“But Satan caused him to forget to mention him to his master.” It was said that Satan caused the cupbearer to forget to mention Joseph to the king. In other words, Satan made him forget to mention Joseph to his master.
Ibn Abbas said—and this is the view of the majority—that Satan caused Joseph to forget the remembrance of his Lord when he sought relief from someone other than Him and sought the aid of a created being. This was a momentary lapse induced in Joseph by Satan (1).
“So he remained”—that is, he stayed—“in prison for several years.” Scholars differed over the meaning of “several.” Mujahid said: between three and seven years. Qatadah said: between three and nine years. Ibn Abbas said: fewer than ten years.
Most commentators hold that “several years” in this verse means seven years. Joseph had already remained there for five years before that, making a total of twelve years.
Wahb said: Job was afflicted for seven years; Joseph was left in prison for seven years; and Nebuchadnezzar was punished by being transformed into one of the wild beasts for seven years (2).
Malik ibn Dinar said: When Joseph said to the cupbearer, “Mention me to your master,” he was told: “O Joseph, you have taken someone other than Me as one upon whom you rely; I shall surely prolong your imprisonment.” Joseph then wept and said: “My Lord, the severity of my affliction caused my heart to forget, and so I uttered a word; I shall not return to it” (3).
Al-Hasan said: Gabriel entered upon Joseph in prison. When Joseph saw him, he recognized him and said to him: “O brother of the warners—”
(1) Abu Hayyan held that the pronoun refers to the cupbearer; this is the first view. It is also the view preferred by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah on several grounds. He said: “Rather, Satan caused the one who had been saved from the two to forget to mention [Joseph] to his master. This is correct, for it accords with his words, ‘Mention me to your master,’ and with Allah’s statement, ‘Then Satan caused him to forget the mention of his master.’ A pronoun refers to the nearest antecedent unless there is evidence to the contrary. Moreover, Joseph did not forget the remembrance of his Lord; rather, he was mindful of his Lord...” He then said, after presenting numerous arguments: “It thus becomes clear that the words, ‘Then Satan caused him to forget the mention of his master,’ mean that Satan caused the young man to forget to mention this matter to his master, and he forgot to mention Joseph to his master. A verbal noun may be attributed to either its subject or its object: Joseph remembered his Lord, whereas the young man forgot to mention Joseph to his master. Satan caused him to forget to mention this particular matter to his master; although he served his master wine, this matter might not have occurred to his mind. Satan caused him to forget to remind his master. When Joseph said, ‘Mention me,’ he instructed him to remind his master, but Satan caused him to forget to do so. Reminding his master means causing him to remember; thus, Satan caused him to forget to make his master remember Joseph. The term ‘mention’ is both a verbal noun and a noun, and, when construed as a noun, its genitive construction may encompass all these meanings: Satan caused him to forget the mention connected to his master, to whom it is attributed.”
What further demonstrates that it was the young man, rather than Joseph, who forgot his master is the subsequent verse: “And the one who had been saved from the two said, after a time had passed and he remembered, ‘I will inform you of its interpretation, so send me.’” The words, “and he remembered after a time,” show that he had forgotten and then remembered. See Ibn Taymiyyah, Daqaiq al-Tafsir, 3:259-263; see also Abu Hayyan, Al-Bahr al-Muhit, 5:311-312.
(2) Al-Tabari said in his Tafsir, 16:115: “The correct meaning of bid' is from three to nine, or up to ten; it is not less than three. The same applies to numbers exceeding a decade up to one hundred; beyond one hundred, the term bid' is not used.”
(3) Reported by al-Tabari in his Tafsir, 16:111.