Hizb 25

‘Yet I do not absolve my [own carnal] soul, for the [carnal] soul indeed prompts [men] to evil, except inasmuch as my Lord has mercy. Indeed my Lord is all-forgiving, all-merciful.’

The king said, ‘Bring him to me, I will make him my favourite.’ Then, when he had spoken with him, he said, ‘Indeed today [onwards] you will be honoured and trustworthy with us.’

He said, ‘Put me in charge of the country’s granaries. I am indeed fastidious [and]well-informed.’

That is how We established Joseph in the land that he may settle in it wherever he wished. We confer Our mercy on whomever We wish, and We do not waste the reward of the virtuous.

And the reward of the Hereafter is surely better for those who have faith and are Godwary.

[After some years] the brothers of Joseph came and entered his presence. He recognized them, but they did not recognize him.

When he had furnished them with their provision, he said, ‘Bring me a brother that you have through your father. Do you not see that I give the full measure and that I am the best of hosts?

But if you do not bring him to me, then there will be no rations for you with me, and don’t [ever] come near me.’

They said, ‘We will solicit him from his father. [That] we will surely do.’

He said to his servants, ‘Put their money [back] into their saddlebags. Maybe they will recognize it when they return to their folks, and maybe they will come back [again].’

So when they returned to their father, they said, ‘Father, the measure has been withheld from us, so let our brother go with us so that we may obtain the measure, and we will indeed take [good] care of him.’

He said, ‘Should I not trust you with him just as I trusted you with his brother before? Yet Allah is the best of protectors, and He is the most merciful of merciful ones.’

And when they opened their baggage, they found their money restored to them. They said, ‘Father, what [more] do we want?! This is our money, restored to us! We will get provisions for our family and take care of our brother, and add another camel-load of rations. These are meagre rations.’

He said, ‘I will not let him go with you until you give me a [solemn] pledge by Allah that you will surely bring him back to me, unless you are made to perish.’ When they had given him their [solemn] pledge, he said, ‘Allah is witness over what we say.’

And he said, ‘My sons, do not enter by one gate, but enter by separate gates, though I cannot avail you anything against Allah. Sovereignty belongs only to Allah. In Him I have put my trust; and in Him let all the trusting put their trust.’

When they entered whence their father had bidden them, it did not avail them anything against Allah, but only fulfilled a wish in Jacob’s heart. Indeed, he had the knowledge of what We had taught him, but most people do not know.

When they entered into the presence of Joseph, he set his brother close to himself, and said, ‘Indeed I am your brother, so do not sorrow for what they used to do.’

When he had furnished them with their provision, he put the drinking-cup into his brother’s saddlebag. Then a herald shouted: ‘O [men of the] caravan! You are indeed thieves!’

They said, as they turned towards them, ‘What are you missing?’

They said, ‘We miss the king’s goblet.’ ‘Whoever brings it shall have a camel-load [of grain],’ [said the steward], ‘I will guarantee that.’

They said, ‘By Allah! You certainly know that we did not come to make trouble in this country, and we are not thieves.’

They said, ‘What shall be its requital if you [prove to] be lying?’

They said, ‘The requital for it shall be that he in whose saddlebag it is found shall give himself over as its requital. Thus do we requite the wrongdoers.’

Then he began with their sacks, before [opening] his brother’s sack. Then he took it out from his brother’s sack. Thus did We devise for Joseph’s sake. He could not have held his brother under the king’s law unless Allah willed [otherwise]. We raise in rank whomever We please, and above every man of knowledge is One who knows best.

They said, ‘If he has stolen [there is no wonder]; a brother of his had stolen before.’ Thereupon Joseph kept the matter to himself and he did not disclose it to them. He said, ‘You are in a worse state! And Allah knows best what you allege.’

They said, ‘O emir! Indeed, he has a father, a very old man; so take one of us in his place. Indeed we see that you are a virtuous man.’

He said, ‘God forbid that we should detain anyone except him with whom we found our wares, for then we would indeed be wrongdoers.’

When they had despaired of [moving] him, they withdrew to confer privately. The eldest of them said, ‘Don’t you know that your father has taken a [solemn] pledge from you by Allah, and earlier you have neglected your duty in regard to Joseph? So I will never leave this land until my father permits me, or Allah passes a judgement for me, and He is the best of judges.

Go back to your father, and say, ‘‘Father! Your son has indeed committed theft, and we testified only to what we knew, and we could not have forestalled the unseen.

Ask [the people of] the town we were in, and the caravan with which we came. We indeed speak the truth.’’ ’

He said, ‘No, your souls have made a matter seem decorous to you. Yet patience is graceful. Maybe Allah will bring them all [back] to me. Indeed He is the All-knowing, the All-wise.’

He turned away from them and said, ‘Alas for Joseph!’ His eyes had turned white with grief, and he choked with suppressed agony.

They said, ‘By Allah! You will go on remembering Joseph until you wreck your health or perish.’

He said, ‘I complain of my anguish and grief only to Allah. I know from Allah what you do not know.’

‘Go, my sons, and look for Joseph and his brother, and do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed no one despairs of Allah’s mercy except the faithless lot.’

Then, when they entered into his presence, they said, ‘O emir! Distress has befallen us and our family, and we have brought [just] a meagre sum. Yet grant us the full measure, and be charitable to us! Indeed Allah rewards the charitable.’

He said, ‘Have you realized what you did to Joseph and his brother, when you were senseless?’

They said, ‘Are you really Joseph?!’ He said, ‘I am Joseph, and this is my brother. Certainly Allah has shown us favour. Indeed if one is Godwary and patient Allah does not waste the reward of the virtuous.’

They said, ‘By Allah, Allah has certainly preferred you over us, and we have indeed been erring.’

He said, ‘There shall be no reproach on you today. Allah will forgive you, and He is the most merciful of the merciful.

Take this shirt of mine, and cast it upon my father’s face; he will regain his sight, and bring me all your folks.’

As the caravan set off, their father said, ‘I sense the scent of Joseph, if you will not consider me a dotard.’

They said, ‘By God, you persist in your inveterate error.’

When the bearer of good news arrived, he cast it on his face, and he regained his sight. He said, ‘Did I not tell you, ‘‘I know from Allah what you do not know?’’ ’

They said, ‘Father! Plead [with Allah] for forgiveness of our sins! We have indeed been erring.’

He said, ‘I shall plead with my Lord to forgive you; indeed He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.’

When they entered into the presence of Joseph, he set his parents close to himself, and said, ‘Welcome to Egypt, in safety, God willing!’

And he seated his parents high upon the throne, and they fell down prostrate before him. He said, ‘Father! This is the fulfillment of my dream of long ago, which my Lord has made come true. He was certainly gracious to me when He brought me out of the prison and brought you over from the desert after that Satan had incited ill feeling between me and my brothers. Indeed my Lord is all-attentive in bringing about what He wishes. Indeed He is the All-knowing, the All-wise.’

‘My Lord! You have granted me a share in the kingdom, and taught me the interpretation of dreams. Originator of the heavens and earth! You are my guardian in this world and the Hereafter! Let my death be in submission [to You], and unite me with the Righteous.’

These are accounts from the Unseen, which We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they conspired together and schemed.

Yet most people will not have faith, however eager you should be.

You do not ask them any reward for it: it is just a reminder for all the nations.

How many a sign there is in the heavens and the earth that they pass by while they are disregardful of it!

And most of them do not believe in Allah without ascribing partners to Him.

Do they feel secure from being overtaken by a blanket punishment from Allah, or being overtaken by the Hour, suddenly, while they are unaware?

Say, ‘This is my way. I summon to Allah with insight—I and he who follows me. Immaculate is Allah, and I am not one of the polytheists.’

We did not send [any apostles] before you except as men from among the people of the towns, to whom We revealed. Have they not travelled over the land so that they may observe how was the fate of those who were before them? And the abode of the Hereafter is surely better for those who are Godwary. Do you not exercise your reason?

When the apostles lost hope and they thought that they had been told lies, Our help came to them, and We delivered whomever We wished, and Our punishment will not be averted from the guilty lot.

There is certainly a moral in their accounts for those who possess intellect. This [Quran] is not a fabricated discourse; rather, it is a confirmation of what was [revealed] before it, and an elaboration of all things, and a guidance and mercy for a people who have faith.

Alif, Lam, Mim, Ra. These are the signs of the Book. That which has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth, but most people do not believe [in it].

It is Allah who raised the heavens without any pillars that you see, and then presided over the Throne. He disposed the sun and the moon, each moving for a specified term. He directs the command, [and] elaborates the signs that you may be certain of encountering your Lord.

It is He who has spread out the earth and set in it firm mountains and streams, and of every fruit in it He has made two kinds. He draws the night’s cover over the day. There are indeed signs in that for a people who reflect.

In the earth are neighbouring terrains [of diverse kinds] and vineyards, farms, and date palms growing from the same root and from diverse roots, [all] irrigated by the same water, and We give some of them an advantage over others in flavour. There are indeed signs in that for people who exercise their reason.

If you are to wonder [at anything], then wonderful is their remark, ‘When we have become dust, shall we be [ushered] into a new creation?’ They are the ones who defy their Lord; they shall have iron collars around their necks, they shall be the inhabitants of the Fire, and they shall remain in it [forever].

They would press you for evil sooner than for good, though there have already gone by before them exemplary punishments. Indeed your Lord is forgiving to mankind despite their wrongdoing, and indeed your Lord is severe in retribution.

The faithless say, ‘Why has not some sign been sent down to him from his Lord?’ You are only a warner, and there is a guide for every people.

Allah knows what every female carries [in her womb], and what the wombs reduce and what they increase, and everything is by [precise] measure with Him,

the Knower of the sensible and the Unseen, the All-great, the All-sublime.

It is the same [to Him] whether any of you speaks secretly, or does so loudly, or whether he lurks in the night, or is open to view in daytime.

He has guardian angels, to his front and his rear, who guard him by Allah’s command. Indeed Allah does not change a people’s lot, unless they change what is in their souls. And when Allah wishes to visit ill on a people, there is nothing that can avert it, and they have no protector besides Him.

It is He who shows you the lightning, inspiring fear and hope, and He produces the clouds heavy [with rain].

The Thunder celebrates His praise, and the angels [too], in awe of Him, and He releases the thunderbolts and strikes with them whomever He wishes. Yet they dispute concerning Allah, though He is great in might.

[Only] to Him belongs the true invocation; and those whom they invoke besides Him do not answer them in any wise—like someone who stretches his hands towards water [desiring] that it should reach his mouth, but it does not reach it—and the invocations of the faithless only go awry.

To Allah prostrates whoever there is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows at sunrise and sunset.

Say, ‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?’ Say, ‘Allah!’ Say, ‘Have you then taken others besides Him for guardians, who have no control over their own benefit or harm?’ Say, ‘Are the blind one and the seer equal? Are darkness and light equal?’ Have they set up for Allah partners who have created like His creation, so that the creations seemed confusable to them? Say, ‘Allah is the creator of all things, and He is the One and the All-paramount.’

He sends down water from the sky whereat the valleys are flooded to [the extent of] their capacity, and the flood carries along a swelling scum. And from what they smelt in the fire for the purpose of [making] ornaments or wares, [there arises] a similar scum. That is how Allah compares truth and falsehood. As for the scum, it leaves as dross, and that which profits the people stays in the earth. That is how Allah draws comparisons.

For those who answer [the summons of] their Lord there shall be the best [of rewards]. But those who do not answer Him, even if they possessed all that is on the earth and as much of it besides, they would surely offer it to redeem themselves with it. For such there shall be an adverse reckoning, and their refuge shall be hell, and it is an evil resting place.