A man can be thrown in a well by his own brothers, sold like cargo, lied about, jailed for a crime he did not commit, and forgotten for years. And then, one day, those same brothers can be standing in front of him, not knowing who he is, hungry, bowing, begging him for food. He holds every card. He could end them with a word. What does a prophet do with that moment?
This is day seventeen of twenty-nine, the night the most beautiful story in the Qur'an reaches its reunion. Yusuf, peace be upon him, comes out of the prison and up onto a throne, his brothers come to Egypt for grain, and the secret he has carried since childhood finally breaks open. Retold faithfully from Mufti Ismail Menk's beloved series, and built around the moment that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would one day borrow, word for word, on the day he forgave Makkah.
The father who would not lose hope
قُلْ يَٰعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا۟ مِن رَّحْمَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
“Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."”
Surah az-Zumar 39:53 Read 39:53 with tafsir
Back in Canaan, an old blind man was still waiting. Decades had gone by, Mufti Menk notes the reports range from twenty-five years to as many as eighty, and whatever the true span, it was a wait measured in decades. Yusuf had vanished into a well a lifetime ago. His full brother had now been kept in Egypt too. And Yaqub, peace be upon him, the father, the prophet, still rose every day with the same du'a on his lips and the same refusal in his heart: do not give up. Go, he told his sons, and search for Yusuf and his brother, and never despair of the relief of Allah.
His own children thought he had lost his grip. They told him, bluntly, that he would die saying that name. But Yaqub was holding onto something the Qur'an states as a law of faith: no one despairs of Allah's mercy except a people who disbelieve. Mufti Menk lingers here, because it is a mirror. We lose a job and lose hope. We lose a spouse, lose someone we love, and the whole sky goes dark. Yet here is a prophet making the same du'a for decades without cracking, because the One he is asking is ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. If Allah is the Most Merciful, how can the one who asks Him ever run out of hope? The du'a itself, made with hope, is worship.
From the prison to the storehouses of Egypt
Egypt's king had been troubled by a dream no one could read: seven fat cows devoured by seven lean ones, seven green ears of grain and seven dry. It was Yusuf, still forgotten in his cell, who unlocked it. Seven years of plenty are coming, he said, so plant and store, and leave the grain on its stalk so it keeps. Then seven years of hard drought will come and eat everything you set aside. The king was so struck that he called for the man behind the interpretation, and Yusuf would not simply walk free: first his name had to be cleared, the truth of his innocence spoken aloud, before he stepped out.
Mufti Menk stops on a small, modern wonder folded into that advice. A brother from Syria once told him that his father, an olive farmer, found his harvest spoiling fast once the olives were pressed and stripped, so he tried Yusuf's method, leaving the crop on its branch and in its skin, and the shelf life stretched out. Grain on the stalk, maize in its husk, kept by the design of the One who taught Yusuf to say it. And then the king set this former prisoner over the treasures and storehouses of the whole land. Notice, Mufti Menk says, that authority went to the one most fit for it, given his knowledge, not to a friend or a relative. When power is handed to people who do not deserve it and cannot carry it, the Prophet ﷺ warned, wait for the Hour: it is the end of that family, that company, that country. Yusuf was trusted because he was trustworthy, and a starving region would live because of it.
The brothers come to a man they do not recognise
إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ ٱللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتُهُۥ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَٰنًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
“The believers are only those who, when Allāh is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely -”
Surah al-Anfal 8:2 Read 8:2 with tafsir
The drought reached Canaan, and the grain ran out. So the brothers travelled down to Egypt again, this time worn thin, their goods too poor to pay properly. They stood before the Aziz, the one in authority, not knowing they were looking at the boy they had thrown away. O Aziz, they said, hardship has touched us and our family, so give us full measure and be charitable to us. Mufti Menk catches the picture: the brothers who once schemed to be rid of Yusuf were now holding out a bowl to him, asking for charity. The pit they dug to bury him had become the throne they begged at.
And Yusuf saw what suffering had done to them. They had come in humbled, softened, the way prolonged difficulty bends a person low. Do not wait for hardship to put you on the ground, Mufti Menk presses, be there already, because whoever humbles himself for the sake of Allah, Allah raises him. That softening is the work the Qur'an describes in the believer: the heart that trembles at Allah's name, the faith that grows when His verses are read, skin that shivers and then settles into His remembrance. The brothers were being prepared, by years of loss, for the words that were coming.
"I am Yusuf"
قَالُوٓا۟ أَءِنَّكَ لَأَنتَ يُوسُفُ ۖ قَالَ أَنَا۠ يُوسُفُ وَهَٰذَآ أَخِى ۖ قَدْ مَنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْنَآ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ مَن يَتَّقِ وَيَصْبِرْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
“They said, "Are you indeed Joseph?" He said, "I am Joseph, and this is my brother. Allāh has certainly favored us. Indeed, he who fears Allāh and is patient, then indeed, Allāh does not allow to be lost the reward of those who do good."”
Surah Yusuf 12:90 Read 12:90 with tafsir
قَالُوا۟ تَٱللَّهِ لَقَدْ ءَاثَرَكَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا وَإِن كُنَّا لَخَٰطِـِٔينَ
“They said, "By Allāh, certainly has Allāh preferred you over us, and indeed, we have been sinners."”
Surah Yusuf 12:91 Read 12:91 with tafsir
When they pleaded once more for their younger brother, Yusuf could hold it no longer. He asked them one quiet question: do you know what you did to Yusuf and his brother when you were ignorant? It landed like a blow. No one alive knew that story except the brothers themselves, and Yusuf. In that instant they understood. Are you really Yusuf? And he answered: I am Yusuf, and this is my brother. Allah has favoured us. Whoever fears Allah and is patient, Allah does not let the reward of the doers of good go to waste.
Mufti Menk pauses on the two words Yusuf names as the secret of it all: taqwa and sabr, consciousness of Allah and patience. That, he says, is what every grade of this long ordeal had been resting on. And he points to a stunning piece of timing. This whole surah, Surah Yusuf, was sent down to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in Makkah in the worst year of his life, the year of grief, when he had just buried his beloved wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib, and had been beaten and driven out of Ta'if. Into that wound Allah revealed the most beautiful of stories, a long account of a man wronged for decades who is patient, and is raised. Look how long Yusuf suffered, the surah seemed to say to him ﷺ, and how Allah did not waste it. So bear patience. It brought his heart comfort.
The brothers did not argue. They swore by Allah: He has preferred you over us, and we were truly sinners. Look at what they had built and what Allah built, Mufti Menk says. They plotted to drag this boy down, and Allah raised him so high that they ended up depending on him for their bread. Never plot anyone's downfall. The same hands that threw Yusuf into a well were now lifted in confession before his throne.
No blame upon you today
قَالَ لَا تَثْرِيبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْيَوْمَ ۖ يَغْفِرُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۖ وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ
“He said, "No blame will there be upon you today. May Allāh forgive you; and He is the most merciful of the merciful.”
Surah Yusuf 12:92 Read 12:92 with tafsir
ٱذْهَبُوا۟ بِقَمِيصِى هَٰذَا فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِ أَبِى يَأْتِ بَصِيرًا وَأْتُونِى بِأَهْلِكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
“Take this, my shirt, and cast it over the face of my father; he will become seeing. And bring me your family, all together."”
Surah Yusuf 12:93 Read 12:93 with tafsir
Here is the hinge of the whole story, and Yusuf does not hesitate. No revenge speech. No drawing it out, no savouring it, no I-am-finally-ready-to-punish-you. He had the authority and the cause: they had tried to kill him, he could have had them executed. Instead, in one breath: no blame upon you today. Allah will forgive you, and He is the most merciful of the merciful. Over. Forgiven. Forgotten. Then, without a pause, he moved straight to mending the next wound: take this shirt of mine, lay it over my father's face, and his sight will return, and bring me your whole family.
This, Mufti Menk says, is how you actually solve a problem, in your home, with your siblings, with your in-laws: you forgive, and you let it die there and then. When you forgive, you are the one set free; carry the grudge and it chains you, weighs you down, keeps you up at night. Yusuf never raised it again. He gave his brothers homes in Egypt, made them people the community looked up to, and never once went around telling anyone what they had done to him. He had every right to ruin them. He chose mercy, and his choice became one of the highest moments in the Qur'an.
The shirt that gave Yaqub back his sight
فَلَمَّآ أَن جَآءَ ٱلْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَىٰهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِۦ فَٱرْتَدَّ بَصِيرًا ۖ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ إِنِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“And when the bearer of good tidings arrived, he cast it over his face, and he returned [once again] seeing. He said, "Did I not tell you that I know from Allāh that which you do not know?"”
Surah Yusuf 12:96 Read 12:96 with tafsir
قَالُوا۟ يَٰٓأَبَانَا ٱسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا خَٰطِـِٔينَ
“They said, "O our father, ask for us forgiveness of our sins; indeed, we have been sinners."”
Surah Yusuf 12:97 Read 12:97 with tafsir
The caravan set out for Canaan carrying the shirt. And the moment the bearer of good news laid it over the old man's face, his eyes cleared and he could see again. Didn't I tell you, Yaqub said, that I know from Allah what you do not know? Years of weeping and worry had clouded those eyes, and now the very shirt of the son he had wept for restored them, by the will of Allah. Mufti Menk adds, almost in passing, that researchers in the West have looked into properties in human sweat that may help with cataracts, and smiles at the wonder of it, but the cure here was Allah's, plain and simple.
Now the brothers turned to their father with the words they should have said long ago: O our father, ask forgiveness for our sins, we were truly sinners. At last they owned it. Mufti Menk draws the lesson gently: may Allah give us the courage to admit our wrongs and turn back before it is too late. Confession is the doorway. They had finally walked through it.
The dream comes true, and Yusuf's only request
وَرَفَعَ أَبَوَيْهِ عَلَى ٱلْعَرْشِ وَخَرُّوا۟ لَهُۥ سُجَّدًا ۖ وَقَالَ يَٰٓأَبَتِ هَٰذَا تَأْوِيلُ رُءْيَٰىَ مِن قَبْلُ قَدْ جَعَلَهَا رَبِّى حَقًّا ۖ وَقَدْ أَحْسَنَ بِىٓ إِذْ أَخْرَجَنِى مِنَ ٱلسِّجْنِ وَجَآءَ بِكُم مِّنَ ٱلْبَدْوِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ أَن نَّزَغَ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَ إِخْوَتِىٓ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى لَطِيفٌ لِّمَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
“And he raised his parents upon the throne, and they bowed to him in prostration. And he said, "O my father, this is the explanation of my vision of before. My Lord has made it reality. And He was certainly good to me when He took me out of prison and brought you [here] from bedouin life after Satan had induced [estrangement] between me and my brothers. Indeed, my Lord is Subtle in what He wills. Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise.”
Surah Yusuf 12:100 Read 12:100 with tafsir
رَبِّ قَدْ ءَاتَيْتَنِى مِنَ ٱلْمُلْكِ وَعَلَّمْتَنِى مِن تَأْوِيلِ ٱلْأَحَادِيثِ ۚ فَاطِرَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ أَنتَ وَلِىِّۦ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ ۖ تَوَفَّنِى مُسْلِمًا وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ
“My Lord, You have given me [something] of sovereignty and taught me of the interpretation of dreams. Creator of the heavens and earth, You are my protector in this world and the Hereafter. Cause me to die a Muslim and join me with the righteous."”
Surah Yusuf 12:101 Read 12:101 with tafsir
The whole family came down to Egypt, and Yusuf raised his parents up beside him on the throne, and they all fell down before him in honour. And he turned to his father: O my father, this is the meaning of the dream I had so long ago, my Lord has made it real. The boy who once told Yaqub he had seen the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bow to him was now looking at his mother, his father, and his eleven brothers. Mufti Menk notes the careful boundary here: that prostration of respect was permitted in their law, but in the law brought by Muhammad ﷺ the forehead goes to the ground for the Maker alone, for no one else.
And then watch how Yusuf reads his own life. He took me out of prison, he says, he counts the rescue as a favour, and never once calls the prison a punishment. He brought you to me from the desert, after Satan had sown discord between me and my brothers, the favour again, not the years of separation. A man given a kingdom, wealth, beauty, knowledge, the most powerful position of his age, chooses to see the good. How many of us, Mufti Menk asks, are blinded by two negatives and miss a hundred blessings? Then comes the most striking part of all. At the very peak of power, Yusuf wants only one thing, and he asks for it: My Lord, You have given me sovereignty and taught me the interpretation of dreams. Creator of the heavens and the earth, You are my protector in this world and the next. Take my soul as a Muslim, and join me with the righteous. None of this will last, he knew. So the king of Egypt, with everything, asked his Lord for a good death and good company.
The words he ﷺ chose at the Conquest of Makkah
ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآءِ ٱلْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ ۖ وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ أَجْمَعُوٓا۟ أَمْرَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَمْكُرُونَ
“That is from the news of the unseen which We reveal, [O Muḥammad], to you. And you were not with them when they put together their plan while they conspired.”
Surah Yusuf 12:102 Read 12:102 with tafsir
Now draw the line the Qur'an itself was drawing. Years after this surah comforted him in his year of grief, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ returned to Makkah at the head of ten thousand. This was the city that had mocked him, boycotted his family until children went hungry, plotted his murder, killed his companions, and finally driven him out. He came back victorious, and Mufti Menk paints him entering not with drums and raised fists but bowed so low over his camel in gratitude that his head nearly touched the saddle, his face down before Allah who had given him the day.
And he turned to the Quraysh, the very people who had done all of it, standing now entirely at his mercy. O people of Quraysh, he asked, what do you think I am going to do with you? They could only say: good, we hope, for you are a noble brother, the son of a noble brother. And then he ﷺ reached for the oldest words of mercy in the Book, the words of Yusuf, and gave them as his answer: I say to you what Yusuf said to his brothers, no blame upon you today. Go, you are free. He sought no revenge. A handful of named criminals aside, he let the city go, and so many of them entered Islam that day because they had watched a prophet forgive instead of crush. The brother thrown in a well and the Prophet driven out of his city reached for the exact same sentence, and that is no accident: it is the chain of the prophets, every one of them rehearsing the mercy that would be perfected in him ﷺ.
Allah seals the surah by telling His Messenger ﷺ plainly: this is news of the unseen We reveal to you, you were not there when the brothers schemed. He could not have known it, so it could only have come from the One who watched it happen. And that is the door this story opens for you. Forgiveness over revenge is not weakness; it is the choice of the strongest people who ever lived. The next time someone wrongs you and you hold every card, remember the sentence two prophets chose, and choose it too.