Surah Yusuf: Verse 42 - وقال للذي ظن أنه ناج... - English
Tafsir of Verse 42, Surah Yusuf
English Translation
And he said to the one whom he knew would go free, "Mention me before your master." But Satan made him forget the mention [to] his master, and Joseph remained in prison several years.English Transliteration
Waqala lillathee thanna annahu najin minhuma othkurnee AAinda rabbika faansahu alshshaytanu thikra rabbihi falabitha fee alssijni bidAAa sineenaTafsir of Verse 42
After that, to the person about whom Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) had gathered from the interpretation of his dream that he would be released, he said: When you are released from the prison, mention me before your master as the innocent person who is still languishing in the prison. But, once released, this person forgot about this message of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ، as a result of which, his freedom was further delayed and he had to stay in prison for a few more years. The word used in the Qur’ an is: بِضْعَ سِنِينَ (bid'a sinin: a few years). This word holds good for a figure between three to nine. Some commentators have said that he had to live in the prison for a period of seven more years.
Yusuf asks the King's Distiller to mention Him to the King
Yusuf knew that the distiller would be saved. So discretely, so that the other man's suspicion that he would be crucified would not intensify, he said,
(Mention me to your King.) asking him to mention his story to the king. That man forgot Yusuf's request and did not mention his story to the king, a plot from the devil, so that Allah's Prophet would not leave the prison. This is the correct meaning of,
(But Shaytan made him forget to mention it to his master.) that it refers to the man who was saved. As was said by Mujahid, Muhammad bin Ishaq and several others. As for, `a few years', or, Bida` in Arabic, it means between three and nine, according to Mujahid and Qatadah. Wahb bin Munabbih said, "Ayyub suffered from the illness for seven years, Yusuf remained in prison for seven years and Bukhtanassar (Nebuchadnezzar - Chaldean king of Babylon) was tormented for seven years."
