from his father, from Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, from the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, who said: “Indeed, the noble man, son of the noble man, son of the noble man, son of the noble man, was Joseph son of Jacob son of Isaac son of Abraham.” (1)

Regarding His saying, “My dear father”: Abu Ja‘far and Ibn ‘Amir recited it as “My dear father,” with the final t pronounced with a fatḥah throughout the Quran, on the basis that its underlying form is “O my dear father.”

The others recited it as “My dear father,” with the final t pronounced with a kasrah, because its original form is “O my dear father,” with a vowelless final consonant, which is then given a kasrah.

“Indeed, I saw eleven stars”: that is, stars among the stars of the sky. The word “stars” is in the accusative as an explanatory specification.

“And the sun and the moon—I saw them prostrating themselves before me.” He did not say, “I saw them prostrating before me,” using the feminine plural form. The pronominal forms hāʾ, mīm, yāʾ, and nūn are those used for beings endowed with reason. Since he described them with an action of rational beings, he referred to them using the pronouns of rational beings, just as Allah, exalted is He, says: “O ants! Enter your homes” (al-Naml—18).

In the interpretation of the dream, the stars were his brothers (2). They were eleven men from whom light was sought, just as light is sought from the stars. The sun was his father, and the moon was his mother. This was stated by Qatadah.

Al-Suddi said: “The moon was his maternal aunt, because his mother Rachel had already died.”

Ibn Jurayj said: “The moon was his father and the sun was his mother, because the sun is grammatically feminine and the moon grammatically masculine.”

Joseph, peace be upon him, was twelve years old when he saw this dream.

It was also said that he saw it on the Friday night of Laylat al-Qadr; then, when he related it to his father.