Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:46
[He said], "Joseph, O man of truth, explain to us about seven fat cows eaten by seven [that were] lean, and seven green spikes [of grain] and others [that were] dry - that I may return to the people; perhaps they will know [about you]."
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.
In the text there is an omitted portion that is not mentioned, because what is mentioned gives sufficient indication of the omitted part. This is: "they sent him away, he went to Yūsuf and said to him": O Yūsuf, O truthful one (al-ṣiddīq), as in:
19366 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: The king said to the notables around him: إِنِّي أَرَى سَبْعَ بَقَرَاتٍ سِمَانٍ (Indeed I see seven fat cows) — the āya; they said to him what they said; and Nabū heard of that what he heard, and his asking for its interpretation; he remembered Yūsuf and what he had interpreted for him and his companion, and how that came out just as he had said. He said: (anā unabbiʾukum bi-taʾwīlih fa-arsilūn). Allah says: (wādda'kara baʿda ummatin), that is: after a long period; he went to him and said: O Yūsuf, the king has seen such and such; he told him the dream, and Yūsuf said about it what Allah has informed us in the Book. Its interpretation cleared up like the breaking of the morning. Nabū departed from Yūsuf with that which he had told them about the interpretation of the king's dream, and informed him of what had been said.
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It has also been said that the one of the two who had been saved said: "send me," because the prison was not in the city.
Mention of who said this:
19367 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: (waqāla alladhī najā minhum wādda'kara baʿda ummatin anā unabbiʾukum bi-taʾwīlih fa-arsilūn). Ibn ʿAbbās said: the prison was not in the city; the cupbearer went to Yūsuf and said: (aftinā fī sabʿi baqarāt simān) — the āyāt.
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His word: (aftinā fī sabʿi baqarāt simān yaʾkuluhunna sabʿun ʿijāf wa-sabʿi sunbulāt khuḍr wa-ukhara yābisāt) — its meaning is: give us a legal verdict concerning seven fat cows that were seen in a dream, which seven lean cows devour; and concerning seven green ears of grain that were also seen in a dream, and seven others that are withered. As for the "fat cows" — those are the fertile years, as in:
19368 — 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: (aftinā fī sabʿi baqarāt simān yaʾkuluhunna sabʿun ʿijāf). He said: the fat ones are the fertile years, and the seven lean ones are the dry years that cause nothing to grow.
19369 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (aftinā fī sabʿi baqarāt simān) — the fat ones are the fertile years, and the lean cows are the years of drought and exhaustion.
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His word: (wa-sabʿi sunbulāt khuḍr wa-ukhara yābisāt): the (green) ones are the fertile years, and the (withered) ones are the barren, exhausted years.
"Al-ʿijāf" is the plural of "ʿajif," and those are the lean ones.
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His word: (laʿallī arjiʿu ilā al-nāsi laʿallahum yaʿlamūn): I wish to return to the people to inform them, (laʿallahum yaʿlamūn): so that they may know the interpretation of what I have asked you about the dream.
