– from prosperity to drought, and the reverse,
– from constriction to spacious relief, and the reverse,
– from embarking to outcomes that are wholly commendable.

So blessed be He who has recounted this tale and made it a lesson for those endowed with understanding!

• Among the benefits: the surah lays down the basic principles of sound dream interpretation. It shows that this branch of knowledge is important and that Allah grants it to whom He wills among His servants. Its practice rests largely on discerning correspondences, drawing analogies, and recognizing likenesses in qualities.

• Consider the appropriateness of Joseph’s own dream: he saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars prostrating themselves before him. These heavenly bodies are the adornment of the sky and a source of its benefits; likewise, the prophets, scholars, and saints are the adornment of the earth, guiding people through the darkness just as celestial lights guide the traveler. In addition, his father and mother are the root, while his brothers branch out from them; it is therefore fitting that the root appear larger and more luminous than the branch. Thus the sun represented one of his parents—his mother or his father—and the moon the other, while the stars stood for his brothers. It is also fitting that the one who prostrates shows reverence to the one before whom he prostrates, and that the latter be held in honor. This indicated that Joseph would come to be honored and revered by his parents (1) and his brothers. Such an outcome, however, would only be reached through a chain of causes—knowledge, deeds, and divine selection—hence the Almighty said, “And thus will your Lord choose you” (Quran 12:6).

• Another instance of apt correspondence appears in the dream of the two young men in prison. Joseph interpreted the vision of the one who saw himself pressing wine: a person engaged in that work is usually a servant to someone else, the pressing itself is done for another’s benefit, and the servant is subordinate to his master. The pressing also culminates in pouring drink, which was precisely that young man’s duty. For these reasons Joseph interpreted the dream in terms of the end to which the act points.