Prophet Yusuf

It began with a dream.

Young Yusuf ﷺ woke up and rushed to his father the Prophet Ya'qub ﷺ and told him what he had seen:

"O my father, indeed I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon I saw them prostrating to me."

Ya'qub immediately understood: this was no ordinary dream. This was a vision from Allah. His son was going to be raised to a great station and the eleven stars were his eleven brothers.

But Ya'qub was wise. He said: "O my son, do not tell your brothers about your dream, lest they devise a plan against you. Indeed, Shaytan is a clear enemy to man."

Yusuf kept the secret. But some things cannot stay hidden forever.

Yusuf's brothers saw how much their father loved him and felt a jealousy that burned in their hearts.

They said to one another: "Yusuf and his brother are more beloved to our father than us, though we are a group. Indeed, our father is clearly mistaken."

They made a plan. One of them said: "Kill Yusuf or cast him to some land and the face of your father will be only for you."

Another said: "Do not kill Yusuf, but throw him into the bottom of the well. Some travellers will pick him up."

They went to their father and begged to take Yusuf out with them for a day. Ya'qub was worried but they promised to keep him safe.

They took Yusuf. And they threw him into the well.

Then they went home and wept pretending to grieve, showing their father a shirt stained with false blood, claiming a wolf had eaten Yusuf.

Ya'qub looked at the shirt and said: "No, but your souls have enticed you to something. So patience is most fitting. And Allah is the one sought for help against what you describe."

A caravan of travellers passed by the well. They sent someone down to draw water and pulled up a boy.

"Good news! Here is a boy!" they said. And they sold him a prophet of Allah for a few silver coins, as if he were nothing.

Yusuf was taken to Egypt and sold there to a man of high rank called the Aziz. The Aziz said to his wife: "Make his residence comfortable. Perhaps he will benefit us, or we will adopt him as a son."

And so Yusuf grew up in the palace of the Aziz of Egypt. Far from his father. Far from his home. Bought and sold like property.

But Allah had placed barakah wherever Yusuf went. The Qur'ān says: "And Allah was predominant in His affair, but most people do not know."

Every step that seemed like a disaster was actually moving Yusuf exactly where Allah needed him to be.

Yusuf grew into a young man and Allah had blessed him with extraordinary beauty and wisdom.

The wife of the Aziz tried to seduce him. She locked the doors. She called him to herself.

Yusuf refused. He said: "I seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, he is my master who has made my residence good. Indeed, wrongdoers will not succeed."

She was so obsessed that she told the women of the city about him. They laughed at her. So she invited them to a gathering, gave each of them a knife and fruit to cut then had Yusuf walk in.

The women were so stunned by his appearance they cut their own hands without realising it, and cried: "Perfect is Allah! This is not a human being this is only a noble angel!"

Yusuf said to Allah: "My Lord, prison is more beloved to me than what these women invite me to."

He chose prison over sin. That is taqwa.

Despite his innocence proven when the shirt was found torn from behind, showing she had grabbed him Yusuf was sent to prison.

In prison, his gift became evident. Two men had dreams and came to him. He asked: "Do you not see that I inform you of its interpretation before your food even arrives? That is from what my Lord has taught me."

He interpreted both dreams correctly. One prisoner would be released and serve the king wine; the other would be executed. Yusuf asked the one who would be released: "Mention me to your master."

But Shaytan made the man forget. Yusuf stayed in prison for several more years patient, trusting, never losing hope in Allah.

The Qur'ān says Ya'qub, back home, wept for Yusuf so much he lost his sight from grief. Yet he said: "I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah."

The King of Egypt had a dream that disturbed him deeply. He saw seven fat cows eaten by seven thin ones, and seven green ears of wheat beside seven dry ones.

No one could interpret it until the man Yusuf had helped in prison finally remembered him and told the king.

Yusuf's interpretation was remarkable: Seven years of abundance. Then seven years of severe drought. Then one year of relief.

He even gave a plan: plant and store during the good years, then ration carefully during the drought.

The king was astounded. He said: "Bring him to me!"

But Yusuf after all those years of waiting did not rush out of prison. He asked first for his innocence to be established publicly.

The king investigated. The wife of the Aziz finally confessed the truth before everyone: "Now the truth has come out. It was I who sought to seduce him, and he is of the truthful."

Yusuf walked out of prison cleared and honoured.

Yusuf stood before the King. The king was so impressed that he said: "Indeed you are today established in position and trusted."

Yusuf did something remarkable he asked for a specific role. He said:

"Appoint me over the storehouses of the land. Indeed, I am a knowing guardian."

He knew his skills. He knew what the people needed. And he asked for the position where he could do the most good.

And so the boy thrown into a well became the minister of Egypt. The slave became the man who would save millions of lives.

The famine came exactly as Yusuf had said and Egypt, under his management, had stored enough food to survive. People came from all surrounding lands to buy grain from him.

One day, a group of men arrived from Canaan gaunt, desperate, needing food.

Yusuf recognised them immediately. They were his brothers.

Yusuf played a long and careful game with his brothers testing them, watching them, seeing if they had changed. He kept his youngest brother Benjamin close to him.

Eventually, he could hold back no longer. He revealed himself:

"I am Yusuf. And this is my brother. Allah has certainly favoured us."

His brothers were stunned. Ashamed. Terrified. They said: "By Allah, indeed Allah has preferred you over us, and we have certainly been sinners."

Yusuf the man they had thrown into a well looked at them and said:

"No blame upon you today. Allah will forgive you, and He is the most merciful of the merciful."

He sent his shirt to his father. When Ya'qub pressed it to his face his sight returned. The family was reunited in Egypt. And when they entered, Ya'qub and his parents prostrated before Yusuf.

Yusuf looked up and said: "O my Lord, You have given me sovereignty and taught me the interpretation of dreams. Creator of the heavens and earth, You are my protector in this world and the Hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim and join me with the righteous."