymān related to us: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا — they are the brothers of Yūsuf — وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ — those are his two parents.
18787 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا — the complete verse — that he said: His two parents and his brothers. He said: His brothers, who were prophets, took it ill of him [note 28] and said: Not content that his brothers prostrate before him, even his two parents must also prostrate before him! — when the news reached them.
It has been transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās — by a way not to be praised — that he said: "The stars" are his brothers, and "the sun and the moon" are his father and his maternal aunt. This I have preferred not to mention.