The Story of Joseph and Jacob, peace be upon them both

This narrative is among the most wondrous of all stories. Allah relates it in full, devoting to it an entire surah—lengthy, detailed, and unmistakably clear—so that a thoughtful recitation nearly dispenses with further commentary. In it He traces Joseph’s condition from the very outset of his affair to its conclusion, together with every transition and change of circumstance in between. Concerning it the Almighty says, “In Joseph and his brothers there are certainly signs for those who inquire” (12:7).

With Allah’s help, let us draw out the benefits found in this magnificent account:

• Among them: this story is one of the finest and most lucid, because it displays a wide range of shifts from one state to another:
– from one ordeal to another,
– from trial to favor and divine bounty,
– from humiliation to honor,
– from safety to fear, and vice-versa,
– from sovereignty to servitude, and the reverse,
– from separation and dispersion to reunion and harmony, and the reverse,
– from joy to sorrow, and back again.