The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 205
CHAPTER 12 YUSUF (Revealed before Hijrah) Date of Revelation and Context According to most Companions of the Holy Prophet, the whole of this Surah was revealed at Mecca; but, according to Ibn 'Abbās and Qatāda, verses 2 to 4 were revealed after Hijrah. As already pointed out, chapter 10 (Surah Yūnus) deals with both aspects of God's dealings with man—His punishment and mercy. But while chapter 11 (Surah Hūd) deals with the subject of Divine punishment, the present chapter deals with that of Divine mercy. The Sūrah dealing with God's punishment has been placed before that dealing with His mercy because the enemies of the Holy Prophet were shown mercy after they had been punished for their misdeeds. Subject Matter The present Surah, however, possesses one peculiarity. The whole of it deals with the life story of only one Prophet-Joseph. In this it differs from any other Surah. The reason for this peculiarity is that the life of the Prophet Joseph bears a close resemblance to that of the Holy Prophet even in minor details. The entire Surah has been devoted to a somewhat detailed account of the Prophet Joseph's life that it might serve as a forewarning of the incidents that were to occur during the life-time of the Holy Prophet. In chapter 10 the story of the Prophet Jonah was chosen as an illustration of Divine mercy, while in the detailed account given in the present chapter the example of Joseph has been cited as an illustration. Two reasons may be given for this: (1) The lives of Jonah and the Holy Prophet resemble one another only in their closing stages, there being little resemblance between them in the intervening stages. But Joseph's life, as already stated, resembles that of the Holy Prophet even in small details. (2) Although the case of Jonah resembles that of the Holy Prophet inasmuch as the peoples of both Jonah and the Holy Prophet were ultimately saved through God's mercy, the resemblance between the two is only partial whereas the resemblance between Joseph and the Holy Prophet even in the way in which God treated the former's brethren and the latter's tribe is very close and is almost complete. The mercy shown to Jonah's people was directly the result of God's grace, Jonah having no hand in it, while the declaration of pardon for Joseph's brethren was made by Joseph himself, and so it happened with the Quraish of Mecca that the announcement of their unqualified forgiveness came directly from the Holy Prophet's himself. 1413