Tafsir of Yusuf 12:3

"We narrate unto you" (meaning: We inform you and tell you. This is derived from qassa atharahu—to follow one’s tracks—as if the narrator follows what he narrates and mentions it bit by bit. Similarly, tala [recited/followed] is used).

"The best of narratives" (meaning: the best of storytelling. It is in the accusative case as a verbal noun [maf’ul mutlaq], either because it is annexed to the verbal noun, or because it was originally a description of a verbal noun, i.e., "We narrate a narrative [that is] the best of narratives." In this, along with the clarification of the reality [of the story], there is an implication of the ugliness and flaws in the narrations of the People of the Book. The direct object is omitted; i.e., the content of this Qur'an, and what is meant by it is this Surah. Similarly, in His saying, the Almighty: "by that which We have revealed" [meaning: by reason of Our revelation] "to you, this Qur'an." The exposure to the title of its "Qur'an-ness" is to confirm that the narration is not by way of inspiration or non-recited revelation. Perhaps the word "this" is to signal the glorification of that which is being referred to.

It is said: There is an allusion in it to the distinctiveness of this Qur'an from what is in His saying, the Almighty: "an Arabic Qur'an," in that the intended meaning is the totality. In this, there is contemplation. Its "best-ness" is because it has been narrated in the most creative, magnificent, and delightful ways, and in the most wondrous, superior, and appropriate styles, as is hardly hidden from anyone who compares this story with the books of the ancients, even if he does not distinguish the rotten from the ripe, nor the left from the right.

It is permissible for this mentioned [object] to be the object of "We narrate." Many have stated that the verse is an instance of the "contention of two verbs" [tanazu’], and the Basran school is more appropriate here. As for the wording, it is obvious; as for the meaning, because the Qur'an, as you have heard, is the Surah, and attributing the revelation to it is more manifest than attributing "We narrate" to it, considering the Surah’s inclusion of the story. What is more manifest is to apply the explicit verb to it [the Qur'an]; in that, there is a magnification of the Qur'an and an invocation of the miracles and beauty of its exposition that does not exist in applying "We narrate" explicitly. It is also permissible to consider one of the two verbs as having the status of an intransitive verb.

It is also permissible for "the best" to be the object of "We narrate." "Narratives" [al-qasas] is either a verbal noun in the sense of a passive participle, like an-naba’ (the news) and al-khabar (the report), or a verbal noun that has been used to name the object, like al-khalq (creation) and as-sayd (the hunt). Meaning: We narrate to you the best of what is narrated of news, which is the story of the family of Ya’qub, peace be upon him. The aspect of its "best-ness" is its inclusion of: an envier and an envied, an owner and a possessed, a witness and a witnessed, a lover and a beloved, imprisonment and release, abundance and drought, sin and forgiveness, separation and union, illness and health, journey and departure, humiliation and honor.

It has demonstrated that there is no repeller for the decree of Allah, the Almighty, and no preventer of His destiny. It has shown that if He, Glory be to Him, decrees goodness and honor for a person, even if all the people of the world were to gather to prevent it, they would not be able to. It has shown that envy is a cause of failure and loss, that patience is the key to relief, and that planning is from intelligence and through it the affairs of life are mended—to other things the tips of eloquent pens are unable to express.

It is said: It was "the best" because the majority of those mentioned therein had their outcome toward happiness. It is said: The intended meaning is the news of the past nations and bygone centuries, not just the story of the family of Ya’qub, and "this Qur'an" refers to what includes all of that. "Best" is not a superlative, but rather means "good," as if it were said: "Good narratives," from the category of adding the description to the described—i.e., the good narrative.

The saying regarding it, according to the majority, is what we have mentioned. It is said: Because it is of that high degree of goodness, the motivations for conveying it are plentiful; therefore, it was not repeated like other stories. It is said: The reason for that is the temptation of a woman and women by the most beautiful of people in appearance, and this is appropriate for the lack of repetition because of the modesty and covering involved. Al-Hakim has authenticated in his Mustadrak the hadith prohibiting the teaching of Surah Yusuf to women.

Professor Abu Ishaq said: Allah the Almighty repeated the stories of the prophets but drove this story in one course as a sign of the inability of the Arabs, as if the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to them: "If it were from my own self, then do with the story of Yusuf what I have done with the rest of the stories." This is a good viewpoint, except that it leaves the specificity of Surah Yusuf for this [treatment] in need of explanation, for driving the story of Adam, peace be upon him, for instance, in one course also contains the sign of that same thing mentioned.

Jalal al-Suyuti said: A reason appeared to me for driving it in that way: it was revealed because the Companions requested that He narrate to them, so it was revealed in a full, detailed form so that they might obtain the intended purpose of the narratives: comprehensiveness and the comforting of the soul through total awareness. The weakness in this is not hidden. It is as if, for this reason, he said: The strongest answer is that the stories of the prophets were repeated because the purpose of them is to convey the destruction of those who denied their messengers, and the need calls for that, just as the denial of the disbelievers toward the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was repeated. Every time they denied, a story was revealed warning of the arrival of punishment, as it arrived to those who denied before. For this reason, He, Glory be to Him, said in the verses: "Verily, the way of the ancients has passed," "Have they not seen how many We destroyed before them of generations?" And the story of Yusuf was not intended for that. Through this, the answer is also obtained regarding the repetition of the story of the Companions of the Cave, the story of Dhu al-Qarnayn, and the story of Musa with al-Khidr, and the story of the Sacrificed one.

Then he said: If you say: "The story of the birth of Yahya and the birth of ‘Isa, peace be upon them, has been repeated twice, and they are not of the type you mentioned." I say: The first is in Surah Ka-Ha-Ya-‘Ayn-Sad, and it is Meccan, revealed as an address to the people of Mecca. The second is in Surah Al-’Imran, and it is Medinan, revealed as an address to the Jews and the Christians of Najran when they arrived. For this reason, the mention of disputation and the mubahala [imprecation] was attached to it.

It was objected that the story of Adam, peace be upon him, was repeated even though its purpose is not to convey the destruction of those who denied their messengers. It was answered that even if its purpose is not what was mentioned, it contains, regarding the restraint from disobedience, what it contains; thus, it is the story most similar to those stories that were repeated for that reason. So understand.

"Although you were, before it" (meaning: before Our revelation of it to you) "among the unaware" (regarding it; it did not cross your mind nor strike your hearing. This is a justification for it being revealed, as some researchers have mentioned. In most similar cases, the waw is omitted, and expressing the lack of knowledge with "unawareness" is [done] to revere the status of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Similarly, the shift from [saying] "heedless" to what is in the glorious order is [also for this reason], according to some.

It is possible to say: When a thing is creative and contains a kind of strangeness, when one stops at it, it is said to the addressee: "You were unaware of this." So it is permissible that the intention is to point to the strangeness of that story, so it becomes like a confirmation of what preceded, although there is in that what is not hidden. Anna [that] is the lightened form of the heavy annahu, its subject is the pronoun of the situation [dhamir al-sha’n], the lam is the separator, and the sentence "you were..." is the predicate of inna.)