Quran Universe
12:42

وَقَالَ لِلَّذِي ظَنَّ أَنَّهُۥ نَاجٖ مِّنۡهُمَا ٱذۡكُرۡنِي عِندَ رَبِّكَ فَأَنسَىٰهُ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ ذِكۡرَ رَبِّهِۦ فَلَبِثَ فِي ٱلسِّجۡنِ بِضۡعَ سِنِينَ

Waqala lillathee thanna annahu najin minhuma othkurnee AAinda rabbika faansahu alshshaytanu thikra rabbihi falabitha fee alssijni bidAAa sineena

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.

Word by word
  1. وَقَالَAnd he said
  2. لِلَّذِيto the one whom
  3. ظَنَّhe thought
  4. أَنَّهُۥthat he
  5. نَاجٖ(would be) saved
  6. مِّنۡهُمَاof both of them
  7. ٱذۡكُرۡنِيMention me
  8. عِندَto
  9. رَبِّكَyour master
  10. فَأَنسَىٰهُBut made him forget
  11. ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُthe Shaitaan
  12. ذِكۡرَ(the) mention
  13. رَبِّهِۦ(to) his master
  14. فَلَبِثَso he remained
  15. فِيin
  16. ٱلسِّجۡنِthe prison
  17. بِضۡعَseveral
  18. سِنِينَyears
Yusuf · 12:42Makkah

Mention me to your master, he asked, but he forgot.

A small request, forgotten for years

The request
Yusufmention me to the king
to
the freed manwalks out
Shaytan makes him
forgetseveral more years inside
What the delay was
wasted yearsno one remembered
waiting for the right doorthe king's dream was coming

Yusuf knew which man would go free and asked him: mention me to your king. But the man forgot, a plot of Shaytan, and Yusuf stayed in prison for several more years. Mujahid and Qatadah said the word used means between three and nine years.

You sent the CV and the contact promised to pass it on. You asked a cousin to put in a word. Months pass. Nothing. People forget. Allah does not. Your name is still on His list.

If the person I counted on forgets me, I am stuck.

People forget, but the delay can be leading to a better door.

Try this

Think of a favor someone promised and forgot. Forgive it quietly and make dua for the outcome.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And he said to the one whom he knew to be saved: "Mention me to your king." But Shaytan made him forget to mention it to his master. So [Yusuf] stayed in prison a few (more) years (42)

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,

اذْكُرْنِي عِندَ رَبِّكَ

(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,

فَأَنسَاهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِ

(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."