Surah Yusuf (12) — Ayah 3

(Ayah 3) ➊ { نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ اَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ: ’’ الْقَصَصِ ‘‘ ’’قَصَّ يَقُصُّ‘‘} is a verbal noun (masdar), not the plural of qissah (story). (See {جواب اهل العلم}, p. 1 to 20) The plural of qissah is qasas with a kasrah under the qaf. It is said: «{ نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ }» “We narrate.” Whenever Allah uses the plural form for Himself, the reason is that every action of Allah requires a different attribute, for example, narrating requires the attribute of speech, creating the heavens and the earth requires the attribute of creation. There is no one besides Allah who possesses all the attributes of perfection and truly deserves to call Himself “We.” Therefore, Allah, expressing this status, uses the word “We” for Himself, and where He uses the singular, for example: «{ اِنَّنِيْۤ اَنَا اللّٰهُ لَاۤ اِلٰهَ اِلَّاۤ اَنَا }» [ طٰہٰ : ۱۴ ], it is to express His oneness, because He alone is One, Unique, without partner. In this surah, since many attributes are mentioned that express Allah’s dominance over every action according to His will, the discourse begins with {’’ نَحْنُ ‘‘} (We).

➋ {بِمَاۤ اَوْحَيْنَاۤ اِلَيْكَ هٰذَا الْقُرْاٰنَ :} That is, through the revelation of this Qur’an, We narrate to you the best account. This does not mean that Surah Yusuf is better than all other surahs of the Qur’an, rather the entire Qur’an is ahsan al-qasas, meaning the best of all accounts, and this surah is included in it.

➌ { وَ اِنْ كُنْتَ مِنْ قَبْلِهٖ:} This {’’ اِنْ ‘‘} was actually {’’اِنَّكَ‘‘}, for ease the kaf was omitted and {’’اِنَّ‘‘} was changed to {’’ اِنْ ‘‘}. The proof is the lam that comes on {’’ لَمِنَ الْغٰفِلِيْنَ ‘‘}, and this is an established rule of Arabic, according to which the translation has been done. {’’ اِنْ ‘‘} And the emphasis with lam is so that no one assumes that you already knew all this, as some of our ignorant brothers say, rather, elsewhere it is said: «{ تِلْكَ مِنْ اَنْۢبَآءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوْحِيْهَاۤ اِلَيْكَ مَا كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُهَاۤ اَنْتَ وَ لَا قَوْمُكَ مِنْ قَبْلِ هٰذَا }» [ھود : ۴۹ ] “This is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you; before this, neither you knew it nor your people.”

➍ { لَمِنَ الْغٰفِلِيْنَ :} That is, you had no knowledge of this before, you were unlettered, neither knew how to write nor read. The revelation of such an unparalleled book upon such a person, that great knowledgeable people become students of this unlettered one, is proof that this book is from Allah and that you are a true Messenger. It is also understood that you were not ‘alim al-ghayb (knower of the unseen); whatever was revealed, you would know, the rest of the knowledge remained with the Knower of the unseen, who knows everything without being told by anyone. ‘Alim al-ghayb refers only to such a being, and that is only Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

3. 1. Qasas is a verbal noun meaning to follow something; the meaning is an interesting event. Qissa (story) is not merely a tale or a fictional narrative, but rather the narration of an event that has occurred in the past is called a qissa. Thus, it is a real and factual account of the past, and in this event, there are lessons about the consequences of envy and hostility, the miraculous support of Allah, the rebellions of the commanding self and the results of its transgressions, and other human conditions and incidents, all presented in a very interesting and instructive manner. That is why this Quran has described it as ahsan al-qasas (the best narration).

3. 2. It is also clear from these words of the Noble Quran that the Noble Prophet ﷺ was not ‘alim al-ghayb (knower of the unseen), otherwise Allah would not have declared him unaware. The second point is that it is known that you are the true Prophet of Allah because only through revelation was the true event narrated to you. You were not a student of anyone, that you would have learned from a teacher and then narrated it, nor did you have any such connection with anyone from whom you could have heard and then broadcasted this historical event with its important details. Certainly, it is Allah alone who revealed it to you through revelation, as has been explicitly stated at this place.

3. (O Prophet!) By revealing this Qur’an to you, We narrate to you the best of stories, though before this you were among those unaware [2].

[2]
The Question of the Quraysh of Makkah to You ﷺ at the Suggestion of the Jews: How Did the Children of Israel Reach Egypt?

The reason for the revelation of this Surah is that the disbelievers of Makkah said to the Jews, “Tell us a question that we can ask this Prophet, and he will not be able to answer it. The benefit of this will be that the secret of this Prophet will be exposed. He will not be able to answer, or he will ask for respite, and in the meantime, he will gather some information from here and there, which is not unlikely.” The Jews knew that this Prophet is unlettered, so after careful consideration, they told the disbelievers of Makkah a historical type of question, which was: “Sayyiduna Ibrahim ؑ, Sayyiduna Ishaq ؑ, and Sayyiduna Yaqub (Israel) all resided in the region of Syria and Palestine. Then how did the Children of Israel reach Egypt, from where Sayyiduna Musa ؑ was sent to free them from the slavery of the Egyptians?” When the disbelievers of Makkah asked you ﷺ this question, this entire Surah was revealed at that very moment, and this Surah continued to flow from your ﷺ tongue. In reality, neither you ﷺ nor the people of Makkah were aware of the answer to this question at that time, and in this answer, the entire story of the life of Sayyiduna Yusuf ؑ was also included, along with clear indications towards many such matters that were common between the disbelievers of Makkah and the brothers of Yusuf, and in it were many signs of admonition for the disbelievers of Makkah. Thus, this entire Surah, in a way, served as a prophecy regarding the Quraysh of Makkah, and all those signs of admonition were fulfilled. For example:

The Reason for the Revelation of This Surah and the Proof of Your Prophethood:

The first lesson of admonition was that you ﷺ immediately answered their question, thereby proving that you ﷺ are indeed a Prophet of Allah, because apart from divine revelation, there was no possible source of information for you. Yet, even then, these people did not believe in you ﷺ and remained stubborn. Secondly, just as the brothers of Yusuf intended to kill or exile their brother in order to remove the thorn that pricked them and clear their own path, in exactly the same way, the disbelievers of Makkah also intended to kill or exile you ﷺ.

Reasons for the Similarity Between the Story of Yusuf and the Quraysh:

Thirdly, the very schemes that the brothers of Yusuf adopted to remove Yusuf ؑ from their path, Allah made those very schemes the means of Yusuf’s ؑ rise and honor. Similarly, the very schemes that the disbelievers of Makkah adopted to destroy the Prophet of Islam and Islam, from those very schemes, Islam gained rise and honor, and those very schemes became the cause of the death of the disbelievers of Makkah and disbelief. Fourthly, when Allah Almighty granted Sayyiduna Yusuf ؑ authority, and his brothers, regretful and ashamed, came to him, he forgave them by saying ﴿لَا تَثْرِيْبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ﴾. In the same way, after the conquest of Makkah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forgave his sworn enemy brothers by saying exactly these words. Furthermore, instead of making them prisoners of war, he said ﴿اَنْتُمُ الطُّلَقَاء﴾, making them not even feel that they were a defeated and conquered people. And the very important lesson that is obtained from this detail is that when Allah wills to elevate someone, no matter how much his envier and opponent try to destroy him, their efforts cannot succeed. Rather, as the saying goes, “The enemy stirs up evil, but it turns out to be good for us,” Allah turns the direction of those very schemes in such a way that those very schemes become the means of that person’s elevation.