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.