Surah Yusuf (12) — Ayah 36

(Ayah 36) {وَ دَخَلَ مَعَهُ السِّجْنَ فَتَيٰنِ …: ’’ فَتَيٰنِ ‘‘ ’’ فَتًي‘‘ } is the dual form, meaning two young men. This word is generally also used for a slave or servant. Both of them were special servants of the king. Very soon, both of them were impressed by the noble character of Yusuf (peace be upon him) and became familiar with him. The selfless service of Yusuf (peace be upon him) to everyone made it clear to them that this man does good to everyone and serves without any hope of reward or any greed. This is called Ihsan, and the one who does so is called a Muhsin, as the Children of Israel said to Qarun: «{ وَ اَحْسِنْ كَمَاۤ اَحْسَنَ اللّٰهُ اِلَيْكَ }» [ القصص : ۷۷ ] "And do good as Allah has done good to you." And the reality is that because of his goodness and compassion, such a person automatically becomes recognized in everyone's eyes as a good and righteous man. This quality was especially found in our Prophet (peace be upon him) and Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), as the Prophet's qualities—such as bearing the burdens of others, hospitality, helping people in distress, seeking and providing means of livelihood for people, speaking the truth, etc.—were confirmed by our mother Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), and the qualities of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) were confirmed by Ibn Daghina. [ بخاری، الوحي، کیف بدء الوحي : ۳، و مناقب الأنصار، باب ہجرۃ النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم … : ۳۹۰۵ ] These people were not only righteous in prayer and fasting, but along with that, they were also well-wishers of people; this is Ihsan towards the servants. Now, when both of them saw dreams, in the entire prison their eyes fell only on Yusuf (peace be upon him), and they clearly stated the reason for choosing him for interpretation: «{ نَبِّئْنَا بِتَاْوِيْلِهٖ اِنَّا نَرٰىكَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِيْنَ }» That is, you tell us its interpretation, because indeed we see you as one of the doers of good. It could also mean that we see you interpret dreams very well; perhaps before this, Yusuf (peace be upon him) had interpreted some dreams which turned out to be correct, because Allah Almighty had especially given him this knowledge. Both these meanings of Ihsan are about doing good to people; one Ihsan is also in the worship of Allah Almighty, which is mentioned in the Hadith of Jibril (peace be upon him), where it is said: [ أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللّٰهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهٗ فَإِنْ لَّمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهٗ فَإِنَّهٗ يَرَاكَ ] [ بخاری، الإیمان، باب سؤال جبریل النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : ۵۰] "You worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, then He surely sees you." It is possible that these prisoners, seeing the connection with Allah in the prayer, worship, and remembrance of Allah by Yusuf (peace be upon him), became convinced of his being a Muhsin and righteous, that from his worship it is evident that this person is really worshipping with such attention and absorption as if he is seeing Allah Almighty.

36. 1. These two young men belonged to the royal court. One was assigned to serve wine, and the other was a baker; due to some incident, both were imprisoned. Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) was a messenger of Allah; along with inviting and preaching, he was distinguished among all other prisoners in the jail for his worship, spiritual exercises, piety, righteousness, and moral character. In addition, Allah had granted him the special knowledge and skill of interpreting dreams. When these two saw dreams, they naturally turned to Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) and said, "We see you as one of the doers of good; tell us the interpretation of our dreams." Some have also interpreted "doer of good" to mean that you interpret dreams well.

Two other young men also entered the prison [36] with Yusuf. One of them said, “I saw in a dream that I am pressing wine.” The other said, “I saw in my dream that I am carrying bread on my head, and birds are eating from it.” (Then both said,) “Tell us the interpretation of these dreams, for we see that you are a righteous man.”

[36]
The Two Prisoners Asking for the Interpretation of Their Dreams:

During that time, two more prisoners were put into the prison; one of them was the king of Egypt’s baker and the other was his cupbearer, that is, the one who served him wine. The accusation against both was that they had tried to poison the king, and according to some commentators, the accusation was that they had not maintained proper cleanliness during a banquet. After some days, both of them saw dreams on the same night, separately, and since Sayyiduna Yusuf (peace be upon him) had become famous throughout the prison for his pure character, high morals, and noble conduct, these prisoners turned to him to find out the interpretation of their dreams. The cupbearer described his dream as follows: “I saw in my dream that I am squeezing wine from grapes,” and this dream was related to his profession. The baker said, “I saw in my dream that there are many loaves of bread on my head and birds are pecking and eating them,” and this dream was related to his profession. After describing their respective dreams, they requested him to tell them their interpretation.