Surah Yusuf, Chapter 12
(Revealed in Mecca) 111 verses in 12 Sections
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In The Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
The Magnitude and Glory of the Qur’an
The Content of the Surah
Before beginning our discussion of the verses of this Surah, it is necessary to point out some of the points:
- All of the verses of this Surah, except a few, concern the beautiful, instructive biography of Hadrat Yusuf (as) and this is the reason why this Surah is called “Yusuf.” And, it is also, for this reason, that out of the 27 times that the name of Yusuf has been mentioned in the Qur’an, 25 of them are found in this Surah. The other two suras in which his name has been mentioned are in verse 34 of Surah Al-Ghafir, and in verse 84 of Surah Al-’An‘am
- Focusing our attention on the verses of this Surah reveals the fact that the Holy Qur’an is a miracle in all its dimensions, and the champions it presents in its stories are real, not imaginary and unique in their class.
- The unique quality about the story of Prophet Yusuf [علیہ السلام] is that it has been narrated in one go in the Quran, and Allah has described it as “Ahsan Al-Qasas” – the most beautiful of stories. This is because it has a beautiful example of human nature that can guarantee us success should we choose to adopt and follow it in our personal lives.
- The way it has been narrated, providing dialogue and details of what happened to Prophet Yusuf at the different phases of his life, throws light on the ways people dealt with him throughout his young years, and how his consistently good reactions to their actions ultimately worked in his favor and led to his success.
Yusuf was one of twelve sons of Prophet Yaqoub [علیہ السلام]. His ten older brothers felt envious of the love and affection felt for him and his younger brother by their father.