“And with him there entered into the prison two youths. One of them said (unto Yusuf): ‘I saw (in dream) myself pressing wine’ The other said: ‘I saw (in my dream) myself carrying on my head bread from which the birds were eating.’ Tell us its interpretations, verily we see you of the righteous ones’.”
Tafseer;
Among those who entered into prison with Yusuf, there were two young men, as the verse says:
“And with him there entered into the prison two youths…”
It is important to note that they were imprisoned because of the false accusations of their enemies who claimed that they were about to poison the king.
“…One of them said (unto Yusuf): ‘I saw (in dream) myself pressing wine’ The other said: ‘I saw (in my dream) myself carrying on my head bread from which the birds were eating.’…”
With this ayah Allah (swt) begins a new section of this Surah. Now the trial with the wife of the Aziz and the women of the city was over. Yusuf (AS) was no longer faced with their temptations. Allah tells us in this verse that two youth entered the prison with him. These two young men each tell Yusuf (AS) about the dream that each of them had and then they ask him (AS) for the interpretation of these dreams.
What made them come to Yusuf (AS)? As Allah (swt) tells us in the ayah it was because he was among those who had Ihsan. There are two kinds of Ihsan.
1) Ihsan towards Allah
2)Ihsan towards people.
Ihsan towards Allah (swt) is to build within you the certain knowledge that Allah sees you so you do every action to please Him alone.
Ihsan towards people is that you always wish the best for them. You are always sincere to them. You only want for them what you know is best for them. You desire good for them so you go out of your way to provide them with good.
Yusuf (AS) was among those who did this. He (AS) only wanted the best for others. The prisoners in the jail saw this. It is recorded in the books of tafsir that Yusuf (AS) would go out of his way to help all of the prisoners. He (AS) would visit those prisoners who were sick and he would stand by them during their sickness.
He (AS) would help them and provide for them all that they need to get through their sickness. He (AS) would also console and support those prisoners who were feeling sad and depressed. He (AS) would remind them of Allah (swt) and remind them how He (swt) knew about their suffering and pains.
Yusuf (AS) would also give space and relief for those prisoners who felt the narrowness of the prison constricting in on them. He (AS) would remind them of their relief that is coming soon, either with their release from prison or with their deaths and their return to Allah (swt).
So in every way, Yusuf (AS) was always there for these prisoners. Even though they had done nothing for him, and even though many of them were criminals, Yusuf (AS) still tried to do what was best for them. Thus he (AS) had Ihsan for the creation just like he had for the Creator. He was sincere for them and he (as) did good for them to the best of his ability. This then is the reason why these two young men came to Yusuf (AS). This then is why they told him (AS) about their dream.
Then, they added to their statement unto Yusuf:
“…Tell us its interpretations, verily we see you of the righteous ones’.”
Some Issues to Remember
1. An Islamic tradition denotes that the reason why they called Yusuf a truly righteous person was because he used to always take care of the sick and the needy in the prison and find accommodation for others.
2. We must take dreams seriously, for there are secrets hidden in some of them.
3. Once the people have confidence in someone, they tend to share all their secrets with him.
4. Enlightened people also leave their impact and influence upon others even when they are confined in prison.
5. Even guilty people tend to have a high esteem for those who are truly righteous.
Authentic tauheed:You can expect the majority of the prison population to be young men
–esp when you are young and naive, you do not care about life, you do stupid things
–in daar ul harb, they have a huge prison population
–2 men were in prison with the Yusuf and
–they asked for the interpretation of their dreams
LESSONS
1)Remain Pious whether humiliated or in a very high position – Omar Suleiman
Yusuf’s character shines in all situations. Yusuf in his lowest part of his life in prison is called a Muhsinun by a person who didn’t even know him and the highest position in his life is still called a Muhsinun by his brothers who didn’t recognize him as Yusuf; which shows that wealth and fame didn’t corrupt him. The same words were said to him at the lowest and highest point in his life to show that the circumstances didn’t change him.
2)Action precede words when it comes to calling people to Islam.
Look at Yūsuf ,and what he does in jail and throughout the entire story. He always establishes his moral character, mercy, tenderness, iḥsān.
He hasn’t even opened his mouth to preach, but within a few days, the prison is abuzz that this is a good guy. Once that is established, then the opportunity presents itself and then Yūsuf starts preaching the message.
3)We must live a good life, so people will have confidence in us. People who have knowledge influence others in any circumstance.
4)Any trial or temptation will eventually pass. If only we can have the patience for Allah (swt) in just one more moment, then eventually we will find that the temptation has passed.
5)One of the most challenging things when facing difficulty is ACTUALLY accepting what happened to us. We may not be in the ideal situation to face this difficulty or challenge. However, denying and resisting our current situation will not help. In fact, what you resist persists. Accept it so you can start moving through it.
6)Nothing happens by accident. Everything occurs for a purpose. Often life isn’t fair – but our responsibility is to do right and leave the consequences to Allah.
7)Invest your time in meeting the needs of others. In spite of his own difficulty and hardship, Yusuf had become sensitive to others. we can invest our time in meeting the needs of others. Yusuf not only noticed and cared – he got involved.
The more lesson you learn from this ayah is that
–the kuffar can have true dreams
–the pagan prisoners did not go to kaafirs for interpretation of their dreams
–but they went to a pious man, Yusuf
–therefore you should only approach pious people to interpret dreams for you
–and also, do not even tell your dreams to people who are not pious
–these are the lessons one may learn from this ayah
–do not approach evil people to interpret dreams, even the kaafir knows this
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