Surah Ghafir (40) — Ayah 34

(Ayah 34) ➊ {وَ لَقَدْ جَآءَكُمْ يُوْسُفُ مِنْ قَبْلُ:} “With you” refers to your forefathers, just as it was said to the Israelites in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): « وَ اِذْ نَجَّيْنٰكُمْ مِّنْ اٰلِ فِرْعَوْنَ» [ البقرۃ : ۴۹ ] “And when We saved you from the people of Pharaoh.” Obviously, what is meant is saving their forefathers. The believing man reminded the Copts, while advising them, of the state of their forefathers’ time, that before Moses (peace be upon him), Joseph (peace be upon him) came to you, and even then your condition was the same.

➋ { بِالْبَيِّنٰتِ:} With clear proofs of his messengership. “Clear proofs” include the truthfulness and fulfillment of promises by Joseph (peace be upon him), his trustworthiness and utmost chastity, the testimony of the women of Egypt to his purity, his patience in prison, the interpretation of the dreams of his fellow prisoners and the king, the certain foretelling of the seven-year severe famine, the plan to store grain in the first seven years and then distribute it justly and correctly in the following seven years, his unparalleled justice and fairness, inviting his fellow prisoners to monotheism with irrefutable arguments when the opportunity arose, that is: « ءَاَرْبَابٌ مُّتَفَرِّقُوْنَ خَيْرٌ اَمِ اللّٰهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ (39) مَا تَعْبُدُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِهٖۤ اِلَّاۤ اَسْمَآءً سَمَّيْتُمُوْهَاۤ اَنْتُمْ وَ اٰبَآؤُكُمْ مَّاۤ اَنْزَلَ اللّٰهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطٰنٍ اِنِ الْحُكْمُ اِلَّا لِلّٰهِ اَمَرَ اَلَّا تَعْبُدُوْۤا اِلَّاۤ اِيَّاهُ ذٰلِكَ الدِّيْنُ الْقَيِّمُ وَ لٰكِنَّ اَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ» [ یوسف : ۳۹، ۴۰ ] “Are separate lords better or Allah, the One, the All-Powerful? You worship nothing besides Him except a few names which you and your forefathers have named; Allah has sent down no authority for them. The command is for none but Allah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him. That is the straight religion, but most people do not know.” And not leaving prison until his innocence was established, and many other things which prove that he was a chosen Messenger of Allah Almighty.

➌ {فَمَا زِلْتُمْ فِيْ شَكٍّ مِّمَّا جَآءَكُمْ بِهٖ:} That is, before this, when Joseph (peace be upon him) came to Egypt, he was a slave whom the Aziz of Egypt adopted as a son. Then, after many trials and tests, Allah Almighty honored him with both kingship and messengership, granting him many proofs and miracles to establish his prophethood and messengership. You believed in him, but with doubt. Your faith in him was like that of a poor man in a rich man or a weak person in a powerful one. There was no strength of conviction in it; rather, you remained doubtful about his messengership.

➍ {حَتّٰۤى اِذَا هَلَكَ قُلْتُمْ لَنْ يَّبْعَثَ اللّٰهُ مِنْۢ بَعْدِهٖ رَسُوْلًا:} During his lifetime, you doubted the law he brought, but when he died, you went so far in his praise that you said, “Now after him, Allah will not send any Messenger; where will such a Messenger come now?” By saying this, you later denied the coming of any more Messengers. Or, you showed such disregard that you continuously doubted his prophethood, or such excessive praise that you were not ready to accept anyone as a Messenger after him. Previously, you behaved this way with Joseph (peace be upon him); beware! Do not do the same with Moses (peace be upon him): do not believe in him while he is alive, and after his death, exaggerate about him. Shah Abdul Qadir writes: “You did not accept Joseph (peace be upon him) during his life, but after his death, when the administration of the kingdom deteriorated, you said, ‘How blessed was Joseph’s presence in this city; there will never be such a Prophet.’ Either that denial or this acceptance—this is the same contradiction.” The believing man meant that the value of a blessing is realized after it is lost; at present, you do not value Moses (peace be upon him).

➎ { كَذٰلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللّٰهُ مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ مُّرْتَابُ: ’’ مُرْتَابُ ‘‘ ’’رَيْبٌ‘‘} is the active participle of {’’ اِرْتَابَ يَرْتَابُ اِرْتِيَابًا ‘‘} (form VIII), meaning one who doubts. That is, Allah Almighty only leads astray those who possess three qualities: first, {’’ مُسْرِفٌ ‘‘}—those who exceed all bounds in their evil deeds, disobedience to Allah, and arrogance; second, {’’ مُرْتَابُ ‘‘}—those who doubt the signs of Allah and the words of His Messengers.

34. 1. That is, O people of Egypt! Before Musa (peace be upon him), in this region where you reside, Yusuf (peace be upon him) also came with proofs and evidences. In which your forefathers were invited to faith, that is, by جَآءَ كُمْ is meant جَآءَ اِلَیٰ آبائِكُمْ, meaning he came to your forefathers.

34. 2. But you did not believe in him either and continued to doubt his invitation.

34. 3. That is, Yusuf (peace be upon him), the prophet, passed away.

34. 4. That is, since your habit has always been to deny and oppose every prophet, you thought that now no messenger would come, or it means that whether a messenger comes or not is the same for you, or it is meant that now where can such a great person be born who would be honored with prophethood—as if after the death of Yusuf (peace be upon him), it was an acknowledgment of his greatness, and many people have always said the same after the death of every important person.

34. 5. That is, just as you are involved in this clear misguidance, Allah also misguides every person who commits sins excessively and doubts the Oneness of Allah and His promises and warnings.

34. Before this, Joseph came to you with clear proofs, but you continued to doubt [48] what he brought you. When he died, you said, 'Allah will never send a messenger after him.' Thus Allah leads astray those who are transgressors and doubters.

[48]
The Extremes of Exaggeration and Neglect Regarding Yusuf (علیہ السلام):

This is also a part of that believer’s speech. Addressing the courtiers, he said that in this land of Egypt, Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was sent as a prophet. By his wise management, this country passed through seven years of famine in peace and continued to provide grain to neighboring countries as well. The king of Egypt was so impressed by his pure character and morals that he handed over the rule to Sayyiduna Yusuf (علیہ السلام). And you yourselves acknowledge that his era was the best in terms of justice and fairness. But despite all this, during his lifetime, you remained in doubt and suspicion about him and did not believe in him. This was one extreme of yours. Then, when he passed away, you began to exaggerate his status so much that you started saying, “Now, where will a messenger like Sayyiduna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) come again?” And thinking this way, you began to deny the rest of the prophets who came after him. This was your second extreme. And today, you are also denying the prophethood and messengership of Sayyiduna Musa (علیہ السلام). That previous attitude of yours was also wrong, and this current attitude is also wrong. That too was a denial of the truth, and this too is a denial of the truth. At that time, you remained in doubt, and even now you are in doubt. For such people, misguidance is decreed.