Tafsir of Yusuf 12:47-49

Surah Yusuf (12:47-49)

{تزرعون سبع سنين دأبا فما حصدتم فذروه في سنبله إلا قليلا مما تأكلون}

It should be noted that he (Joseph, peace be upon him) mentioned the interpretation of the vision by saying: {تزرعون} (You shall sow). This is a declarative statement used in the sense of a command, similar to the verse: {والمطلقات يتربصن} (And divorced women shall keep themselves waiting) (Al-Baqarah: 228) and {والوالدات يرضعن} (And mothers shall suckle their infants) (Al-Baqarah: 233). The declarative form is used for command to emphasize the obligation, making it seem as if the event has already occurred, so he is reporting on it.

The evidence that it is in the sense of a command is found in the subsequent phrases: {فذروه في سنبله} (so leave it in its ears) and {دأبا} (continuously).

Linguists say that al-Dab (الدأب) means the continuous persistence in one state. One is da'ib (persevering) in an action if they persist in it. Da'aba yad'abu da'ban wa da'aban means successive sowing during these years.

Abu Ali al-Farisi said that the majority pronounce da'b with a sukūn (stillness on the bā'), and perhaps the fatḥah (vowel mark) is also a dialectal variant, similar to sham'un and sham'un (wax), or nahrun and nahrun (river).

Al-Zajjaj said that da'ban is accusative because it means tad'abūna da'ban (you sow continuously). Alternatively, it is a verbal noun (maṣdar) used in place of a circumstantial adverb (ḥāl), meaning: "You shall sow continuously, and whatever you harvest, leave it in its ears, except a little of what you eat." Meaning, whatever you intend to eat, thresh it, and leave the rest in its ear so it does not spoil or become infested with weevils, because keeping the grain in its ear preserves its soundness.

{ثم يأتي من بعد ذلك سبع شداد} (Then there will come after that seven severe [years]). These are seven barren years. Shidād (severe) refers to years that are difficult for the people.

{يأكلن ما قدمتم لهن} (they will consume what you have stored up for them). This is a metaphor, as the year itself does not eat; rather, the eating of the people of those years is attributed to the years.

{إلا قليلا مما تحصنون} (except a little of what you save). Al-Iḥṣān (saving/preserving) means securing something in a fortress (ḥiṣn). It is said: aḥṣanahu iḥṣānan if one places it in a secure place. The meaning here is: "except a little of what you secure/store away." All these interpretations are attributed to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him).

{ثم يأتي من بعد ذلك عام فيه يغاث الناس} (Then there will come after that a year in which people will be relieved with rain). The seven preceding years were years of abundance and plentiful blessings, and the second seven years were years of drought and scarcity, which is known from the vision. As for the condition of this year, nothing in the dream indicated it; rather, this came through revelation. It is as if he (Joseph) mentioned that after the seven fertile years and the seven barren years, there will come a blessed year full of bounty and blessings. Qatadah narrated that Allah increased the knowledge of the year.

If it is asked: Since the lean years were seven, this indicates that the barren years will not exceed this number. It is known that what follows the period of drought is fertility, and this too should have been implied by the dream. Why do you say that this specific detail came through revelation and inspiration?

We reply: Even if the alternation of drought with fertility is known from the dream, the specifics of the situation—namely, {فيه يغاث الناس وفيه يعصرون} (in which people will be relieved with rain, and in which they will press [fruit/olives])—can only be known through revelation.

Ibn al-Sikkit said: It is said, "Allah relieved the lands with rain (ghātha Allāhu al-bilād yughīthuhā ghaythan)" if He sends down rain. The land becomes rain-relieved (ghīthāt). {يغاث الناس} means they will be rained upon. It is also possible that it derives from the saying: "Allah relieved him (aghāthahu Allāhu)" if He saved him from distress or sorrow, meaning the people will be saved from the distress of famine in that year.

{وفيه يعصرون} (and in which they will press). This means they will press sesame for oil, grapes for wine, and olives for oil. This indicates the end of the drought and the arrival of fertility and bounty. Some say it means they will milk the udders. It has also been recited as {يَعْصِرُونَ} (they will be saved) from ʿaṣarahu (he saved him). Another opinion is that it means they will be rained upon, derived from aʿṣarat al-saḥābah (the cloud squeezed out rain), as in the verse: {وأنزلنا من المعصرات ماء ثجاجا} (And We sent down from the rain-clouds abundant water) (An-Naba: 14).

Surah Yusuf (12:50-52)

{وقال الملك ائتوني به فلما جاءه الرسول قال ارجع إلى ربك فاسأله ما بال النسوة اللاتي قطعن أيديهن إن ربي بكيدهن عليم} (And the king said, "Bring him to me." But when the messenger came to him, [Joseph] said, "Return to your lord and ask him what is the case of the women who cut their hands. Indeed, my Lord is of their plot knowing.")

{قال ما خطبكن إذ راودتن يوسف عن نفسه قلن حاش لله ما علمنا عليه من سوء} (He [the king] said, "What is your concern when you sought to seduce Joseph from himself?" They said, "Far be it from Allah! We know nothing bad of him.")

{قالت امرأة العزيز أئن حصحص الحق أنا راودته عن نفسه وإنه لمن الصادقين} (The wife of the Aziz said, "Now the truth has been made manifest. It was I who sought to seduce him from himself, and indeed, he is of the truthful.")

{ذلك ليعلم أني لم أخنه بالغيب وأن الله لا يهدي كيد الخائنين} ("This [confession] is so that he [the king] may know that I did not betray him in his absence, and that Allah does not guide the plot of the treacherous.")