Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:42
And he said to the one whom he knew would go free, "Mention me before your master." But Satan made him forget the mention [to] his master, and Joseph remained in prison several years.
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: وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجٍ مِنْهُمَا اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ فَأَنْسَاهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِ فَلَبِثَ فِي السِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ (And he said to the one of the two whom he thought would be saved: Mention me to your master. But the devil made him forget the mention of his Lord, so that he remained in prison for several years.) [12:42]
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, the Exalted, says: Yūsuf said to the one of his two prison companions of whom he knew that he would be released and who had asked him for the interpretation of a dream [note 9]: اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — He says: mention me to your master (sayyid), [note 10] and tell him of my being wronged; that I am held without guilt. As:
19303 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq — who said: "To Nabū he said: اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — that is to say: tell the great King about my being wronged and my being imprisoned without cause. He said: That I shall do."
19304 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — concerning the word of Allah اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — "he said to the one who escaped of the prison companions; Yūsuf says: mention me to the King."
19305 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — identically.
19306 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Asbāṭ — وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجٍ مِنْهُمَا اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — that he said: "By the lord of the earth."
19307 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazid related to us, saying: Saʿid related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning His word اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — that he means: the King.
19308 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجٍ مِنْهُمَا اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — "The one who escaped of the prison companions. Yūsuf says: mention me to the King."
19309 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us — he said: Al-ʿAwwām ibn Ḥawshab informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm al-Taymī: "When they brought him up to the gate of the prison, a companion said to him: Your request — give me a charge regarding your request! He said: My request is that you mention me to your master — and by that he did not mean the Lord (al-Rabb) — said Yūsuf." [note 11]
Qatāda used to take the meaning of "al-ẓann" (the supposition) in this place as the opposite of certainty (al-yaqīn).
19310 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazid related to us, saying: Saʿid related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجٍ مِنْهُمَا اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — that he said: "The interpretation of dreams is a matter of conjecture; Allah brings to pass what He wills and brings to nought what He wills."
Abū Jaʿfar said: What Qatāda said — namely that the interpretation of dreams is a matter of conjecture (ẓann) — applies to others than the prophets. But for the prophets it is not permissible to give reports about something as being going to come, and then it would not come; or as being not going to come, and then it would come — while they bear witness to the reality of what they report. For if that were permissible from them in their reports, such a thing would also not be secure in all their reports. And if that is not secure in all their reports, their authority over those to whom they are sent falls away. Now that this is so, it is not permissible for them to give a report except when it is truth and reality. It is thus clear — if the matter is as I described — that Yūsuf did not categorically bear witness about what he conveyed to the two young men as coming, namely: أَمَّا أَحَدُكُمَا فَيَسْقِي رَبَّهُ خَمْرًا وَأَمَّا الآخَرُ فَيُصْلَبُ فَتَأْكُلُ الطَّيْرُ مِنْ رَأْسِهِ — while he confirmed that with his word قُضِيَ الأَمْرُ الَّذِي فِيهِ تَسْتَفْتِيَانِ — at their word: (We have seen nothing) — unless he knew with certainty that what he had conveyed to the two of them as coming would surely come without any doubt. And because of his certainty that this would come, he said to the one of them who escaped: اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ . Thus the corruptness of the statement that Qatāda made about the meaning of وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجٍ مِنْهُمَا is clearly demonstrated.
فَأَنْسَاهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِ — this is a report from Allah, the Praised in His praise, about a heedlessness that overtook Yūsuf from the side of the devil; through it he forgot the mention of his Lord — Whom he ought to have asked for help, so that his deliverance might have come more swiftly. But he slipped therein and thereby remained longer in prison, and his punishment was painful. As:
19311 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAziz related to us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān al-Ḍubaʿī related to us, on the authority of Basṭām ibn Muslim, on the authority of Mālik ibn Dīnār, who said: "When Yūsuf said to the cupbearer اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ , it was said: O Yūsuf, have you taken an intermediary (wakīl) besides Me? Then I shall surely prolong your imprisonment! Yūsuf wept and said: My Lord, my heart forgot because of the abundance of trials; I spoke a word — woe to me on account of my brothers!"
19312 — Al-Ḥasan related to us — he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us — he said: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿIkrima — who said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'Had he — meaning Yūsuf — not said the word that he said, he would not have remained in prison as long as he remained.'"
19313 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us; they said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan, who said: "Allah's Prophet ﷺ said: 'May Allah have mercy on Yūsuf — had he not uttered that word, he would not have remained in prison as long as he remained'" — meaning his word اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ . He said: Then Al-Ḥasan began to weep and to say: "We take refuge with the people when a matter befalls us."
19314 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of Al-Ḥasan — concerning His word وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُ نَاجٍ مِنْهُمَا اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — that he said: "It has been related to us that Allah's Prophet ﷺ said: 'Were it not for Yūsuf's word, he would not have remained in prison as long as he remained.'"
19315 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Yazid, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — who said: "The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Had Yūsuf not said it' — meaning the word that he said — 'he would not have remained in prison as long as he remained' — meaning: when he sought deliverance from other than Allah." [note 12]
19316 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda — who said: "It has reached me that the Prophet ﷺ said: 'Had Yūsuf not sought intercession with his Lord, he would not have remained in prison as long as he remained.'"
19317 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazid related to us, saying: Saʿid related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — who said: "It has been related to us that Allah's Prophet ﷺ used to say: 'Had Yūsuf not sought intercession with his Lord, he would not have remained in prison as long as he remained; but he was punished for his seeking intercession with his Lord.'"
19318 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — who said: "He said to him اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ , but he did not remember him until the King had seen the dream. That is because Yūsuf — the devil had made him forget the mention of his Lord, and he had charged him to mention the King and to seek deliverance with him. So he remained فِي السِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ extra — because of his word اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ."
19319 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — identically — except that he said: "So he remained in prison, several years — as punishment for his word اذْكُرْنِي عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ."
19320 — [It was related to us], he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — like the narration of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, of like purport.
19321 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — like the narration of Al-Muthannā via Abū Ḥudhayfa.
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq was of the opinion that the devil made the cupbearer forget to report the affair of Yūsuf to their King.
19322 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq — who said: "When he went out — meaning the one of the two of them who, in his judgment, would escape — he returned to his former position and his master was pleased with him. The devil made him forget the King regarding what Yūsuf had charged him to remember; so Yūsuf remained thereafter in prison, several years. Allah, the Exalted, says: So Yūsuf remained in prison — as a punishment from Allah for him on account of that — because of his saying to the prison companion who escaped: 'Mention me to your master' — several years."
There was disagreement among the exegetes about the extent of "al-biḍʿ" — the number of years that Yūsuf remained in prison.
Some said: It is seven years.
Mention of who said that:
19323 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad Abū ʿUthma related to us, saying: Saʿid related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — who said: "Yūsuf remained in prison seven years." [note 13]
19324 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazid related to us, saying: Saʿid related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — فَلَبِثَ فِي السِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ — that he said: "Seven years."
19325 — Al-Ḥasan related to us — he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us — he said: ʿImrān Abū al-Hudhayl al-Ṣanʿānī informed us — he said: I heard Wahb say: "Ayyūb was afflicted by a trial for seven years; Yūsuf was left in prison seven years; and Bukhtnaṣṣar was transformed among the wild beasts, seven years." [note 14]
19326 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj — who said: "It is claimed that it — meaning 'al-biḍʿ' — is seven years, as Yūsuf remained."
Others said: "Al-biḍʿ" is three to nine.
Mention of who said that:
19327 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Sulaymān related to us, saying: Abū Hilāl related to us — he said: I heard Qatāda say: "Al-biḍʿ: three to nine."
19328 — Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid — بِضْعَ سِنِينَ — that he said: "Three to nine."
Others said: It is rather less than ten.
Mention of who said that:
19329 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me — he said: Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning بِضْعَ سِنِينَ : "Less than ten."
Al-Farrāʾ claimed that "al-biḍʿ" is used only with "ten" (ʿashr), and with "twenty" up to "ninety"; it is a "nayyif" (additional amount) between three and nine. [note 15] He said: Thus I saw the Arabs use it. One does not say: "biḍʿ wa-miʾa" (a biḍʿ and a hundred) [note 16], nor "biḍʿ wa-alf" (a biḍʿ and a thousand). When it applies to male persons, one says "biḍʿ" (masculine).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct meaning of "al-biḍʿ" is three to nine, up to ten; and it cannot be less than three. So too for what exceeds a group of ten up to a hundred; and for what exceeds a hundred, "biḍʿ" cannot occur in it.