Yusuf · Makki · ayah 37 of 111

Yusuf 12:37

قَالَ لَا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِۦٓ إِلَّا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِۦ قَبْلَ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمَا ۚ ذَٰلِكُمَا مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِى رَبِّىٓ ۚ إِنِّى تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لَّا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَهُم بِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ هُمْ كَـٰفِرُونَ

“He said, "You will not receive food that is provided to you except that I will inform you of its interpretation before it comes to you. That is from what my Lord has taught me. Indeed, I have left the religion of a people who do not believe in Allāh, and they, in the Hereafter, are disbelievers.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Asked to read two dreams, Yusuf promises an answer before the next meal, then uses the wait to say where his knowledge comes from.

A reflection

Not a party trick, and not a boast

Read quickly, this ayah can sound like a man advertising a gift. Any meal that comes to you, I can tell you about it before it arrives. It is easy to hear a fortune-teller's patter in it, or a prisoner trying to impress.

The commentaries hear something else, and so does the ayah itself, if you read to the end of the sentence.

First, the claim. Some take it as dreams: whatever food you see in your sleep, I will tell you its meaning before it comes true. Others take it as the real prison rations: I will tell you what is coming, how much and when, before it reaches the door. One compares it to Isa telling people what they had eaten and stored in their houses (3:49).

Then, before they can admire him, he takes the credit away from himself. That is from what my Lord taught me. One commentary spells it out: not by soothsaying, not by the stars. Another adds a principle. When someone whose standing is not known describes his knowledge so that others can benefit in their faith, that is not self-praise.

A midwife on a labour ward tells a junior doctor the baby will come within the hour, from nothing but the mother's breathing. Asked how she knows, she says: an old night sister taught me, years ago.

That is the shape of Yusuf's sentence. The skill is real. The source is named in the same breath. And the naming is the whole point, because it is the door he is about to walk through.

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.