12:100

وَرَفَعَ أَبَوَيۡهِ عَلَى ٱلۡعَرۡشِ وَخَرُّواْ لَهُۥ سُجَّدٗاۖ وَقَالَ يَـٰٓأَبَتِ هَٰذَا تَأۡوِيلُ رُءۡيَٰيَ مِن قَبۡلُ قَدۡ جَعَلَهَا رَبِّي حَقّٗاۖ وَقَدۡ أَحۡسَنَ بِيٓ إِذۡ أَخۡرَجَنِي مِنَ ٱلسِّجۡنِ وَجَآءَ بِكُم مِّنَ ٱلۡبَدۡوِ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ أَن نَّزَغَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ بَيۡنِي وَبَيۡنَ إِخۡوَتِيٓۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي لَطِيفٞ لِّمَا يَشَآءُۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلۡعَلِيمُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ

WarafaAAa abawayhi AAala alAAarshi wakharroo lahu sujjadan waqala ya abati hatha taweelu ruyaya min qablu qad jaAAalaha rabbee haqqan waqad ahsana bee ith akhrajanee mina alssijni wajaa bikum mina albadwi min baAAdi an nazagha alshshaytanu baynee wabayna ikhwatee inna rabbee lateefun lima yashao innahu huwa alAAaleemu alhakeemu

And he raised his parents upon the throne, and they bowed to him in prostration. And he said, "O my father, this is the explanation of my vision of before. My Lord has made it reality. And He was certainly good to me when He took me out of prison and brought you [here] from bedouin life after Satan had induced [estrangement] between me and my brothers. Indeed, my Lord is Subtle in what He wills. Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise.

Word by word
  1. وَرَفَعَAnd he raised
  2. أَبَوَيۡهِhis parents
  3. عَلَىupon
  4. ٱلۡعَرۡشِthe throne
  5. وَخَرُّواْand they fell down
  6. لَهُۥto him
  7. سُجَّدٗاۖprostrate
  8. وَقَالَAnd he said
  9. يَـٰٓأَبَتِO my father
  10. هَٰذَاThis
  11. تَأۡوِيلُ(is the) interpretation
  12. رُءۡيَٰيَ(of) my dream
  13. مِن(of) before
  14. قَبۡلُ(of) before
  15. قَدۡVerily
  16. جَعَلَهَاhas made it
  17. رَبِّيmy Lord
  18. حَقّٗاۖtrue
  19. وَقَدۡAnd indeed
  20. أَحۡسَنَHe was good
  21. بِيٓto me
  22. إِذۡwhen
  23. أَخۡرَجَنِيHe took me out
  24. مِنَof
  25. ٱلسِّجۡنِthe prison
  26. وَجَآءَand brought
  27. بِكُمyou
  28. مِّنَfrom
  29. ٱلۡبَدۡوِthe bedouin life
  30. مِنۢafter
  31. بَعۡدِafter
  32. أَن[that]
  33. نَّزَغَhad caused discord
  34. ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُthe Shaitaan
  35. بَيۡنِيbetween me
  36. وَبَيۡنَand between
  37. إِخۡوَتِيٓۚmy brothers
  38. إِنَّIndeed
  39. رَبِّيmy Lord
  40. لَطِيفٞ(is) Most Subtle
  41. لِّمَاto what
  42. يَشَآءُۚHe wills
  43. إِنَّهُۥIndeed,He
  44. هُوَHe
  45. ٱلۡعَلِيمُ(is) the All-Knower
  46. ٱلۡحَكِيمُthe All-Wise
Yusuf · 12:100Makkah

This is my dream from long ago, my Lord made it true.

Yusuf looks back on the whole road


Looking back
the dreameleven stars, sun, moon
the roadwell, prison, enmity
and now
made truemy Lord is Subtle
How he told the story
you threw me in a wellblame
He took me out of prisongratitude

His parents and eleven brothers bowed before him, and Yusuf said: this is my dream from before; my Lord made it true. He thanked Allah for taking him out of prison and bringing them from the desert. Notice: he mentions the prison, not the well, and blames Shaytan, not his brothers, for the rift.

At the wedding, the graduation, the family dinner after years of tension, you tell the story of how you got here. You can tell it as a list of who hurt you, or as a list of how Allah helped you.

Telling my story means naming everyone who wronged me.

I can tell my story through Allah's kindness, without reopening old wounds.

Try this

Write three lines about a hard chapter of your life, mentioning only how Allah helped.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 12:99)

Then, when they came in before Yusuf, he took his parents to himself and said: "Enter Egypt, if Allah wills, in security. (99)And he raised his parents to the 'Arsh and they fell down before him prostrate. And he said: "O my father! This is the interpretation of my dream aforetime! My Lord has made it come true! He was indeed good to me, when He took me out of the prison, and brought you (all here) out of the bedouin life, after Shaytan had sown enmity between me and my brothers. Certainly, my Lord is the Most Courteous and Kind unto whom He wills. Truly, He! Only He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise (100)

Yusuf welcomes His Parents - His Dream comes True

Allah states that Ya'qub went to Yusuf in Egypt. Yusuf had asked his brothers to bring all of their family, and they all departed their area and left Kana'an to Egypt. When Yusuf received news of their approach to Egypt, he went out to receive them. The king ordered the princes and notable people to go out in the receiving party with Yusuf to meet Allah's Prophet Ya'qub, peace be upon him. It is said that the king also went out with them to meet Ya'qub. Yusuf said to his family, after they entered unto him and he took them to himself,

وَقَالَ ادْخُلُوا مِصْرَ إِن شَاءَ اللَّهُ آمِنِينَ

(and said: "Enter Egypt, if Allah wills, in security.") He said to them, 'enter Egypt', meaning, 'reside in Egypt', and added, 'if Allah wills, in security', in reference to the hardship and famine that they suffered. Allah said next,

آوَىٰ إِلَيْهِ أَبَوَيْهِ

(and he took his parents to himself) As-Suddi and 'Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said that his parents were his father and maternal aunt, as his mother had died long ago. Muhammad bin Ishaq and Ibn Jarir At-Tabari said, "His father and mother were both alive." Ibn Jarir added, "There is no evidence that his mother had died before then. Rather, the apparent words of the Qur'an testify that she was alive." This opinion has the apparent and suitable meaning that this story testifies to.

Allah said next,

وَرَفَعَ أَبَوَيْهِ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ

(And he raised his parents to Al-'Arsh) he raised them to his bedstead where he sat, according to Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid and several others. Allah said,

وَخَرُّوا لَهُ سُجَّدًا

(and they fell down before him prostrate.) Yusuf's parents and brothers prostrated before him, and they were eleven men,

وَقَالَ يَا أَبَتِ هَٰذَا تَأْوِيلُ رُؤْيَايَ مِن قَبْلُ

(And he said: "O my father! This is the Ta'wil (interpretation) of my dream aforetime..."), in reference to the dream that he narrated to his father before,

إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا 

(I saw (in a dream) eleven stars...)[12:4] In the laws of these and previous Prophets, it was allowed for the people to prostrate before the men of authority, when they met them. This practice was allowed in the law of Adam until the law of 'Isa, peace be upon them, but was later prohibited in our law. Islam made prostration exclusively for Allah Alone, the Exalted and Most Honored. The implication of this statement was collected from Qatadah and other scholars.

When Mu'adh bin Jabal visited the Sham area, he found them prostrating before their priests. When he returned (to Al-Madinah), he prostrated before the Messenger of Allah , who asked him,

مَا هَذَا يَا مُعَاذُ؟

(What is this, O, Mu'adh?) Mu'adh said, "I saw that they prostrate before their priests. However, you, O Messenger of Allah, deserve more to be prostrated before." The Messenger ﷺ said,

لَوْ كُنْتُ آمِرًا أَحَدًا أَنْ يَسْجُدَ لِأَحَدٍ، لَأَمَرْتُ الْمَرْأَةَ أَنْ تَسْجُدَ لِزَوْجِهَا لِعِظَمِ حَقِّهِ عَلَيْهَا

(If I were to order anyone to prostrate before anyone else (among the creation), I would have ordered the wife to prostrate before her husband because of the enormity of his right on her.) Therefore, this practice was allowed in previous laws, as we stated. This is why they (Ya'qub and his wife and eleven sons) prostrated before Yusuf, who said at that time,

يَا أَبَتِ هَٰذَا تَأْوِيلُ رُؤْيَايَ مِن قَبْلُ قَدْ جَعَلَهَا رَبِّي حَقًّا

(O my father! This is the Ta'wil of my dream aforetime! My Lord has made it come true!) using the word, 'Ta'wil', to describe what became of the matter, later on. Allah said in another Ayah,

هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا تَأْوِيلَهُ ۚ يَوْمَ يَأْتِي تَأْوِيلُهُ

(Await they just for its Ta'wil? On the Day the event is finally fulfilled...), meaning, on the Day of Judgement what they were promised of good or evil will surely come to them.

Yusuf said,

قَدْ جَعَلَهَا رَبِّي حَقًّا

(My Lord has made it come true!) mentioning that Allah blessed him by making his dream come true,

وَقَدْ أَحْسَنَ بِي إِذْ أَخْرَجَنِي مِنَ السِّجْنِ وَجَاءَ بِكُم مِّنَ الْبَدْوِ

(He was indeed good to me, when He took me out of the prison, and brought you (all here) out of the bedouin life,) out of the desert, for they lived a bedouin life and raised cattle, according to Ibn Jurayj and others. He also said that they used to live in the Arava, Ghur area of Palestine, in Greater Syria. Yusuf said next,

مِن بَعْدِ أَن نَّزَغَ الشَّيْطَانُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ إِخْوَتِي ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي لَطِيفٌ لِّمَا يَشَاءُ

(after Shaytan had sown enmity between me and my brothers. Certainly, my Lord is the Most Courteous and Kind unto whom He wills.) for when Allah wills something, He brings forth its reasons and elements of existence, then wills it into existence and makes it easy to attain,

إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْعَلِيمُ

(Truly, He! Only He is the All-Knowing.) what benefits His servants,

الْحَكِيمُ

(the All-Wise.) in His statements, actions, decrees, preordainment and what He chooses and wills.