Yusuf · Makki · ayah 33 of 111

Yusuf 12:33

قَالَ رَبِّ ٱلسِّجْنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىَّ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَنِىٓ إِلَيْهِ ۖ وَإِلَّا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّى كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَكُن مِّنَ ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ

“He said, "My Lord, prison is more to my liking than that to which they invite me. And if You do not avert from me their plan, I might incline toward them and [thus] be of the ignorant."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Everyone quotes the first half of this prayer, but its strength is the second, where he admits he will lean unless his Lord turns them.

A reflection

The half of the sentence nobody quotes

This is one of the most quoted lines in the story. Prison is dearer to me than what they call me to. It is usually offered as a picture of a man so strong that he chose suffering over sin without a flicker.

That is half the sentence, and half the man.

First, the word dearer. The commentaries are agreed it is not literal. He had no love for prison, and no love for what he was invited to either. He was choosing between two evils and taking the lighter. One commentary says he weighed them by their ends, not by how they felt. The ugliness of the sin, the good of patience for Allah's sake, and where each would lead.

Then comes the half nobody quotes. Unless You turn their scheming from me, I will lean towards them, and be one of the ignorant.

That is not the voice of a man who feels nothing. It is the voice of a man who knows exactly how strong the pull is, and does not trust himself against it.

A young doctor is offered a post with double the salary. It requires signing off reports she will not have time to check. She takes the lower-paid job across town. Asked why, she does not say she is incorruptible. She says she knows what she would become after a year of signing.

That is Yusuf's strength. Not that he could not fall. That he knew he could, and ran to the One who could hold him.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.