Yusuf · Makki · ayah 68 of 111

Yusuf 12:68

وَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا۟ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَهُمْ أَبُوهُم مَّا كَانَ يُغْنِى عَنْهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ مِن شَىْءٍ إِلَّا حَاجَةً فِى نَفْسِ يَعْقُوبَ قَضَىٰهَا ۚ وَإِنَّهُۥ لَذُو عِلْمٍ لِّمَا عَلَّمْنَـٰهُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

“And when they entered from where their father had ordered them, it did not avail them against Allāh at all except [it was] a need [i.e., concern] within the soul of Jacob, which he satisfied. And indeed, he was a possessor of knowledge because of what We had taught him, but most of the people do not know.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The separate gates could not turn aside Allah's decree, yet they met a need of love in Yaqub's soul, and Allah praises his taught knowledge.

A reflection

Even a prophet's knowledge was taught

Expertise brings its own quiet pride. I worked this out. I know what I am doing.

A retired engineer is interviewed about a footbridge he designed, now famous. The journalist expects talk of genius. He spends the first five minutes on a lecturer who failed his first drawing at nineteen, and what she wrote in the margin.

He is not being modest for the camera. He knows where his knowledge came from.

This ayah praises Yaqub's knowledge in the strongest terms Arabic allows. One commentary lists the signs. The sentence is doubly emphasised. Knowledge is left indefinite, which in this grammar suggests something great. And it is grounded in teaching attributed to the We of majesty.

Indeed, he was possessed of knowledge, because We had taught him.

So the highest praise of a prophet's mind is that it was given. Not that he discovered, but that he was taught.

That is humbling for every ego that leans on its own competence. If a prophet's knowledge is a gift, how much more our own. The training, the mentors, the chance meeting that opened a door, the mind itself.

And the ayah closes with a gentle rebuke to the rest of us. But most people do not know.

One commentary says what they do not know: the secret of decree. They imagine their precautions can override it. Yaqub knew better, and the knowledge was Allah's teaching, not his own cleverness.

The arrogance we might fear in a Lord who claims to teach prophets is the opposite of what is happening here. It is our pride that claims to have taught ourselves. His teaching is what makes anyone know anything at all.

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.