Tafsir of Yusuf 12:109

(And We did not send before you except men) This is a refutation of their statement: {If your Lord had willed, He would have sent down angels}. It is a negation thereof. It has been said that the intent is to negate the prophethood of women, and this has been attributed to Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both. Some have claimed that the verse was revealed concerning Sajah bint al-Mundhir, the false prophetess about whom the poet says:

Our prophetess has become a female, around whom they circle, While God’s prophets have ever been males. So may the curse of God and all nations be upon Sajah, And upon the one who seduced us with falsehood, I mean Musaylimah the Liar. May his parched throat never be quenched by rainwater wherever he may be.

This claim has no basis in truth, for her claim to prophethood occurred after the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and there is no evidence to support that it is an informing of the unseen.

(To whom We revealed) Just as We revealed to you. Most of the seven [reciters] read yūḥā (it is revealed) with a ya and a fatḥa on the ḥa, in the passive voice. The reading with the nun—which is the reading of Hafs, Talha, and Abu Abd al-Rahman—is in agreement with [the verb] "We sent."

(From among the people of the towns) Because their people, as Ibn Zayd and others said—and this is a matter upon which there is no doubt—are more knowledgeable and more forbearing than the people of the desert. For this reason, it is said that the people of the desert are people of harshness. It has been mentioned that living in the desert is disliked except during times of tribulation; in the Hadith: "Whoever lives in the desert becomes harsh." Qatada said: "We do not know that Allah Almighty ever sent a messenger except from the people of the towns." It has been transmitted from al-Hasan that he said: "No messenger was sent from the people of the desert, nor from women, nor from the jinn." As for His saying, Exalted is He: {And He brought you from the desert}, the discussion regarding it has passed just now.

(Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those before them) Of those who disbelieved in the messengers and the signs, from the people of Nuh, the people of Lut, the people of Salih, and the rest of those whom Allah Almighty punished? Thus, they should beware of accusing you of falsehood. This has been narrated from al-Hasan. It has also been permitted that the intent refers to the end of those who preceded them among those who were obsessed with the world and ruinously devoted to it, so that they might desist and refrain from loving it. It is as if the one who permitted this considered what will be mentioned [later in the text]. The interrogation, according to what is in al-Bahr, is for the purpose of rebuke and scolding.

(And the home of the Hereafter) This is an instance of attributing the adjective to the noun according to the Kufans, meaning: "And the final abode." The Basrans estimate an omitted noun, meaning: "And the home of the state, or the hour, or the final life," and this is the preferred view when such [constructions] are frequent.

(Is better for those who fear [Allah]) from polytheism and sins.

(Do you not then use your reason?) So that you may employ your intellects to recognize the superiority of the abode of the Hereafter, and thus strive toward it through piety. It has been said that this is part of what follows [the command] "Say," meaning: Say to them, addressing them, "Do you not use your reason?" The address thus remains upon its literal meaning, and His saying, Glorified is He: {And We did not send before you} up to {those before them} or {they fear} is a parenthetical clause inserted between the spoken words. Some have suggested that this is a shift in address (iltifat). A group read it as yaʿqilūn (they use their reason) with a ya, in consideration of His saying, Glorified is He: {Have they not traveled...}.