“He said, ‘You will cultivate for seven consecutive years; then whatever you harvest, leave it in its ears, except for a little that you eat. (47) Then, after that, there will come seven hard years which will consume what you have stored for them, except for a little that you preserve. (48) Then, after that, there will come a year in which the people will be given rain, and in which they will press [fruit].’ (49)

“And the king said, ‘Bring him to me.’ But when the messenger came to him, he said, ‘Return to your master and ask him about the women who cut their hands. Indeed, my Lord knows full well their scheme.’ (50)”

“He said, ‘You will cultivate for seven consecutive years’”: this is a statement in declarative form but intended as a command; that is, cultivate for seven years according to your usual practice of farming.

The word daʾab means custom. It was also said to mean: with earnestness and diligence. ʿĀṣim, in the transmission of Ḥafṣ, recited daʾaban, with the hamzah bearing a fatḥah; both are valid dialectal forms. One says, “I daʾabtu at a matter,” meaning, “I strove diligently in it.”

“Then whatever you harvest, leave it in its ears”: he instructed them to leave the wheat in its ears so that it would keep longer and not spoil—“except for a little that you eat”; that is, thresh only a little for eating. He commanded them to preserve most of it and consume only as much as they needed.

“Then, after that, there will come seven hard years”: He called the barren years hard because of the hardship they would bring upon the people. “Which will consume” means: eradicate and destroy. “What you have stored for them” means that, during those years, they would consume the food that they had prepared (1) for them. The act of consuming is attributed to the years figuratively. “Except for a little that you preserve”: that is, what you safeguard and store away for seed.

“Then, after that, there will come a year in which the people will be given rain”: that is, they will be sent rain, from ghayth, meaning rain. It was also said that they will be delivered, as in the Arabs’ expression, “I sought the aid of so-and-so, and he came to my rescue.” “And in which they will press [fruit]”: Ḥamzah and al-Kisāʾī recited, “you will press,” in the second person, because the entire passage is addressed directly to them. The others recited it in the third person, referring back to the people. Its meaning is that they will press grapes into wine, olives into oil, and sesame into oil. By this, he meant an abundance of blessings and prosperity. Abū ʿUbaydah said: “They will press” means that they will be delivered from distress and drought. The words al-ʿaṣar and al-ʿaṣarah mean deliverance and refuge (2).

“And the king said, ‘Bring him to me.’” This was because, when the cupbearer returned to the king and informed him of what Joseph had told him in answer (3) concerning the interpretation of his dream, and the king realized that what he had said would indeed come to pass, he said: “Bring him to me.”