Yusuf · Makki · ayah 45 of 111

Yusuf 12:45

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِى نَجَا مِنْهُمَا وَٱدَّكَرَ بَعْدَ أُمَّةٍ أَنَا۠ أُنَبِّئُكُم بِتَأْوِيلِهِۦ فَأَرْسِلُونِ

“But the one who was freed and remembered after a time said, "I will inform you of its interpretation, so send me forth."”

Saheeh International

Essence

After a whole crowd of days, the man who came safely out remembers the one he left behind, and offers to carry the question.

A reflection

He was not the hero of this ayah

There is a version of this moment many of us carry. The cupbearer, at last, does the right thing. He remembers his friend in prison and speaks up for him. A small redemption.

Read what actually happened. He remembered after a long while. One commentary pictures the word for that while: a crowd of days. Just as a community is a great gathering of people, a period is a great gathering of days and hours. The cupbearer let a whole nation of days pass by.

And he remembered at a very particular moment: when the king's experts had failed in public, and a gap opened that someone could fill. One commentary says he remembered when the dream had defeated the chiefs. That is when memory returned. Not during the years when it would only have helped Yusuf.

Another commentary allows a less flattering possibility still. Perhaps he had not forgotten at all. Perhaps he had kept silent out of fear of reminding the king of the offence he had once been jailed for.

None of this makes him a villain. It makes him ordinary. Most of us remember those who helped us most vividly when we need them again, or when mentioning them would make us look good.

The ayah does not condemn him. It simply records the delay. And it lets us see, without comment, that the speaking up which freed Yusuf was also the cupbearer's chance to shine before the king.

The question for us is not whether we would have done better. It is whose name we are still sitting on.

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.