Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:44
They said, "[It is but] a mixture of false dreams, and we are not learned in the interpretation of dreams."
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: قَالُوا أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلامٍ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِتَأْوِيلِ الأَحْلامِ بِعَالِمِينَ (They said: They are confused dreams, and we do not know the interpretation of confused dreams.) [12:44]
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, the Exalted, says: The nobles whom the King of Egypt had asked to interpret his dream said: "Your dream is aḍghāth aḥlām" — meaning that they are mixed matters, a false dream with no reality.
It is the plural of "ḍighth" — and "al-ḍighth" originally means a bundle of grass; with it are compared the mixed and confused dreams that have no interpretation. "Al-aḥlām" is the plural of "ḥulm" — that is what is not realized from a dream. Among examples of "al-aḍghāth" is the word of Ibn Muqbil:
"A young woman, as though her bed had been covered with bundles of fragrant herbs (aḍghāth rayhān) on a morning of north wind." [note 1]
And the word of the other poet: [note 2]
"He protects the honor of an embryo whose defenders are few — lean as a bundle of grass (ḍighth al-khalā) hidden in the belly." [note 3]
With what we have said about this the interpreters are in agreement.
Mention of those who said that:
19332 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning His word أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلامٍ — that he said: "Confused."
19333 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning His word أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلامٍ — that he said: "False."
19334 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazid related to us, saying: Saʿid related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — who said: "When the King related to his companions the dream he had seen, they said: أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلامٍ — that is to say: a consequence of dreams."
19335 — 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 — أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلامٍ — that he said: "Mixed dreams. وَمَا نَحْنُ بِتَأْوِيلِ الأَحْلامِ بِعَالِمِينَ ."
19336 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Abū Marzūq, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk — who said: "aḍghāth aḥlām — false."
19337 — [It was related to us]: Al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk — concerning قَالُوا أَضْغَاثُ — that he said: "A lie."
19338 — It was related to me on the authority of Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Farj — who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us — he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلامٍ : "They are the false dreams."
وَمَا نَحْنُ بِتَأْوِيلِ الأَحْلامِ بِعَالِمِينَ — he says: "And we do not know where the false dreams lead." [note 4]
The first bāʾ in "bi-al-taʾwīl" is a connection with "al-ʿālamīn" (the knowing ones); and the bāʾ in "bi-ʿālamīn" is the bāʾ that enters into the predicate with "mā" which carries the meaning of negation. The nominative of "aḍghāth aḥlāmin" is because the meaning of the word is: "This is nothing — they are only confused dreams."
