Yusuf · Makki · ayah 76 of 111

Yusuf 12:76

فَبَدَأَ بِأَوْعِيَتِهِمْ قَبْلَ وِعَآءِ أَخِيهِ ثُمَّ ٱسْتَخْرَجَهَا مِن وِعَآءِ أَخِيهِ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ كِدْنَا لِيُوسُفَ ۖ مَا كَانَ لِيَأْخُذَ أَخَاهُ فِى دِينِ ٱلْمَلِكِ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَـٰتٍ مَّن نَّشَآءُ ۗ وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِى عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ

“So he began [the search] with their bags before the bag of his brother; then he extracted it from the bag of his brother. Thus did We plan for Joseph. He could not have taken his brother within the religion [i.e., law] of the king except that Allāh willed. We raise in degrees whom We will, but over every possessor of knowledge is one [more] knowing.[609]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The cup is found in the youngest's bag; Allah claims the plan, and sets every clever mind on a staircase whose top is His.

A reflection

A staircase of knowers, and One at the top

This ayah is the moment of triumph for Yusuf's plan. The cup is found, the brother is held, everything has worked. If ever there was a moment for pride in one's own cleverness, it is here.

And the ayah ends by cutting that pride off at the root. Above every possessor of knowledge is one more knowing.

The commentaries agree on the picture. One early scholar recited this ayah one day and paused. By Allah, he said, there is no scholar on the face of the earth but above him is one who knows more. And so on, until knowledge returns to the One who taught it. Another said: from Him it began, from Him the scholars learned, and to Him it returns.

The lexicons give the word for degrees a picture to match. It is a step on a staircase: a rank reached by climbing, one stair at a time. It is the same root used of a child taking his first steps.

So every knower stands on a step. Yusuf above his brothers. Someone above Yusuf. And at the top, not a person, but Allah.

The commentaries preserve a report of a man who, hearing something astonishing, exclaimed this ayah in admiration of a human scholar. He was corrected at once. Allah is the All-Knowing, above every knower.

And another report, of a man who disputed a ruling with a great Companion. The Companion answered: you are right, and I was wrong; and above every possessor of knowledge is one more knowing.

That is the ego shrinking exactly as it should. Not into self-contempt, but into its proper step on the stair.

The arrogance we might fear in a Lord who claims all knowledge is turned around here. It is our pride that imagines its step is the top.

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.