Yusuf · Makki · ayah 47 of 111

Yusuf 12:47

قَالَ تَزْرَعُونَ سَبْعَ سِنِينَ دَأَبًا فَمَا حَصَدتُّمْ فَذَرُوهُ فِى سُنۢبُلِهِۦٓ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّمَّا تَأْكُلُونَ

“[Joseph] said, "You will plant for seven years consecutively; and what you harvest leave in its spikes, except a little from which you will eat.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Asked only what the dream meant, Yusuf answers with a plan: sow as always, leave the grain in its ear, eat only a little.

A reflection

He was asked for a forecast and gave a plan

The popular memory of this scene is a prophecy. Yusuf foretold seven fat years and seven lean ones, and it came to pass.

That is true, and it is not what makes the ayah remarkable. Read what he actually says. Not seven good years will come. You will sow. Then, in the middle of the interpretation, an instruction: what you harvest, leave in its ear, except a little that you eat.

One commentary calls this plainly a piece of advice the prophet of Allah gave the people, an opinion he saw as good for them. An early authority adds that what he wanted was their survival. Another commentary notices that the advice is set inside the interpretation, before it is even finished, out of his concern for them. It calls this arrangement part of the Qur'an's inimitable order.

So Yusuf was not content to tell Egypt what would happen. He told Egypt what to do about it.

A satnav that says heavy traffic ahead has given you a forecast. One that says take the next exit has given you a plan. The first leaves you anxious. The second gets you home.

The chiefs could not even give a forecast. Yusuf, a prisoner who had not been asked for advice, gave a forecast and a plan in one breath.

There is a lesson here for anyone who is asked what something means. Often the person is really asking: what should I do? Answer that, too, if you can. Meaning without a next step can leave people more frightened than before.

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.