Tafsir of Yusuf 12:54

"And the King said, 'Bring him to me that I may extract him'"—that is, make him exclusively for myself and set him apart for me.

"So when he spoke to him"—there is conciseness in the speech, meaning: "So they brought him, and when he spoke to him, etc." This [part] was omitted to indicate the rapidity of his arrival, as if no time at all had elapsed between the command to summon him and the discourse with him. He was not present with the women in the council, as some have claimed. The meaning of this command is "bring him near to me." The hidden pronoun in "spoke to him" refers to Yusuf (peace be upon him), and the manifest one refers to the King. That is, when Yusuf (peace be upon him) spoke to the King after he arrived, and the King examined his speech and saw the excellence of his articulation, which confirmed the [previous] news. In Al-Bahr, it is suggested that the first pronoun refers to the King and the second to Yusuf; meaning: when the King spoke to him and saw the excellence of his answer and his dialogue.

"He said, 'Indeed, you are today with us well-established'"—meaning possessing a high rank and position.

"Trustworthy"—entrusted with every matter. It is also said: secure from every hateful thing. Description with trustworthiness is more eloquent in honoring. "Today" is not a criterion for status and trustworthiness, but rather the moment of speaking; the intention is to designate the commencement of these, to guard against them being [established] after a while. In the choice of "with us" (ladayna) over "at us" ('indana) lies what is not hidden of the care for his affairs (peace be upon him), as is the case with the nominal sentence and its emphasis.

It is narrated that the messenger came to him and said: "Answer the King now without delay, cast off the clothes of the prison, wash, and put on new clothes." He did so. When he rose to leave, he prayed for the people of the prison: "O Allah, incline the hearts of the virtuous toward them, and do not let news be hidden from them, for they are the most knowing of people regarding the news in every land." Then he went out and wrote on the door: "These are the dwellings of trial, the graves of the living, the malice of enemies, and the testing of friends." When he reached the door of the King, he said: "My Lord suffices me against my worldly life, and my Lord suffices me against His creation. Your protector is mighty, Your praise is great, and there is no god but You." When he entered upon the King, he said: "O Allah, I ask You for the best of what You have of his good, and I seek refuge in You from his evil and the evil of others." Then he greeted him in Arabic. The King said: "What is this tongue?" He replied: "The tongue of my uncle Ismail." Then he prayed for him in Hebrew. The King said: "And what is this tongue also?" He replied: "This is the tongue of my ancestors." The King knew seventy languages, so he spoke to him in them, and he answered him in all of them. The King was astonished by him and said: "O truthful one, I wish to hear my vision from you." So he recounted it to him exactly as he had seen it, without omitting a single letter. The King said: "Your knowledge of the vision is more astonishing than your interpretation of it." He then seated him with him on the throne and entrusted him with his command. It is also said that he seated him [on the throne] before he narrated the vision.

Ibn Jarir extracted from Ibn Ishaq that he said: It is mentioned that Potiphar died during those nights, and the King married Yusuf to his wife, Ra'il. When she was brought to him, he said to her: "Is this not better than what you desired?" She replied: "O truthful one, do not blame me, for I was a woman as you see—beautiful, handsome, and soft, in sovereignty and worldly comfort—while my husband did not approach women, and I was as Allah the Almighty created you in your beauty and form. My soul overcame me regarding what you saw." It is claimed that he found her a virgin, so he had relations with her and she bore him two men: Ephraim and Misha.

Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi extracted from Wahb who said: The wife of the Aziz fell into need, and it was said to her: "If you went to Yusuf ibn Ya'qub and asked him..." She consulted the people about that, and they said: "Do not do it, for we fear for you from him." She said: "Nay, I do not fear the one who fears Allah the Almighty." She was brought to him and saw him in his sovereignty, and she said: "Praise be to Allah who made slaves kings through their obedience." Then she looked at herself and said: "Praise be to Allah who made kings slaves through their disobedience." He fulfilled all her needs, then married her as a virgin—the report.

In another narration, she approached him on the road and said what she said, so he recognized her and married her, and found her a virgin, as her husband had been impotent. It became widespread among the storytellers that she returned to being young and a virgin as an honor to him (peace be upon him) after having been a non-virgin who was no longer young; this is something that has no basis. The report of his marrying her is also something that is not relied upon by the hadith scholars. And even on the assumption that the marriage is established, the manifest sense of the report of Al-Hakim is that it was only after he was appointed [to office], once the matter of the storehouses had been assigned to him. It is said that this is expressed by the words of the Almighty: [Text continues...].