The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 213
PT. 12 R. 2. YUSUF CH. 12 لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي يُوْسُفَ وَاِخْوَتِه أَيتُ Surely, in Joseph and his. 8 للسَّابِلِينَ brethren there are Signs for the inquirers. 1512 اِذْ قَالُوا لَيُوْسُفَ وَاَخْوُهُ اَحَبُّ إِلى When they said, Verily. 9 are Joseph and his brother آبِيْنَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي dearer to our father than we are although we are a strong party. and through him He would bestow distinction on Jacob's family also. God would make them believe in Joseph and thus they would share with him the favours and blessings of God. This verse also embodies a for it says, "His brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying" (Gen. 37:11). The fact that Jacob "observed the saying" i. e. remembered it and bore it in mind, shows that he believed it to be a true divergence from the Bible. According dream and a genuine heavenly vision. to the Quran, Jacob was pleased to hear of the dream of Joseph and held it as true. But the Bible says: "His father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" (Gen. 37:10). Evidently there was no reason or occasion for Jacob to become angry with his son for having seen a dream in which he had no hand. No reasonable person, much less a Prophet of God, would act so unreasonably. Neither can it be said that Jacob thought Joseph was telling a lie and that really he had dreamt no dream, for the words which Jacob uttered when he heard of the dream i. e. "What is this dream that thou hast dreamed?" show that Jacob did believe that Joseph had really seen a dream. It is curious that the Bible contradicts itself in this very passage, This incident furnishes a fourth point of similarity between Joseph and the Holy Prophet. Just as Jacob believed in the truth of Joseph's dream, similarly, when Waraqah heard of the first revelation of the Holy Prophet, he accepted it as the 1421 true Word of God and even likened it to the revelation of Moses. 1512. Commentary: By "inquirers" is here meant those who inquire about the truth of the Holy Prophet. This verse also shows that the life history of Joseph as given in this Surah was not meant as a mere narrative, but provided solid proof of the truth of the Holy Prophet. In fact, the incidents in the life of Joseph were so many signs or prophecies which were later to be fulfilled in the life of the Holy Prophet.