and for this reason Allah Most High says at the end of the surah:

“We sent before you only men from the towns, to whom We revealed. Have they not travelled through the land and seen what became of those before them? The home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah. Will you not then use reason?”

“Until, when the messengers had lost hope and their people thought they had been lied to, Our help came to them, and those We willed were saved. Our punishment cannot be averted from the criminal people.”

“There is certainly a lesson in their accounts for people of understanding. This is no fabricated tale, but a confirmation of what came before it, a detailed explanation of all things, and guidance and mercy for people who believe.”

Thus He explains that the lesson lies in the accounts of the messengers. He commands us to consider the fate of those who rejected them, and how the messengers themselves ultimately attained victory. It is well known that the story of Moses, including what happened between him and Pharaoh and others, is far, far greater and nobler than the story of Joseph. It is therefore the greatest of the accounts of the prophets related in the Quran. Allah repeats it more often than any other and recounts it at greater length and in greater detail. Indeed, the accounts of the other prophets—such as Noah, Hūd, Sālih, Shuʿayb, and the other messengers—are greater than the story of Joseph. For this reason, Allah repeats those accounts in the Quran but does not repeat the story of Joseph.

This is because those who opposed Joseph did not oppose him on account of religion. Rather, their hostility arose from worldly concerns: they envied him for his father’s love and wronged him, but he remained patient and feared Allah. He—may Allah’s blessings be upon him—was tested both by those who wronged him and by someone who invited him to sexual immorality. In both trials, he remained patient and feared Allah. He was also tested with sovereignty, and thus underwent trials in prosperity as well as adversity. In both circumstances, he remained patient and feared Allah. His story was therefore among the best of narratives, and it is