The Dream Interpreter: Yusuf in Egypt
Integrity under temptation; Allah rewards the patient
Last night, we left young Yusuf (AS) in the hands of a merchant caravan that had pulled him out of a dark well and carried him to Egypt. Tonight, we follow him into a world of palaces, prisons, and power, and we learn how a boy sold as a slave became the most important man in all of Egypt, not through violence or scheming, but through patience, integrity, and trust in Allah.
The caravan sold Yusuf in the marketplace of Egypt. The man who bought him was a powerful official known as the Aziz, a title meaning "the mighty one." The Aziz recognized something extraordinary in this young stranger. "Make his stay comfortable," he told his wife. "Perhaps he will benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son."
Years passed. Yusuf grew from a boy into a young man of remarkable beauty and wisdom. The Quran tells us: "When he reached his maturity, We gave him judgment and knowledge. And thus We reward the doers of good." Allah had already begun preparing Yusuf for something great.
But before greatness came a test of a different kind.
The wife of the Aziz had been watching Yusuf grow. Over time, something dark took root in her heart. She developed feelings for him that were wrong, and one day, when they were alone in the house, she locked the doors and approached him.
"Come," she said.
Yusuf's answer was immediate and absolute: "I seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, my Lord has made good my residence. He will not allow the wrongdoers to succeed."
Think about this. Yusuf was a slave. She was the most powerful woman in the household. He had no one to protect him, no family, no status. He could have reasoned that no one would know, or that refusing would make his life harder. But Yusuf did not calculate. He chose what was right because it was right, and he ran.
He ran toward the door. She ran after him and grabbed his shirt from behind, tearing it. At that very moment, the Aziz appeared at the door.
She immediately accused Yusuf. But Allah sent a witness: a member of the household who suggested, "If his shirt is torn from the front, then she is telling the truth. But if his shirt is torn from the back, then she has lied." They looked. The shirt was torn from the back. The truth was clear.
Yet truth does not always lead to justice, at least not immediately. The women of the city began to gossip: "The wife of the Aziz is seeking to seduce her slave boy. She is clearly in error." When the Aziz's wife heard their whispers, she invited them all to a banquet. She gave each woman a knife and fruit to cut. Then she called Yusuf to enter the room.
When the women saw Yusuf, his beauty struck them so deeply that they cut their own hands without realizing it. "This is not a human being," they exclaimed. "This is none other than a noble angel!"
The Aziz's wife said: "That is the one you blamed me for."
Despite the truth being known, Yusuf was thrown into prison. But listen to what Yusuf had asked for: "My Lord, prison is more beloved to me than that to which they invite me." He preferred prison to sin. He chose a cell with a clean conscience over a palace with a stained one.
In prison, Yusuf met two men. Each had a dream. One saw himself pressing wine. The other saw himself carrying bread on his head that birds were eating from. They came to Yusuf because they noticed something about him: "Indeed, we see you to be of those who do good."
Before interpreting their dreams, Yusuf did something remarkable. He did not just answer their question. He used the moment to teach them about Allah. He told them about tawhid, about the oneness of the Creator, about the falsehood of worshipping many gods. Only then did he give them the interpretation.
"One of you will pour wine for his master," Yusuf said. "And the other will be crucified, and birds will eat from his head. The matter has been decided."
It happened exactly as he said. The man who was freed was supposed to mention Yusuf to the king, but he forgot. And so Yusuf remained in prison, waiting, for several more years.
Then one night, the king of Egypt had a dream that shook him. He saw seven fat cows being devoured by seven lean cows, and seven green ears of grain and seven dry ones. He called his wisest advisors, but no one could explain it. They called it confused dreams, meaningless visions.
Then the freed prisoner finally remembered. "I can tell you its interpretation," he said, "so send me to Yusuf."
Yusuf interpreted the dream with clarity that could only come from Allah: "You will plant for seven years as usual. Leave what you harvest in its ear, except a little from which you eat. Then after that will come seven difficult years which will consume what you stored. Then after that will come a year in which people will be given rain and in which they will press fruit."
Seven years of abundance, then seven years of famine, then relief. It was a plan for survival, and it was exactly right.
The king was amazed. "Bring him to me," he commanded. But Yusuf, even with freedom within reach, would not leave prison until his name was cleared. "Return to your master," he told the messenger, "and ask him about the women who cut their hands."
The king investigated. The women testified: "We know of no evil from him." And the wife of the Aziz finally confessed: "Now the truth has become evident. It was I who sought to seduce him, and indeed, he is of the truthful."
Only then did Yusuf walk free. The king said: "Bring him to me; I will appoint him exclusively for myself." And when the king met Yusuf and spoke with him, he was so impressed that he said: "Indeed, you are today established in position and trusted."
Yusuf replied: "Appoint me over the storehouses of the land. Indeed, I am a knowing guardian."
And so the boy who was sold for a few coins became the treasurer of Egypt, the man who would save an entire nation from starvation. Not through war. Not through revenge. Through knowledge, patience, and the plan of Allah.
In the Shia tradition, Yusuf's story illustrates how Allah grants knowledge, ilm, to those He chooses. Just as Yusuf could interpret dreams that baffled the wisest of Egypt, the Imams (AS) possessed knowledge that went beyond ordinary learning. Imam al-Sadiq (AS) taught that true knowledge is a light that Allah places in the heart of whomever He wills. It cannot be bought, and it cannot be forced.
But more than knowledge, Yusuf's story is about integrity. He chose right over comfort, truth over convenience, prison over sin. And Allah did not forget a single moment of his patience. Every year in that dark cell was counted, and the reward, when it came, was beyond anything Yusuf could have planned himself.
Tomorrow night, we will see what happens when Yusuf's brothers arrive in Egypt, not knowing that the powerful man before them is the same little brother they once threw into a well.
Key Verse
Qala rabbi al-sijnu ahabbu ilayya mimma yad'unani ilayhi, wa illa tasrif anni kaydahunna asbu ilayhinna wa akun minal jahileen "He said: My Lord, prison is more beloved to me than that to which they invite me. And if You do not avert from me their plan, I might incline toward them and be of the ignorant." Yusuf (12:33)
Reflection Questions
- Yusuf chose prison over doing something wrong. Have you ever had to choose something harder because it was the right thing to do?
- Even in prison, Yusuf taught people about Allah before answering their questions. What does this tell us about how we should use every situation?
- Yusuf refused to leave prison until his name was cleared. Why was his reputation so important to him, and what does this teach us about honesty?