Yusuf · Makki · ayah 5 of 111

Yusuf 12:5

قَالَ يَـٰبُنَىَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُءْيَاكَ عَلَىٰٓ إِخْوَتِكَ فَيَكِيدُوا۟ لَكَ كَيْدًا ۖ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ

“He said, "O my son, do not relate your vision to your brothers or they will contrive against you a plan. Indeed Satan, to man, is a manifest enemy.”

Saheeh International

Essence

A father hears a dream that puts his son above him, is glad, and lowers his voice to protect all twelve sons.

A reflection

Not a lesson in hiding your blessings

This ayah is usually remembered as practical advice. Hide your good news from people who might envy you. Keep blessings quiet, or they will be spoiled. A saying is often attached to it as the Prophet's. Seek help in your affairs by concealing them, for everyone with a blessing is envied. The commentary that cites it records that it was judged unsound, even fabricated.

A grandmother tells her grandson not to mention his scholarship at his cousin's wedding. Because of the eye, she says. He nods. What he hears is that his cousins are dangerous.

Now read what Ya'qub actually says, and to whom he points. Do not tell your brothers, or they will plot against you. Then, at once: Satan is a clear enemy to man. He does not say his sons are wicked. He names an enemy outside them.

One commentary draws out why he said it at all. He spoke to protect Yusuf from hardship, yes. But also to protect the brothers from falling into what did not befit them. He was confident, it adds, that they could not change what the dream had shown. The warning was not mainly to keep the promise safe. It was to keep his other sons safe from themselves.

That is a different thing from hiding a blessing. It is a father loving twelve sons at once: the one with the dream, and the eleven who might be tempted by it. The silence he asks for is a mercy to the brothers too.

So the lesson is not secrecy. It is care about who is placed in front of a temptation they may not be able to carry.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.