VOLUME 2
TARIKH WA RASUL AL MULK
The Account of the Descendants of Ishmail a.s
b. ibrahim a.s, Friend of the Merciful
Yacub's a.s mother told him, "Go to your maternal uncle and stay with him," because she was afraid Esau would kill him. So he went to his maternal uncle, traveling by night and hiding by day. For that reason he was called Israel , for he was high-ranking (sariyy) in the eyes of God. [329. Compare the biblical etymology, Gen 32 : 29. See also the etymological discussions in Ginzberg, Legends , V, 307, n. 253.] He arrived at his maternal uncle, while Esau said, "You may have outdone me in the matter of the prayer, but you will not outdo me regarding the tomb; it is I who will be buried with my fathers Ibrahim a.s and Ishaq ." He said, "If you do that, you will indeed be buried with him."
Yacub a.s fell in love with the younger of his maternal uncle's two daughters. He asked her father for her hand in marriage, and her father betrothed her to him on condition that he tend his flocks for a specified period. When that period was finished, he gave her sister Leah to Yacub a.s. Yacub a.s said, "I wanted only Rachel." But his maternal uncle said, "Among our people we do not marry the younger one off before the elder one. Work for us as a herder again, and you can have Rachel."
So he did that, and when the period was complete he married Rachel as well. Jacob had both of them together, for that is God's statement, "And [it is forbidden to you] that you should have two sisters together, except for what has already happened in the past." [330. Qur'an, 4:23.] Yacub a.s had both Leah and Rachel. Leah became pregnant and bore Judah, Reuben, and Simeon, while Rachel bore Yusuf a.s and Benjamin. It is said that Rachel died in childbirth while delivering Benjamin. Jacob's maternal uncle set part of his flock aside for Yacub a.s, because he wanted to return to Bayt al-Maqdis [331. An Arabic name for Jerusalem . Probably Palestine is meant here.] They had no source of support on the trip, so Yacub's a.s wife said to Yusuf a.s, "Take one of my father's idols; perhaps we may seek money from him." So he took it while he and Benjamin were in Yacub's chambers [332. Possibly a reference to the story of Rachel ' s taking her father 's teraphim. Here Yusuf a.s is the culprit in order to justify the statement later made about Benjamin based on Qur' an 12 :77, "If he steals, a brother of his [ i.e., Yusuf a.s] stole before."]. Yacub a.s loved them and felt sorry for them because they had lost their mother. The most beloved creature to him was Yusuf a.s. When they approached the land of Syria, Yacub a.s said to one of the shepherds, "If someone comes to you and asks who you are, say, 'We belong to Yacub a.s, the servant of Esau."' Esau met them and asked, "Who are you?" They said, "We belong to Yacub a.s, the servant of Esau." So Esau held back from harming Yacub a.s, and Yacub a.s settled in Syria. His greatest concern was for Yusuf a.s and Benjamin, so yusuf's a.s brothers envied him because they saw how their father loved him. Joseph had a dream in which he saw eleven stars, the sun, and the moon all bowing down to him. He told his father about it, and his father said, "0 my son, do not tell your brothers about this dream, lest they begin plotting against you. Satan is an open enemy of man." [333. Qur'an, 12 : 5. This abrupt transition to the story of Yusuf a.s is not immediately followed up, but is interrupted by the stories of ayyub a,s nd Shu'ayb a.s. In Kiss I, these lengthy accounts follow the story of Yusuf [ayyub a.s, pp . 192-204; Shu'ayb, pp. 204-208. Tha' labi interposes several other accounts between Joseph and the stories of ayyub a.s and Shu ' ayba.s. For the Islamic ayyub a.s see Ell , s.v. Ayyub a.s.]
Ayyub a.s
It has been said that one of Isaac's descendants was ayyub a.s, the prophet of God. [334. Jewish tradition differs as to ayyub a.s background , place of residence, and time . Most, but not all, traditions make him a pious Gentile-probably an Edomite-who lived at the time of Abraham or else in the days of the sons of Yacub a.s, marrying the latter's daughter Dinah . The Talmudic tractate Baba Batra says that in the view of most scholars he was a Jew and endowed with prophecy . For the great range of views see Ginzberg Legends, X, 381, n. 3; Encyc. Judaica , Io:124-125 . For a discussion of the book of ayyub a.s idem., III-I24.] Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq -someone who is not to be doubted-Wahb b. Munabbih: ayyub a.s was a man of the Byzantines, [335. That is , Rum, which, as we have seen , was connected with Edom, the usual attribution of ayyub a.s.] and his full name was ayyub a.s b. Maws b. Razih b. Esau b . Ishaq b . Ibrahim. On the other hand, someone other than Ibn Ishaq says that he was Ayyub a.s b. Maws b. Raghwil b. Esau b. Isaac, and someone also said that he was Ayyub a.s b. Mawas b. Raghwil. He says that his father was one of those who believed in Abraham on the day when Nimrod burned him. His wife, whom he was ordered to beat with a branch, [336. See Qur ' an, 38:45] was a daughter of Yacub b. Ishaq named Liyya, [337. For Leah , mis-identified as a daughter of Jacob. As mentioned in n. 334, above , Jewish tradition has ayyub a.s marry Dinah , the daughter of Yacub a.s. Encyc. Judaica, 10:125 ; Ginzberg, Legends, II, 226.] whom Yacub a.s married to him.
According to al-Husayn b. `Amr b. Muhammad-his father-Ghiyath b. Ibrahim: It is said-but God knows best -that God's enemy, Iblis, met ayyub's a.s wife and reminded her that she was Liyya, the daughter of Yacub a.s. He addressed her as "O Liyya, daughter of the truthful one and sister of the truthful one!" For ayyub's mother was the daughter of Lot b. Haran. It is said that his wife whom he was ordered to beat with the branch was Rahmah bt. Ephraim b. Yusuf b. Yacub. She owned all of al-Bathaniyyah [338. A fertile area of Syria near Damascus ; see Yaqut, Mu'jam, 1, 493-4.] in Syria and all that it contained.
According to Muhammad b. Sahl b. 'Askar al- Najjari-Isma'il b. `Abd al-Karim Abu Hisham-'Abd al-Samad b. Ma'qil-Wahb b. Munabbih: Iblis, may God curse him, heard the angels respond by blessing ayyub a when God mentioned and praised him. Desire and envy overcame him, and he asked God to give him power over ayyub a.s in order to seduce him away from his religion. God gave Iblis mastery over ayyub a.s possessions, though not over his body or mind, and Iblis assembled the most cunning and powerful devils . ayyub a.s possessed all of alBathiniyyah in Syria and everything in it, east and west. He had a thousand sheep with their herdsmen, five hundred feddans tended by five hundred servants, each of whom had a wife and children and possessions. There was a she -ass to carry the tools of each feddan , and each she - ass had offspring-two, three, four, five, or more. When Iblis had gathered all the demons together he asked them, "What power and knowledge do you have? For I have been given mastery over the possessions of ayyub a.s "-meaning the right to inflict disaster, and seduction which no man can withstand. And each demon who possessed some power of destruction told Iblis what it was, and Iblis sent them off and they destroyed all of ayyub a.s possessions. ayyub a.s , meanwhile, was praising God, and nothing that happened to his possessions deterred him from his diligence in worshipping God and thanking him for what he had given him, nor from the steadfastness for which God was testing him.
When the accursed Iblis saw that, he asked God to give him mastery over ayyub’s a.s children. God gave him mastery over them, but still did not give him mastery over ayyub’s a.s body, heart, or mind. Iblis then destroyed all of ayyub’s a.s children, and then came to ayyub a.s pretending to be their teacher who was instructing them in wisdom. He played the role of being wounded and shattered, so that ayyub a.s was moved and had pity for him and wept, and took a handful of dust and placed it on his head. Iblis rejoiced at having gained that much from ayyub a.s . But then ayyub a.s repented and asked forgiveness , and his companions among the angels went up to God with his repentance, reaching God before Iblis did. When the calamity which had befallen ayyub a.s in the loss of his property and children did not deter him from worshipping his Lord, nor from diligence in obeying him, nor from patience toward what had happened to him, Iblis asked God to give him mastery over ayyub’s a.s body. So God gave him mastery over ayyub’s a.s body except for his tongue, his heart, and his mind, over which he did not appoint him ruler. Iblis came to he did not appoint him ruler. Iblis came to ayyub a.s while he was bowing down, and blew into his nostrils a breath which set fire to his body and moved all over him until his body stank. The people of the town removed him from the town to a dung-heap outside the town, and no one but his wife would come near him-(I have already mentioned the differences of opinion on her name and genealogy.)
Returning to the account of Wahb b. Munabbih: His wife visited him frequently, bringing whatever he needed. There were three people who followed his religion; when they saw the misfortunes which had descended upon him, they abandoned him and doubted him, but without actually leaving his religion. One of them was called Bildad, another Alifaz, and the third Safir.319 They went to ayyub a.s when he was in the depths of his sufferings and verbally attacked him. When ayyub a.s heard their words he turned to his Lord, imploring Him for His help. So God had pity on him and removed his misfortunes, giving back to him his family and possessions and the like , and saying to him, "Strike the ground with your foot. There is a cool bath and refreshing drink."30 Then ayyub a.s bathed in it and regained the beauty and handsomeness which had been his before his tribulations.
According to Yahya b. Talhah al-Yarbu`i-Fudayl b. `Iyad -Hisham-al-Hasan: ayyub a.s was left out on a dung-heap of the children of Israel for seven years and some months, without asking God to do anything about his situation . There was no one on the face of the earth more honorable to God than ayyub a.s. It is said that some people observed, "If this man's Lord had any use for him, he would not have done this to him." On hearing hat, ayyub a.s prayed.
According to Ya`qub b. Ibrahim-Ibn'Ulayyah- Yunus-alHasan: ayyub a.s remained out on a dung-heap of the children of Israel for seven years and some months-the narrators differ about how many months it was.
This is all of the story of ayyub a.s. The only reason we have told his story before telling that of Yusuf a.s is the reason mentioned above, that is, that he was said to be a prophet at the time of yusuf's a.s father Yacub a.s. It is said that ayyub a.s lived ninety-three years, and that when he died he appointed his son Hawmal his heir, and that after him God sent his son Bishr b. Ayyub a.s as a prophet, calling him Dhu al-Kifl a.s [341. The Bible says that job's second family consisted of seven sons-none of them named in the text -and three daughters , whose names are given (ayyub a.s 42:13-14). The son called Dhu al- Kifl a.s in Islamic tradition bears a name mentioned once in the Qur' an, 21 : 85, as one like Ishmael a.s and Idris a.s who were steadfast . As a prophet he is mentioned only in passing, both here and in Kisi'i, 204, but a fuller story of his life and mission is found in Tha'labi, Qisaq, 145] He commanded Bishr to call mankind to the recognition of His oneness. Bishr stayed in Syria all his life, until he died at the age of seventy-five. Then he appointed his son 'Abdan his heir. After him God sent Shu'ayb b. Sayfun b. 'Anga b. Thabit b. Madyan b. Ibrahim to the people of Midian. [342. Identified by later commentators (without Qur'inic basis ) as the biblical Jethro of Midian, father-in-law of Moses. Mentioned in the Qur' in, 9:89, as coming later than Hud a.s, Salih a.s, and Luth a.s, he was sent to the "people of the thicket [al-aykahj," see ibid., 26:276ff., and to the people of Midian in Qur'an 7:85ff.; 11:84 -95; 29:36 -37. For aggadic material about Jethro see Ginzberg, Legends, II, 289 - 96. See also Encyc. Judaica, 10:18 - 20, s.v . Jethro] There is disagreement about Shu'ayb's genealogy. The people of the Torah give him the genealogy I have mentioned, while Ibn Ishaq says, "He was Shu'ayb b. Mika'il, one of the offspring of Madyan." This report was related by Ibn Humayd-Salamah--Ibn Ishaq.
Some people say that Shu'ayb was not a descendant of Ibrahim a.s, but rather of someone who believed in Ibrahim a.s, followed his religion, and emigrated to Syria with him. It is even said that he was a son of Lot's daughter, or that Shu'ayb's a.s grandmother was Lot's daughter.
The Story of Shu`ayb a.s
It is said that Shu ' ayb's a.s name was Jethro . I have mentioned his genealogy and the disagreements of the genealogists about it. It has been mentioned that he was shortsighted.
According to `Abd al-Ma b. Wasil al-Asadi-Usayd b. Zayd al-Jassas-Sharik-Salim-Said b. Jubayr : God's statement, "We do behold you weak among us,"" means that he was blind.
According to Ahmad b. al-Walid al-Ramli-Ibrahim b. Ziyad and Ishaq b. al-Mundhir and 'Abd al-Malik b. Yazid-SharikSalim-Said: The same.
According to Ahmad b. al-Walid-'Amr b. 'Awn and Muhammad b. al-Sabbah-Sharik: When God said, "We see you weak among us," He meant that he was blind.
According to Ahmad b. al-Walid-Sa'dawayh -'Abbad Sharik-Salim-Sa'id b. Jubayr: The same. According to al-Muthanna- al-Himmani -'Abbad-Sharik -Salim-Said: The quote "We see you weak among us" means he was blind and could not see.
According to al-'Abbas b. Abi Talib-Ibrahim b. Mahdi alMissisi-Khalaf b. Khalifah-Sufyan-Salim-Said b. Jubayr: The quote, "We see you weak among us," means that he was weak-sighted.
According to al-Muthanna-Abu Nu'aym-Sufyan: God 's statement , "We see you weak among us, [343. Qur'an, 11:91.] means that he was weak-sighted. Sufyan said: He was called the preacher of the prophets. God sent him as a prophet to the people of Midian, who were the masters of the thorn-bush, the thom-bush being a twisted tree . [344. Or "thicket"; see n. 342, above.] They were a people who disbelieved in God, and who used dishonest weights and measures to despoil people of their wealth. God had given them ever more sustenance and had made their lives easy as an attempt to persuade them to be righteous, despite their disbelief in Him. Shu'ayb a.s said to them, "0 my people! Serve God. You have no other god but Him. Do not use short measures and short weights. I see you well-to-do, and I fear for you when the day of all -encompassing doom comes." [345. Qur'an 11:84.] Some of what Shu'ayb said to his people and the people ' s response to him is recorded in God's book.
According to Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq-Ya'qub b. Abi Salamah : Whenever the Messenger of God mentioned Shu-'ayb, he used to say : " That one was the preacher of the prophets! " He said this because of the beauty of the way Shu'ayb
kept repeating to his people the disputed matter . As their perseverence in sin and error dragged on, and Shu'ayb's exhortations and warnings of God ' s punishment failed to turn them back, God decided to destroy them, and He gave mastery over them.
According to al-Harith -al-Hasan b. Musa al -Ashib-Sa'id b. Zayd, the brother of Hammad b. Zayd -Hatim b. Abi Saghirah-Yazid al-Bahili : I asked ' Abdallah b. 'Abbas about this verse, " So there came upon them the retribution of the day of gloom [ or shade ]. Lo! It was retribution of an awful day."-'Abdallah b. 'Abbas said , " God sent fire and great heat, which took away their breath . They ran into their houses, and it followed them there and took away their breath . They left their houses and fled out to the desert . God sent a cloud which shaded them from the sun, and made it cool and pleasant for them . So they called to each other until they had all gathered beneath it, whereupon God sent fire against them ." 'Abdallah b. 'Abbas said that that was the retribution of the day of shade. Lo! It was the retribution of an awful day.[ 346. Ibid., 26:189.]
According to Yiinus b. 'Abd al-A'la-Ibn Wahb-Jarir b. Hazim-Qatadah : Shu'ayb was sent to two peoples ; to his own nation, the Midianites, and to the masters of the thorn-bush. The thorn- bush was a sort of twining tree . When God wanted to punish them he sent powerful heat against them. Then he lifted the punishment from them as though it were a cloud. When it neared them they went out to it, seeking its coolness, but when they were beneath it, it rained fire upon them, for that is His word , " There came on them the retribution of the day of gloom."
According to al-Qasim-al-Husayn-Abu Sufyan-Ma'mar b. Rashid-a man from among their companions –certain sages : The people of Shu'ayb a.s had neglected a divine statute, and God expanded their sustenance. They neglected another divine statute , and God again expanded their sustenance. Every time they stopped obeying another part of the divine law, God would expand their sustenance, until the day came when He desired to destroy them . He imposed on them heat from which they were unable to become cool, and neither shade nor water benefitted them . Then one of them found shelter under some shade, and found a breeze , and called to his companions, "Come here to this breeze !" They hurried to him, and when they had all gathered there God sent fire against them, and that was the retribution of a day of shade.
According to Ibn Bashshar -'Abd al- Rahman-Sufyan-Abu Ishaq-Zayd b . Mu'awiyah : As for God' s statement , " There came upon them the retribution of a day of gloom," it means that heat struck them within their houses , and a cloud was created which looked like shade . They rushed to it, and while they were sleeping under it the convulsion seized them.
According to Muhammad b. `Amr--Abu `Asim-`Isa and alHarith-al- Hasan-Warga'-all of them-Ibn Abi Najih Mujahid: God's words, " The retribution of a day of gloom," mean the shadows of punishment.
According to al-Qasim-al-Husayn-Iiajjaj-Ibn Jurayj -Mujahid : As for his words, " There came upon them the retribution of a day of gloom," they refer to the time when retribution cast a shadow over the people of Shu ' ayb. Ibn Jurayj said : When God brought the first part of the punishment down upon them, great heat came down to them from it. Then God raised a cloud up for them , and a party of them went out to seek shade under it, and found coolness , breeze, and a goodly perfume . Then God poured down retribution upon them from above, from out of that cloud , for that is His word, " The retribution of a day of gloom . Lo! It was the retribution of an awful day."
According to Yunus-Ibn Wahb-Ibn Zayd: Regarding His word, " There came upon them the retribution of a day of gloom. Lo! It was the retribution of an awful day ," God sent them a cloud for shade . Then he gave an order to the sun and it burned everything on the face of the earth, so that all of them went outside to that shade . When they were all gathered to gether, God took the shade away from them, and the heat of the sun burned them up like locusts in a frying pan.
According to al-Qasim-al-Husayn-Abu Tumaylah-Abu Hamzah-Jabir-'Amir-Ibn'Abbas: If any sage tells you what the "retribution of the day of gloom" was, do not believe him.
According to Mahmud b. Khidash-Hammad b. Khalid alKhayyat-Dawud b. Qays-Zayd b. Aslam: They asked Shu-'ayb, "Does your prayer command you to make us forsake what our fathers worshipped, or to stop us from doing what we want with our own property?" [347. Ibid., 11:87.] One of the things Shu'ayb a.s forbade them to do was to debase dirhams, or, as he put it, tocut dirhams. The presence of Hammad in the chain of transmitters casts doubt on the truthfulness of this account.
According to Sahl b. Musa al-Razi-Ibn Abi Fudayk Abu Mawdud-Muhammad b. Ka'b al-Qurazi: I had heard that Shu'ayb's a.s people were punished for cutting dirhams. Then I found these words in the Qur'an, "Does your prayer command you to make us forsake what our fathers worshipped, or to stop us from doing what we want with our own property?"
According to Ibn Waki'-Zayd b. Hubab -Musa b. Ubaydah-Muhammad b. Ka'b al-Qurazi: Shu'ayb's a.s people were punished for cutting their dirhams. They asked, "0 Shu'ayb a.s! Does your prayer command you to make us forsake what our fathers worshipped, or to stop us from doing what we want with our own property?"
Let us now return to the story of Yacub a.s and his sons.
It is said-and God knows best-that Ishaq b. Ibrahim lived one hundred years after Esau and Jacob were born to him, and then he died at the age of one hundred and sixty. Esau and Yakub a.s buried him at the grave of his father Ibrahim a.s in the field of Hebron. Yacub b. Ishac lived one hundred and forty-seven years altogether.
YUSUF A.S [348. The story of Joseph plays an important yet limited role in the Bible (see Gen 37-5o and hardly elsewhere) and in the Qur'an,where the story is concentrated entirely in snrah 12 , which is named for Joseph. For the embellishments in Jewish tradition see Encyc. Judaica , 10:202 - 218; Ginzberg, Legends, U, 3-184; V, 324-77; Kisa'i, 167-192; Tha'labi, Qisas, 94-125. See also Shorter Encyc., 646-48, s.v. Yusuf b. Ya'kub]
Yakub a.s son Yusuf a.s had, like his mother, more beauty than any other hum Yusuf a.s an being.
According to `Abdallah b. Muhammad and Ahmad b. Thabit al-Razayyan-`Affan b. Muslim-Hammad b. SalamahThabit-Anas--the Prophet: Yusuf a.s and his mother were given half of all the beauty in the world. When Rachel bore him, her husband Yacub a.s gave him to his sister to bring up [349. The Genesis account of Joseph begins when he is seventeen, but aggada adds some details about his childhood to explain why his brothers hated him. See Ginzberg, Legends, II, 5-8. Here the account begins with his childhood to explain the Qur'anic reference to his having stolen, but see n. 322, above. Tha'labi, 95-96, does not include this account but devotes much space to a discussion of Yusuf's a.s beauty.] What happened between Joseph and this sister, Yusuf ‘s a.s paternal aunt, was related through Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq-`Abdallah b. Abi Najih-Mujahid: I have heard that the first misfortune to befall was the fact that his paternal aunt was Ishaq’ s a.s daughter, the eldest of Ishaq's a.s children, and that the belt of Ishaq a.s had come into her possession. This belt was supposed to be handed down from generation to generation by age, the eldest child always inheriting it. If someone else acquired it by guile from the person who was supposed to have it, then he would become absolutely subject to the will of the rightful owner, and the rightful owner could do with him as he wished. Now, no love was so great as that which Yusuf a.s paternal aunt, who had brought him up, felt for him . When Yusuf a.s grew up, his father Yakub’s a.ssoul became fixed on him, and he came to her and said, "0 little sister! Hand Yusuf a.s over to me, for by God I cannot stand to have him away from me for another hour." She said, "But, by God, I will not give him up." Yakub a.s insisted, " By God, I will not give him up either." She said, "Leave him with me for a few days so that I can look at him and set my mind at ease about him, and perhaps I will feel better about giving him up."
When Yakub a.s left her, she took Isaac's belt and put it on Yusuf a.s under his clothes . Then she said , " I have lost Isaac ' s belt! See who took it and who has it." She looked for it diligently, and then she ordered that everyone in the household be searched. They found the belt on Joseph, and she said, "By God! He is mine. I will do with him what I wish!" When Yakub a.s came to her she told him the story, and he said, "You and that one. If he did it, he is yours, I can do nothing about it ." So she kept Yusuf a.s, and Yacub a.s could not take him until she died. This incident (in which it was made to seem that Joseph had stolen the belt) was what Joseph's brothers had in mind when they later said, "If he [one of the brothers] steals, a brother of his stole before. " [350. Qur'an, 12:77.]
Abu Ja'far said: When Yusuf’s a.s brothers saw how much their father Yakub a.s loved him during his childhood as well as during his infancy, and how impatient Jacob became when Yusuf a.s was not there, they envied Yusuf a.s for his position in Yacub's a.s affections. They said to each other, "Verily Yusuf a.s and his brother [Benjamin] are dearer to our father than we are, though we may be a troop [`usbah]. [351. Ibid., 12:8 ] By `usbah they meant a group, for they were ten in number. They said, "Our father is plainly in a state of aberration." [352. Id.]
Then there happened the events which God has related in His book. They asked Yakub a.s to send Yusuf a.s out with them to the desert to run and play, and they promised to guard him. Jacob told them he would be sad to have Joseph away from him, and feared for him on account of the wolves. They deceived their father with lies about Yusuf a.s, and finally he sent Yusuf a.s with them. They took him out to the desert, having decided to throw him down a well.
According to Ibn Waki`-Amr b. Muhammad al-`Angazi-Asbat-al-Suddi: Yakub a.s sent Yusuf a.s with them, he who was more noble than they, and when they got him out into the desert they made clear their enmity toward him. One brother began to beat him, and when he asked another brother for help, the other one beat him, too. None of them showed mercy to him, and they beat him until they almost killed him. He began to shout, "0 my father! 0 Jacob! You did not know what the sons of the servant girls [353. That is, the four sons of Bilhah and Zilphah, the handmaidens who became concubines of Yakub a.s . Note that various sons of his aunt Leah intervene at various times on his behalf.] would do to your son." When they had almost killed him and he had begun to shout, Judah, one of the brothers, said to the others, "Did you not give me a pledge that you would not kill him?" So they took him to the well and lowered him into it. When they began lowering him into it he clung to the edge, but they tied his hands and stripped his shirt off. He said, "0 brothers, give me my shirt back so that I can cover myself with it in the well." They said, "Call on the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars to keep you company. " [354. Referring to Yusuf ‘s a.s dream , see Tabari , I, 360.] He said, "Verily, I did not dream that." But they went on lowering him until he was halfway down, then let him fall the rest of the way, for they wanted him to die. There was water in the well and he fell into it, then managed to climb out of the water onto a rock which was at the bottom of the well. When they threw him into the well he began to weep. They called out to him and he thought it was out of pity, but in fact they wanted to smash him with a rock and kill him. But Judah stopped them, saying, "You have given me a pledge not to kill him." And while Yusuf a.s was in the well, Judah used to bring him food.
God described how He revealed to Yusuf a.s, while Yusuf a.s was in the well, that he would one day tell his brothers what they had done to him; the brothers did not know of this revelation to Yusuf a.s. [355. See Qur'an, 12:15.] This account was also relayed from Qatidah.
According to Muhammad b. 'Abd al-A'la al-San'aniMuhammad b. Thawr-Ma'mar-Qatidah: God said, "We revealed to him, 'You will tell them of this deed of theirs., [356. Id.] He revealed to Yusuf a.s, while he was in the well, that he would tell them about what they had done to him, "while they knew not" of this revelation.
According to al-Muthanna-Suwayd-Ibn al-MubarakMa'mar--Qatidah: More or less the same account, except that he said that he would inform them. It is said that that meant that they would not know he was Yusuf a.s, and this statement is related from Ibn 'Abbas.
According to al-Harith-'Abd al-'Aziz-Sadaqah b. 'Abidah al-Asadi--his father: I heard Ibn 'Abbas saying that, and he got it from Ibn jurayj. God described how Yusuf’s a.s brothers came weeping to their father in the evening and told him that a wolf had eaten Yusuf a.s. Their father said, "No, your minds have beguiled you into something. It is best to be patient. " [357. Ibid., 12:18.] Then God described how a caravan came to the well where Yusuf a.s was, and how they sent their water-drawer to get water from it. He took Joseph out of the well and told his companions about it, saying, "0 good luck! Here is a youth." [358. Ibid., 12:19.]
According to Bishr b. Mu'idh-Yazid-Said-Qatadah: When Yusuf a.s was taken out, they said, "0 good luck! Here is a youth." The well is in the land of Bayt al-Maqdis, and its location is known. It has been said that the one who took Yusuf a.s out of the well told only one person, a companion of his named Bushra (whichmeans "good luck"), so that when he called "0 good luck!" he was calling out that man's name. Al-Suddi also reports this.
According to al-Hasan b. Muhammad-Khalaf b. Hisham-Yahya b. Adam-Qays b. al-Rabi'-al-Suddi: The water-drawer's words "0 good luck!" refer to the name of his companion Bushra.
According to al-Muthanna-'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Hammad-al-Hakam b. Zuhayr-al-Suddi: The boy to whom he was talking when he said, "0 good luck! Here is a youth," was named Bushra . So it was just like saying, "0 Zayd!" ( to someone named Zayd).
God described how when the caravan pulled Yusuf a.s out of the well they bought him from his brothers "for a low price, a number of silver coins, [359. Ibid ., 12:20.] because of his brothers' indifference to him. Those who bought him hid him like a treasure from the merchants in the caravan, for they feared that if the merchants knew about him they would demand a share in him. This is what the interpreters have said on the matter.
According to Muhammad b. 'Amr-Abu 'Asim-'Isa b. Abi Najih-Mujahid: The quote, "They hid him as a treasure," [360. Ibid ., 12:19 ] means that those who were actually there when he was pulled out of the well decided to keep him secret as a treasure among themselves, fearing that others in the caravan would want a share in him if they realized for how much he could be sold. Yusuf ’s a.s brothers followed them, saying to them, "Make sure that he does not escape," until they reached Egypt with Yusuf a.s. Yusuf a.s said, "He who buys me will be happy." The king, who was a Muslim, bought him.
According to al-Hasan b. Muhammad-Shababah-Warqa' -Ibn Abi Najih-Mujahid: A similar story, except that he said, "... for fear that they would want a share in him if they knew about him." And his brothers followed them, saying to the zwater-drawer and his companions, "Make sure that he does not escape," until they reached Egypt with him.
According to Ibn Waki'-'Amr b. Hammad-Asbat-alSuddi. The quote, "They hid him as a treasure ," means that when the two men bought Joseph from his brothers, they were afraid that the rest of the group would say, "We have all bought him, and we are entitled to a share in him." So they decided that if anyone asked them what it was that they had, they would say, "A piece of merchandise for which we traded with the people who own the well." For it is as God said, "They hid him as a treasure."
Yusuf's a.s brothers sold him for "a low price"-that is, a bit less than the forbidden price. It is said that they sold him for twenty dirhams, then divided it among the ten of them so that each had two dirhams. The money was counted by number of coins rather than by weight, for it is said that at that time the smallest unit of weight for money was the ngiyyah (the weight of forty dirhams ) and coins weighing less than that were not weighed. Some say that they sold him for forty dirhams; others say it was forty-two. It is reported that the man who sold him in Egypt was Malik b. Da'ar b. Yawbub b. 'Afgan b. Madyan b. Ibrahim the Friend (of God).
This was related through Ibn Humayd -Salamah-Ibn Ishaq-Muhammad b. al-Sa'ib-Abu Salih-Ibn 'Abbas. As for the man who bought Joseph from Malik b. Da'ar in Egypt and who said to his wife, "Receive him honorably, " [361. Ibid ., t2:21.] Ibn 'Abbas reports that his name was Qittin. [362. The biblical name Potiphar appears in a variety of forms in Arabic sources, among them Qittin, Qittifin, Qutifar, Qitfir, Itfir, and Itfin. See Shorter Encyc., 647, s.v. Yusuf b . Ya'kub]
According to Muhammad b. Sa'd-his father-his unclehis father-his father-Ibn 'Abbas: The name of the one who bought him was Qatafir ( Potiphar), and it is said that his name was Itfir b. Rawhib and that he was ruler [363. 'Aziz, lit. "mighty, honored , proud, precious ;" here, the ruler of Egypt but not the king or Pharaoh] .and in charge of the Egyptian treasury. At that time the king was al-Rayyan b. al-Walid [364. Note that he is not referred to as Pharaoh/Fir'awn , which in the Qur'an has the connotation of an evildoer.] a man of Amalekite stock, according to the account relayed through Ibn Humayd-Salamah-Ibn Ishaq. Another account gives the full name of the king and Pharaoh of Egypt at that time as al-Rayyan b. al-Walid b. Tharwan b. Arashah b. Qaran b. 'Amr b. 'Imlaq b. Lud b. Shem b. Nuh. It has been said that before this king died he became a believer and follower of Yusuf a.s religion, and that he died when Yusuf a.s was still alive. The king after him was Qabus b. Mus `ab b. Mu awiyah b. Numayr b. al-Salwas b. Qaran b. ` Amr b. `Imlaq b. Lud b. Shem b. Noah. He was an infidel, and when Yusuf a.s invited him to Islam he refused to accept it.
Some of the people of the Torah report that, according to the Torah, Yusuf a.s was sold by his brothers and brought to Egypt when he was seventeen years old. They say that he remained in the house of the ruler who bought him for thirteen years, and that when he reached the age of thirty the Pharaoh of Egypt alWalid b. al-Rayyan made him vizier. They say that on that same day the Pharaoh died at the age of one hundred and ten, naming his brother Judah his heir. They also say that Yusuf a.s met Yacub a.s in Egypt twenty-two years after having been taken from him (by his brothers), that Yakub a.s stayed with him in Egypt with his family for seventeen years, that Jacob named Yusuf a.s his heir, and that Jacob a.s had seventy members of his family with him when he came to Egypt. They also say that when Potiphar bought Yusuf a.s and brought him to his house, he said to his wife, (whose name, according to Ibn HumaydSalamah-Ibn Ishaq, was Rail) [365. So in Tha'labi, Qisas, 103, with a variant, Bakka, also recorded. In Kisai, 172, and other Muslim works , it is usua By Zalikah, Zulaykah, Zuleikha; see Shorter Encyc., 647, s.v. Yusuf. The Jewish work Sefer ha-Yashar also uses the latter name. See Ginzberg, Legends, V, 339, n. 113, n. III for other names used.] Receive him honorably.He may prove useful to us. [366. Qur an, 12:21.] When he grows up and understands things, he may be able to help us in some of the affairs which we have at hand, or we may adopt him as our son." [367. Id.] That was because, according to Ibn Humayd--Salamah-Ibn Ishaq, Potiphar was a man who did not have intercourse with women, [ 368. Jewish legends say that Potiphar bought Joseph for a lewd purpose but the angel Jibril a.s made him an eunuch so that he could not accomplish it. Ginzberg, Legends, II, 43; V, 338, n. 101.] though his wife Rail was beautiful and tender, and had property and possessions.
When Yusuf a.s reached the age of thirty-three, God gave him wisdom and knowledge. According to al-Muthanna -Abu Hudhayfah -Shibl-Ibn Abi Najili-Mujahid: God said, "We gave him wisdom and knowledge" [369. Q ur’an, 12:22.] meaning intelligence and knowledge before prophecy.
"And she, in whose house he was , asked of him an evil act" [370. Ibid., 12:23] when he had matured and reached the age of virility. This " she" refers to Potiphar ' s wife Rail. "And she bolted the doors," [371. Id.] locking him in with herself , so that she might have what she desired from him , and she began to speak of his charms in order to arouse his desire for her.
Concerning Those Who Said That:
According to Ibn Waki '-`Amr b. Muhammad-Asbat-alSuddi ( As the Qur'an says,) " She desired him and he would have desired her." [372. Ibid., 12:24.] She said, "0 Yusuf a.s, how beautiful your hair is !" He answered, " It is the first thing that will fall off of my body." She said, " 0 Yusuf a.s , how beautiful your eyes are!" He answered, " They are the first things that will melt into the earth from my body ." She said, " 0 Yusuf a.s, how beautiful your face is! " He answered, "The earth will eat it ." But she kept after him until she had enticed him. "She desired him and he would have desired her ," [373. Id] and they entered the house and she locked the doors and he went to loosen his trousers , when suddenly the figure of Yacub a.s appeared to him, standing in the house and biting his fingers , saying, "0 Yusuf a.s, do not have intercourse with her. If you do not have intercourse with her, you are like the bird in the sky who is not caught . If you have intercourse with her , you are like the bird when it dies and falls to the ground, unable to defend itself. If you do not have intercourse with her, you are like a difficult ox upon whom no work can be done, whereas if you have intercourse with her, you are like that ox when he dies and ants come in at the base of his horns and he cannot defend himself. [374. See the very different version in the Jewish aggada where Joseph remains steadfast in spite of all blandishments and threats ; Ginzberg, Legends, III, 44-50, for a Jewish account similar to Tabari ' s, with both Jacub a.s and Rachel appearing to stop Jusuf a.s, see 53 -54. For this reason some of the rabbis blamed Yusuf a.s . See Encyc. Judaica, X:211. ] So Yusuf a.s tied his trousers up and left at a run, but she overtook him and seized the tail of his shirt from behind and tore it. The tail of the shirt fell off and Joseph left it behind and raced toward the door.
According to Abu Kurayb, Ibn Waki', and Sahl b. Musa-Ibn 'Uyaynah-`Uthman b. Abi Sulayman-Ibn Abi Mulaykah: Ibn `Abbas was asked how far Joseph went in following his desires. He said, " He loosened his waistband and sat with her as one who possesses would sit."
According to al-Hasan b. Muhammad-Hajjaj b. Muhammad-Ibn Jurayj-`Abdallah b. Abi Mulaykah: I asked Ibn 'Abbas, "How far did Yusuf a.s go in following his desires?" And he said, "She lay on her back for him and he sat between her legs removing his clothes."
God turned him away from his desire for evil by giving him a sign that he should not do it. It has been said that that sign was the image of his father Jacob , biting his fingers. Some have said instead that a voice proclaimed from beside the house, "Will you fornicate and be like the bird whose feathers fall out, and who finds he has no feathers when he tries to fly?" Yet others have said that Joseph saw written on the wall, "Do not come near to adultery . Verily it is an abomination and an evil way, [375. Qur'an, 17:32] and that Joseph, seeing the proof of his Lord, arosez and fled, seeking the door of the house to escape from what she wanted him to do. But Rail followed him and caught up with him before he left the house, and grabbed him from behind by his shirt, and tore it. Then Joseph and Rail met her master, her huband Potiphar, sitting at the door of the house with one of Rail's cousins.
Likewise according to Ibn Waki`-`Amr b. Muhammad-Asbat-al-Suddi "They met her master at the door." [376. Ibid., 12:25.] He was sitting at the door with her cousin . When she saw him she asked, "How would you reward one who wishes evil to your folk, if not by imprisonment or a painful doom?a" He (Yusuf a,s ) asked of me an evil act, but I refused and defended myself from him and tore his shirt."
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