The Story of Prophet Yusuf (AS) [Part3]

The Holy Quran says:

“The king dreamt that seven lean cows were eating seven fat ones and that there were seven green ears of corn and seven dry ones. He asked the nobles to tell him the meaning of his dream if they were able to. They replied, "It is a confused dream and we do not know the meaning of such dreams." [Surah Yusuf 12:43,44]

The king of Egypt was quite worried about the dream. He had sought the interpretation of his dream with wise men and astrologers. But they seemed to render no help. When the wine server about the issue, he was minded about Prophet Yusuf and his request for liberation from the prison. He approached the king and told him about Prophet and his ability. The king sent for this man. Prophet Yusuf interpreted the dream by the power of Allah vested in him. He said, “For seven years the crops will yield abundant food-grain for the people of Egypt. After that there will be a famine for seven years during which all the food-grain lying in the storehouses will be finished and people will starve. Therefore, the people should try to grow as much extra grain as possible so that it would stand them in good stead during the time of famine”

The king became quite impressed by Prophet Yusuf ability and ordered to bring him to the court so that he could use of his wisdom in solving problems of the country. Prophet Yusuf (AS) refused to leave the prison until he proved his innocence. He said to the courtiers, "I will not come out of the prison until the king makes enquiries about my case. Tell the king to ask the wives of the noble men about the time when they cut their fingers on seeing me".

The courtiers passed on this message to the king who called the concerned women to him for an explanation. They all confessed the truth and Zuleikha, the wife of the Aziz, also testified that Prophet Yusuf (AS) was innocent of any guilt. Thus, Prophet Yusuf (AS) was released from the prison with his dignity and honor restored.

The Holy Quran says:
The king ordered his men to bring Yusuf before him; he wanted to grant him a high office. The king said to him, "From now on you will be an honoured and trusted person amongst us." Yusuf said, "Put me in charge of the treasuries of the land, I know how to manage them."
Surah Yusuf, 12:54,55

The Story of Prophet Yusuf (AS) [Part2]

Zuleikha was completely mesmerized by Yusuf’s beauty that she thought to have an illegal association with him. At one occasion she was able to trap in a room so that she could be alone with him. Yusuf on realizing the woman’s evil intentions tried to run but she attacked him from behind and was able to grab his shirt from behind. The shirt got torn. At the door Yusuf bumped into Aziz himself. Realizing the stickiness of the situation Zuleikha blamed Yusuf that he was trying to lay hand on her. Yusuf pleaded his case. A witness from her own household testified, "If his shirt is torn from the front, then she speaks the truth and he is of the liars. And if his shirt is torn from behind, then she lies and he is of the truthful ones.” Aziz was ashamed of his wife and asked her to stay away from him. He requested Yusuf to forget the incident too. However the story of the scandal got out of the palace, and spread far and wide.  Women of other nobles maliciously gossiped about this happening. 

Zuleikha arranged a party and invited the women of nobility to her palace.  As they were busy cutting and eating fruits, she summoned Yusuf into her audience.  As he arrived in their presence, the women got totally stunned by his beauty, and many cut their fingers instead of the fruits in their hands and exclaimed.”This is not a human being, he must be an angel”.  They were now convinced over what they had heard about Yusuf and his beauty. Yusuf prayed to Allah to save him from the wickedness of the queen and other women of Egypt. Zuleikha was furious with Yusuf because he had caused her to be ridiculed. In her anger and frustration, she caused him to be imprisoned on false charges of assault.

Yusuf was thrown into prison. The prisoners noted his purity of character and good conduct and elected his as the deputy in managing the affairs of the prison. On the day Yusuf came into prison, two other prisoners were also imprisoned. One was a wine server and other was a cook, both had been accused of poisoning the kind. One day they came to him and told of their weird dreams. They requested him to interpret the dreams. Prophet Yusuf (AS) not only interpreted the dreams but also preached them the religion of Allah Almighty. Finally he said, "O my prison-mates! The man who dreamt that he was crushing grapes will soon be released from here and will go back to his previous post. The second one, who carried the bread on his head in the dream, will be executed and the birds will start to eat his brain." Prophet Yusuf (AS) thought of getting himself released from prison through the wine-server, and told him to remind the king of his innocence when he saw him. The dreams of both men came true just as he had foretold. One of the captives was released while the other was hanged. Unfortunately, the wine-server forgot all that Prophet Yusuf (AS) had told him to convey to the king.