In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A Gentle Commentary
on the Book: Identification Cards
for the Surahs of the Noble Mus-haf,
by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nassif,
may Allah preserve him.
Surah Yusuf.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds,
and peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers.
We continue with the gentle commentary on the identification cards,
and we have arrived at Surah Yusuf, peace be upon him.
I have three reflections to share regarding it.
The first reflection concerns the placement of the surah,
which is an aspect I have not paused over
with any preceding surah
in this series.
The placement of the surah
refers to
its correlation with what precedes it in the Mus-haf;
that is, examining the arrangement of the surah within the Mus-haf
by explaining the thematic correlation of each surah to the one before it.
And indeed,
we clarified in the introduction
that the primary work relied upon for this
is the book by Imam al-Suyuti, *Tanaasur al-Durar
fi Tanaasub al-Suwar*.
In fact, I deviated slightly from it
in certain places,
should you find in my discourse anything
ambiguous.
It is a work—
I mean the book *Tanaasuq al-Durar*—
that is truly precious and well-deserving of dedicated scholarly study,
because it establishes general principles.
It is fitting here
to mention one of those principles,
which is his view that every surah provides detail for what came in the surah before it.
This is plainly evident in the correlation mentioned here:
he noted that among its correlations—that is, Surah Yusuf—
is its elaboration of what was mentioned in summary within Surah Hud
regarding Allah's blessings upon the family of Ibrahim.
Over there in Hud, He stated:
"The mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, people of the house."
And among the family of Ibrahim,
from his lineage, was Yusuf, peace be upon him.
This leads us to another point:
among the Companions were those who yearned
to complete a surah,
as when one was struck by an arrow, then a second, and a third,
while he was reciting the Qur'an,
yet he disliked cutting short a surah he had begun.
This reflects a kind of yearning to bring the surah to completion.
Furthermore, among the Companions was 'Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him,
who recited the entire Qur'an in a single rak'ah,
as is authentically established from him.
It is as though each surah creates longing for the one following it,
and Allah Almighty knows best.
As for Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him,
we will see when we reach Surah Ghafir—
as you will find at the beginning of that surah—
that he used to liken the reciter of the Qur'an
to someone strolling about, seeking the traces of lush vegetation and rain,
until he reaches the family of Ha-Mim surahs;
so it is as if he transitions from beauty to beauty, and then to what is most beautiful.
Thus, understanding these interrelated ties
between the surahs
can foster this very feeling—
a person's inner yearning
to recite the next surah
immediately upon completing the one before it.
I ask Allah for His favor for me and for you.
Then, the second reflection
concerns the abundance of moral lessons within the story of Yusuf, peace be upon him.
For this reason, numerous dedicated works have been composed exclusively on this surah.
Many surahs have had dedicated treatises written about them,
distinct from full-scale Tafsir works covering the entire Mus-haf.
There are particular surahs granted independent treatises
in Tafsir and other disciplines,
and among these standalone works is Surah Yusuf;
indeed, it has been treated individually very frequently.
Here I would like to draw attention
to a book that has virtually no peer,
namely the book *Mu'tamar Surah Yusuf* (The Conference of Surah Yusuf)
by Shaykh 'Abdullah al-'Alami.
In this book, the author imagined
that a conference was convened,
gathering a number of Muslim scholars
from various regions;
they assembled in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem)
and began studying Surah Yusuf together
in a delightful manner,
rich in elaboration and deep reflections
that you might not find in traditional Tafsir works.
What I stated at the outset is that it is a rare book,
meaning that you will not find another book like it—
or at least within the scope of my reading, I have not encountered
another book
presenting a surah of the Qur'an in this manner.
Instead of interpreting it verse by verse,
it follows the order of the surah
while framing it as a dialogue within a fictional conference.
It is truly a delightful and unique book of its kind.
Likewise, among such works is the book *Ithaf al-Ilf*
*bi al-Fawa'id al-Alf wa Nayyif*
on Surah Yusuf by Salim al-Hilali,
alongside a co-author
whose name eludes me at the moment.
The point is that the lessons in the story of Yusuf are exceedingly numerous,
which is why everyone finds what they seek within it;
one cannot claim there is merely a single lesson
to be drawn from the story,
or just one single theme.
Rather, the story contains many facets
and very numerous subtleties.
The third reflection
relates to the preceding reflection regarding
the central theme of the surah.
If we look at the theme of the surah in the notes,
we find it is establishing that the Qur'an is the word of Allah,
as evidenced by the detailed recounting of the story of Yusuf, peace be upon him.
He said: "along with what the story contains"—or it is better
to phrase it: "alongside the fact that the story contains
an immense number of lessons."
For the narrative indeed holds immense lessons,
yet it was primarily brought forth to fulfill an objective: proving
that the Qur'an is the word of Allah.
This is because the opening of the surah states:
"Alif-Lam-Ra.
These are the verses of the clear Book.
Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an so that you may understand."
“We narrate unto thee (Muhammad) the best of narratives in that We have inspired in thee this Qur'an, though aforetime thou wast of the heedless.” (12:3)
And at the end of the surah:
“This is of the tidings of the Unseen which We inspire in thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they fixed their plan and they were scheming.” (12:102)
"while they were plotting."
This serves as a reminder
that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
brought this narrative to them
without having been present when it occurred;
thus it is proof of his prophethood
and that divine revelation was coming to him from the heavens.
This, as far as it appears to me, is
the core theme of the narrative.
Nonetheless, I followed it with the statement:
"alongside the immense number of lessons the story contains,"
so that a person does not miss out on those lessons
by focusing solely on this primary objective.
This objective is plainly evident throughout the story,
and across the surah as a whole,
unlike what was asserted on the preceding page
stating that the theme of the surah is merely "the story of Yusuf"—
just like that.
Such an assertion is an oversimplification and lacks precision;
rather, the story of Yusuf came to achieve a purpose,
which is proving that the Qur'an is from Allah,
Glorified and Exalted be He.
I will suffice with this much.
May Allah send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad,
and upon his family and all his Companions,
and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.