Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:6
And thus will your Lord choose you and teach you the interpretation of narratives and complete His favor upon you and upon the family of Jacob, as He completed it upon your fathers before, Abraham and Isaac. Indeed, your Lord is Knowing and Wise."
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 words of Allah, the Exalted: وَكَذَلِكَ يَجْتَبِيكَ رَبُّكَ وَيُعَلِّمُكَ مِنْ تَأْوِيلِ الأَحَادِيثِ وَيُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَى آلِ يَعْقُوبَ كَمَا أَتَمَّهَا عَلَى أَبَوَيْكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ (And thus your Lord chooses you and teaches you of the interpretation of sayings, and completes His favor upon you and upon the family of Yaʿqūb, just as He completed it earlier upon your two forefathers Ibrāhīm and Isḥāq; truly, your Lord is All-Knowing, Wise. — 12:6)
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah, the Exalted, says — informing of what Yaʿqūb said to his son Yūsuf when he had told him his dream: (wa-kadhālika yajtabīka rabbuka): and thus your Lord chooses you. He says: just as your Lord showed you the stars, the sun, and the moon prostrating to you, so likewise your Lord chooses you; as in:
18789 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr al-ʿAnqazī related to us, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, on the authority of ʿIkrima: (wa-kadhālika yajtabīka rabbuka): he says: He chooses you.
18790 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: (wa-kadhālika yajtabīka rabbuka wa-yuʿallimuka min taʾwīli al-aḥādīth): He chose him and selected him and taught him of the interpretation of sayings — that is the 'interpretation of sayings' (taʾwīl al-aḥādīth).
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His word: (wa-yuʿallimuka min taʾwīli al-aḥādīth): He says: and your Lord teaches you of the knowledge of what the sayings of people lead to concerning what they see in their sleep. That is the interpretation of dreams.
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18691 — 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: (wa-yuʿallimuka min taʾwīli al-aḥādīth): he said: the interpretation of dreams.
18792 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his word: (wa-yuʿallimuka min taʾwīli al-aḥādīth): he said: the interpretation of words: the knowledge and the word. And Yūsuf was the best interpreter of dreams among the people; and he recited: وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ آتَيْنَاهُ حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا [Surah Yūsuf: 22].
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His word: (wa-yutimmu niʿmatahu ʿalayka): by choosing and selecting you, and teaching you the interpretation of sayings; (wa-ʿalā āli Yaʿqūb): and upon the people who follow the religion and way of Yaʿqūb, from among his descendants and others; (ka-mā atammahā ʿalā abawayni min qablu Ibrāhīma wa-Isḥāq): by taking the first as a friend and saving him from the fire, and sparing the second with a great sacrifice (dhubḥ ʿaẓīm), as in:
18793 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Abū Isḥāq informed us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning his word: (wa-yutimmu niʿmatahu ʿalayka wa-ʿalā āli Yaʿqūb ka-mā atammahā ʿalā abawayni min qablu Ibrāhīma wa-Isḥāq): he said: His favor to Ibrāhīm was that He saved him from the fire, and to Isḥāq that He saved him from the sacrifice.
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His word: (inna rabbaka ʿalīmun ḥakīm): He says: (inna rabbaka ʿalīmun) — knowing the places that merit preference, and who is worthy of the choosing and the favor; 'ḥakīm' — Wise — in His governance of His creation.
