Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:72
They said, "We are missing the measure of the king. And for he who produces it is [the reward of] a camel's load, and I am responsible for it."
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.
قَالُوا نَفْقِدُ صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ — that is to say: the people said to them: we are missing the drinking-cup (mashraba) of the king.
The Qurʾān reciters differed over the reading of this word.
From Abū Hurayra it is related that he read it as: "ṣāʿa l-malik" — without a wāw — as though he construed it as "al-ṣāʿ", the measure with which food is measured.
From Abū Rajāʾ it is related that he read it as: "ṣawʿa l-malik".
From Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmar it is related that he read it as: "ṣawgha l-malik" — with a ghayn — as though he construed it as a substantivized verbal noun derived from the verb "ṣāgha yaṣūghu ṣawghan".
As for the reading upon which the reciters of the great cities stand: صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ — and that is the reading from which I do not consider it permissible to read in deviation, on account of the consensus of the authorities upon it.
"Al-ṣuwāʿ" is the vessel with which Yūsuf measured food. So too said the people of interpretation.
Mention of those who said that:
19525 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abī Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning this word: صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ — he said: of the shape of a measuring-cup (makkūk). And al-ʿAbbās had one like it in the pre-Islamic time from which he used to drink.
19526 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us; and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abī Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ : he said: it was of silver, like a measuring-cup. And al-ʿAbbās had one of them in the pre-Islamic time.
19527 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us; and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the words قَالُوا نَفْقِدُ صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ : he said: it was of silver.
19528 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Abī Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: he read صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ and said: it was his vessel from which he drank, and it was somewhat elongated.
19529 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Suwayd ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Abī ʿAwāna, on the authority of Abī Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ — he said: the Persian measuring-cup.
19530 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abī Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ — he said: it is the Persian measuring-cup whose two ends come together; the Persians used to drink from it.
19531 — He said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Maghrāʾ related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning the words صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ : he said: the vessel of the king from which he drank.
19532 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Yaḥyā — meaning Ibn ʿAbbād — related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abī Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ — a silver measuring-cup from which they used to drink. And al-ʿAbbās had one of them in the pre-Islamic time.
19533 — Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ — the vessel of the king from which he drank.
19534 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abī Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning the words صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ : he said: it is the Persian measuring-cup whose two ends come together.
19535 — 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: "al-ṣuwāʿ" — Yūsuf drank from it.
19536 — Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar al-Baḥrānī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, saying: Ṣadaqa ibn ʿAbbād related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ — he said: it was of copper.
His words وَلِمَنْ جَاءَ بِهِ حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ — that is to say: whoever brings the ṣuwāʿ receives a camel-load of food. Thus:
19537 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the words وَلِمَنْ جَاءَ بِهِ حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ : that is to say: a camel-load.
19538 — 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, concerning the words of Allah حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ : he said: a donkey-load — this is a dialect word.
19539 — Al-Muthanā 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 — he said;
19540 — and Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ : he said: a donkey-load — this is a dialect word.
19541 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
19542 — 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, concerning the words حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ : he said: a donkey-load.
His words وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ — that is to say: I stand surety (kafīl) that I will pay out to whoever brings me the drinking-cup of the king a camel-load of food.
In accordance with what we have said, so too said the people of interpretation.
Mention of those who said that:
19543 — ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ : that is to say: surety (kafīl).
19544 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ : "al-zaʿīm" is the herald who said: أَيَّتُهَا الْعِيرُ .
19545 — 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 — the same.
19546 — 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 — the same.
19547 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Bakr and Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: it reached me from Mujāhid — then he mentioned something to that effect.
19548 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ ibn Iyās, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ — he said: surety.
19549 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the words وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ : that is to say: I stand surety for it.
19550 — 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: وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ — he said: surety.
19551 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ — he said: surety.
19552 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abā Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk — and he mentioned the same.
19553 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ — he said: surety.
19554 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: The messenger said to them: "Whoever brings him to us has a camel-load, and I stand surety for that until I pay it out to him."
To "al-zaʿīm" in the meaning of surety the poet's verse bears witness:
"I do not command peace therein, but I stand surety for myself."
The root meaning of "al-zaʿīm" in Arabic is: the one who takes upon himself the affair of the people — and likewise "al-kafīl" (the surety) and "al-ḥamīl" (the guarantor). Hence the leader of the people is called their "zaʿīm" and director. One says: "qad zaʿuma fulānun zaʿāmatan wa-zaʿāman". For this too speaks the verse of Laylā al-Akhyaliyya:
"Until the standard was openly displayed — I saw him beneath the standard at the forefront of the army as commander."
Notes: In both the printed edition and the manuscript it reads "a load of food", which has no meaning; the correct reading is what we have adopted as an explanation of "baʿīr" — see earlier (p. 162, nos. 19477, 19478, 19523, 19524); we have corrected this on account of his words "this is a dialect word", for "food" cannot in any dialect be called "baʿīr"! — The poet is Ḥājiz ibn ʿAwf al-Azdī al-Sarwī, the pre-Islamic brigand. — The verse is to be found in Majāz al-Qurʾān of Abū ʿUbayda (1:315). — The word "zaʿāman" as a verbal noun (maṣdar) has been neglected by the Arabic dictionaries. — The verse of Laylā is in Lisān al-ʿArab (z-ʿ-m) and the Amālī of al-Qālī (1:248) and Samṭ al-Laʾālī (561).
