Surah Yusuf: Verse 37 - قال لا يأتيكما طعام ترزقانه... - English

Tafsir of Verse 37, Surah Yusuf

قَالَ لَا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِۦٓ إِلَّا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِۦ قَبْلَ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمَا ۚ ذَٰلِكُمَا مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِى رَبِّىٓ ۚ إِنِّى تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لَّا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَهُم بِٱلْءَاخِرَةِ هُمْ كَٰفِرُونَ

English Translation

He said, "You will not receive food that is provided to you except that I will inform you of its interpretation before it comes to you. That is from what my Lord has taught me. Indeed, I have left the religion of a people who do not believe in Allah, and they, in the Hereafter, are disbelievers.

English Transliteration

Qala la yateekuma taAAamun turzaqanihi illa nabbatukuma bitaweelihi qabla an yatiyakuma thalikuma mimma AAallamanee rabbee innee taraktu millata qawmin la yuminoona biAllahi wahum bialakhirati hum kafiroona

Tafsir of Verse 37

He said, 'No food shall come to you for your sustenance, but ere it comes to you I shall tell you its interpretation. That I shall tell you is of what God has taught me. I have forsaken the creed of a people who believe not in God and who moreover are unbelievers in the world to come.

He said: "Before any food comes (in due course) to feed either of you, I will surely reveal to you the truth and meaning of this ere it befall you: that is part of the (duty) which my Lord hath taught me. I have (I assure you) abandoned the ways of a people that believe not in Allah and that (even) deny the Hereafter.

ذَٰلِكُمَا مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي رَ‌بِّي (This is of the knowledge my Lord has given me). He is saying that this has nothing to do with the art of divination through computation of figures and lines (Um al-jafr and 'am al-raml - not Jafar and Ramal, soothsaying or any other occult act of conjuring). Instead of all that, this is what my Rabb tells me - and I pass on the information. And this was an open miracle which is proof positive of prophethood and a major cause of confidence.

Yusuf calls His Jail Mates to Tawhid even before He interprets Their Dreams

Yusuf, peace be upon him, told the two men that he has knowledge in the interpretation of whatever they saw in their dream, and that he will tell them about the interpretation of the dreams before they become a reality. This is why he said,

لاَ يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ إِلاَّ نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ

(No food will come to you as your provision, but I will inform you of its interpretation) Mujahid commented,

لاَ يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ

(No food will come to you as your provision,) this day,

إِلاَّ نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ قَبْلَ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمَا

(but I will inform you of its interpretation before it comes.) As-Suddi said similarly. Yusuf said that, this knowledge is from Allah Who taught it to me, because I shunned the religion of those who disbelieve in Him and the Last Day, who neither hope for Allah's reward nor fear His punishment on the Day of Return,

وَاتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّةَ ءَابَآءِي إِبْرَهِيمَ وَإِسْحَـقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ

(And I have followed the religion of my fathers, - Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya`qub) Yusuf said, `I have avoided the way of disbelief and polytheism, and followed the way of these honorable Messengers,' may Allah's peace and blessings be on them. This, indeed, is the way of he who seeks the path of guidance and follows the way of the Messengers, all the while shunning the path of deviation. It is he whose heart Allah will guide, teaching him what he did not know beforehand. It is he whom Allah will make an Imam who is imitated in the way of righteousness, and a caller to the path of goodness. Yusuf said next,

مَا كَانَ لَنَآ أَن نُّشْرِكَ بِاللَّهِ مِن شَىْءٍ ذلِكَ مِن فَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى النَّاسِ

(and never could we attribute any partners whatsoever to Allah. This is from the grace of Allah to us and to mankind,) this Tawhid -Monotheism-, affirming that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone without partners,

مِن فَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا

(is from the grace of Allah to us), He has revealed it to us and ordained it on us,

وَعَلَى النَّاسِ

(and to mankind,), to whom He has sent us as callers to Tawhid,

وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَشْكُرُونَ

(but most men thank not.) they do not admit Allah's favor and blessing of sending the Messengers to them, but rather,

بَدَّلُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ كُفْرًا وَأَحَلُّواْ قَوْمَهُمْ دَارَ الْبَوَارِ

(Have changed the blessings of Allah into disbelief, and caused their people to dwell in the house of destruction.) 14:28

Verse 37 - Surah Yusuf: (قال لا يأتيكما طعام ترزقانه إلا نبأتكما بتأويله قبل أن يأتيكما ۚ ذلكما مما علمني ربي ۚ إني تركت ملة...) - English