وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ ٱلْعِيرُ قَالَ أَبُوهُمْ إِنِّى لَأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ ۖ لَوْلَآ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ
As the caravan set off, their father said, ‘I sense the scent of Joseph, if you will not consider me a dotard.’
قَالُوا۟ تَٱللَّهِ إِنَّكَ لَفِى ضَلَٰلِكَ ٱلْقَدِيمِ
They said, ‘By God, you persist in your inveterate error.’
فَلَمَّآ أَن جَآءَ ٱلْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَىٰهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِۦ فَٱرْتَدَّ بَصِيرًۭا ۖ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ إِنِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
When the bearer of good news arrived, he cast it on his face, and he regained his sight. He said, ‘Did I not tell you, ‘‘I know from Allah what you do not know?’’ ’
قَالُوا۟ يَٰٓأَبَانَا ٱسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا خَٰطِـِٔينَ
They said, ‘Father! Plead [with Allah] for forgiveness of our sins! We have indeed been erring.’
قَالَ سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّىٓ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
He said, ‘I shall plead with my Lord to forgive you; indeed He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.’
فَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا۟ عَلَىٰ يُوسُفَ ءَاوَىٰٓ إِلَيْهِ أَبَوَيْهِ وَقَالَ ٱدْخُلُوا۟ مِصْرَ إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ءَامِنِينَ
When they entered into the presence of Joseph, he set his parents close to himself, and said, ‘Welcome to Egypt, in safety, God willing!’
وَرَفَعَ أَبَوَيْهِ عَلَى ٱلْعَرْشِ وَخَرُّوا۟ لَهُۥ سُجَّدًۭا ۖ وَقَالَ يَٰٓأَبَتِ هَٰذَا تَأْوِيلُ رُءْيَٰىَ مِن قَبْلُ قَدْ جَعَلَهَا رَبِّى حَقًّۭا ۖ وَقَدْ أَحْسَنَ بِىٓ إِذْ أَخْرَجَنِى مِنَ ٱلسِّجْنِ وَجَآءَ بِكُم مِّنَ ٱلْبَدْوِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ أَن نَّزَغَ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَ إِخْوَتِىٓ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى لَطِيفٌۭ لِّمَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
And he seated his parents high upon the throne, and they fell down prostrate before him. He said, ‘Father! This is the fulfillment of my dream of long ago, which my Lord has made come true. He was certainly gracious to me when He brought me out of the prison and brought you over from the desert after that Satan had incited ill feeling between me and my brothers. Indeed my Lord is all-attentive in bringing about what He wishes. Indeed He is the All-knowing, the All-wise.’
۞ رَبِّ قَدْ ءَاتَيْتَنِى مِنَ ٱلْمُلْكِ وَعَلَّمْتَنِى مِن تَأْوِيلِ ٱلْأَحَادِيثِ ۚ فَاطِرَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ أَنتَ وَلِىِّۦ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ ۖ تَوَفَّنِى مُسْلِمًۭا وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ
‘My Lord! You have granted me a share in the kingdom, and taught me the interpretation of dreams. Originator of the heavens and earth! You are my guardian in this world and the Hereafter! Let my death be in submission [to You], and unite me with the Righteous.’
ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآءِ ٱلْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ ۖ وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ أَجْمَعُوٓا۟ أَمْرَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَمْكُرُونَ
These are accounts from the Unseen, which We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they conspired together and schemed.
وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ
Yet most people will not have faith, however eager you should be.
وَمَا تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۚ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌۭ لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ
You do not ask them any reward for it: it is just a reminder for all the nations.
وَكَأَيِّن مِّنْ ءَايَةٍۢ فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ يَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهَا وَهُمْ عَنْهَا مُعْرِضُونَ
How many a sign there is in the heavens and the earth that they pass by while they are disregardful of it!
وَمَا يُؤْمِنُ أَكْثَرُهُم بِٱللَّهِ إِلَّا وَهُم مُّشْرِكُونَ
And most of them do not believe in Allah without ascribing partners to Him.
أَفَأَمِنُوٓا۟ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ غَٰشِيَةٌۭ مِّنْ عَذَابِ ٱللَّهِ أَوْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ ٱلسَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةًۭ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
Do they feel secure from being overtaken by a blanket punishment from Allah, or being overtaken by the Hour, suddenly, while they are unaware?
قُلْ هَٰذِهِۦ سَبِيلِىٓ أَدْعُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ عَلَىٰ بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَا۠ وَمَنِ ٱتَّبَعَنِى ۖ وَسُبْحَٰنَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَآ أَنَا۠ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ
Say, ‘This is my way. I summon to Allah with insight—I and he who follows me. Immaculate is Allah, and I am not one of the polytheists.’
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًۭا نُّوحِىٓ إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْقُرَىٰٓ ۗ أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۗ وَلَدَارُ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ خَيْرٌۭ لِّلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ ۗ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
We did not send [any apostles] before you except as men from among the people of the towns, to whom We revealed. Have they not travelled over the land so that they may observe how was the fate of those who were before them? And the abode of the Hereafter is surely better for those who are Godwary. Do you not exercise your reason?
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ٱسْتَيْـَٔسَ ٱلرُّسُلُ وَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ كُذِبُوا۟ جَآءَهُمْ نَصْرُنَا فَنُجِّىَ مَن نَّشَآءُ ۖ وَلَا يُرَدُّ بَأْسُنَا عَنِ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ
When the apostles lost hope and they thought that they had been told lies, Our help came to them, and We delivered whomever We wished, and Our punishment will not be averted from the guilty lot.
لَقَدْ كَانَ فِى قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌۭ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ ۗ مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًۭا يُفْتَرَىٰ وَلَٰكِن تَصْدِيقَ ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ وَهُدًۭى وَرَحْمَةًۭ لِّقَوْمٍۢ يُؤْمِنُونَ
There is certainly a moral in their accounts for those who possess intellect. This [Quran] is not a fabricated discourse; rather, it is a confirmation of what was [revealed] before it, and an elaboration of all things, and a guidance and mercy for a people who have faith.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
What the passage says. Yaʿqūb catches the scent of Yūsuf; the shirt restores his sight; the family journeys to Egypt, where Yūsuf raises his parents to the throne and the dream of the eleven stars is fulfilled. Yūsuf gives thanks and asks to die a Muslim. The sura then turns to the Prophet: this is revealed unseen; call to God with insight; in these stories is a lesson.
The scent, the sight, and the deferred forgiveness. All the sources take "I find the scent of Yūsuf" as a true perception carried on the wind — Ṭabarsī (from al-Ṣādiq, ʿa) and Ṭūsī measuring the distance in nights and parasangs — and read the sons' "you are in your old error" as compassion for his love, not a charge of misbelief (so, al-Mīzān stresses, they remain monotheists). On Yaʿqūb's "I shall ask forgiveness for you," Ṭabarsī, Ṭūsī and al-Qummī relay the Imāmī reports (from al-Bāqir and al-Ṣādiq, ʿa) that he deferred it to the blessed pre-dawn of Friday.
The prostration and the thanksgiving. At the reunion Yūsuf "raised his parents upon the throne and they fell prostrate." The distinctively Imāmī answer recurs in Ṭabarsī and al-Qummī: the reply of Abū al-Ḥasan (al-Hādī, ʿa) that the prostration "was not to Yūsuf but obedience to Allah and a greeting to Yūsuf, as the angels prostrated to Ādam." al-Qummī alone adds the narration that light left Yūsuf's fingers as prophethood was transferred to the line of Lāwī (whence Mūsā) because Yūsuf did not rise for his father. All read "this is the interpretation of my vision" as the sura's fulfilled arc, and Ṭabarsī notes Yūsuf's grace in counting "the prison" among his blessings rather than his brothers' deed — closing with his unique wish, "take me as a Muslim," which Ṭūsī and Ṭabarsī mark as the only prophet's longing to hasten death.
The seal: pure tawḥīd and hidden shirk. The sources converge most sharply on "most of them do not believe in Allah except that they associate." al-Mīzān makes it the theological climax: pure, unmixed tawḥīd is rare, and even most believers' faith carries a "hidden shirk (shirk khafī)" — for faith and association, being matters of degree, can coexist by relation. The Imāmī sources sharpen this into a defined category: al-Qummī and al-Baḥrānī (a dense cluster from al-Bāqir, al-Ṣādiq and al-Riḍā, ʿa) gloss it as the "association of obedience (shirk al-ṭāʿa)" — obeying Satan in sin — and the "association of blessing," as in "but for so-and-so I would have perished," while "but for Allah's grace through so-and-so" is licit. On "I call to Allah with insight, I and whoever follows me," al-Qummī and al-Baḥrānī preserve the report (from al-Bāqir and al-Ṣādiq) that "whoever follows me" is ʿAlī and the successors, with al-Jawād's saying that ʿAlī followed the Prophet at nine. On "when the messengers despaired and thought they were denied," Ṭūsī, Ṭabarsī and al-Mīzān all guard the prophets from any doubt of God's promise — the reading being that the peoples thought the messengers lied — while al-Qummī (from al-Ṣādiq) adds that the messengers, left to themselves, feared satans had impersonated the angels. The published Enlightening Commentary rounds the sura as it began: "in their stories is a lesson for people of understanding… a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe."