الر تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ
lif. Lām. Rā. THESE ARE MESSAGES of a revelation clear in itself and clearly showing the truth: (1)
إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ
behold, We have bestowed it from on high as a discourse in the Arabic tongue, so that you might encompass it with your reason. (2)
نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ بِمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ
In the measure that We reveal this Qur'ān unto thee, [O Prophet,] We explain it to thee in the best possible way, seeing that ere this thou wert indeed among those who are unaware [of what revelation is]. (3)
إِذْ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لِأَبِيهِ يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ
LO! Thus spoke Joseph unto his father: "O my father! Behold, I saw [in a dream] eleven stars, as well as the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves before me!" (4)
قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ عَلَىٰ إِخْوَتِكَ فَيَكِيدُوا لَكَ كَيْدًا إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لِلْإِنْسَانِ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ
[Jacob] replied: "O my dear son! Do not relate thy dream to thy brothers lest [out of envy] they devise an evil scheme against thee; verily, Satan is man's open foe! (5)
وَكَذَٰلِكَ يَجْتَبِيكَ رَبُّكَ وَيُعَلِّمُكَ مِنْ تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ وَيُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ كَمَا أَتَمَّهَا عَلَىٰ أَبَوَيْكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
For, [as thou hast been shown in thy dream,] even thus will thy Sustainer elect thee, and will impart unto thee some understanding of the inner meaning of happenings, and will bestow the full measure of His blessings upon thee and upon the House of Jacob – even as, aforetime, He bestowed it in full measure upon thy forefathers Abraham and Isaac. Verily, thy Sustainer is all-knowing, wise!" (6)
- In the measure that We reveal4 this Qur'an unto thee, [O Prophet,] We explain it to thee in the best possible way,5 seeing that ere this thou wert indeed among those who are unaware [of what revelation is].6
- 4 Or: "By Our having revealed".
- 5 Lit., "with the best explanation (ahsan al-iqtisas)". This rendering is very close to the interpretation given by Zamakhshari: "We set forth this Qur'an unto thee in the best way in which it could be set forth." According to Razi, it may safely be assumed that the adjective "best" refers not to the contents of "that which is set forth - i.e., the particular story narrated in this surah - but rather to the manner in which the Qur'an (or this particular surah) is set forth: and herein he agrees with Zamakhshari. It should be borne in mind that the verb qassa (the infinitive nouns of which are qasas and igtisas) signifies, primarily, "he followed step by step" or "by degrees", and, subsequently, "he related [a piece of news or a story] as though he followed its traces": hence, "he expounded [it] gradually" or "he explained [it]" (cf. Lane VII, 2526, quoting the Qamus and the Taj al-'Arus with specific reference to the above verse). If, on the other hand, the infinitive noun qasas is regarded as synonymous, in this context, with qissah ("story" or "narrative"), the above sentence might be rendered as "We narrate unto thee the best of narratives", i.e., the subsequent story of Joseph. In my opinion, however, the rendering "We explain it [i.e., the Qur'an] in the best possible way" is preferable inasmuch as it fully coincides with the two opening verses of this surah, which state, in effect, that the Qur'an is self-explanatory.
- 6 At this point in his commentary, Razi draws the reader's attention to 42:52 - "thou didst not know what revelation is, nor what faith [implies]": a passage similar in purport to the closing words of the above verse; hence my addition, between brackets, of the phrase "of what revelation is".
- We do relate unto thee the most beautiful of stories,1631 in that We reveal to thee this (portion of the) Qur?an: before this, thou too was among those who knew it not.
- 1631 Most beautiful of stories: see Introduction to this Surah. Eloquence consists in conveying by a word or hint many meanings for those who can understand and wish to learn wisdom. Not only is Joseph's story "beautiful" in that sense; Joseph himself was renowned for manly beauty: the women of Egypt, called him a noble angel (12:31), and the beauty of his exterior form was a symbol of the beauty of his soul.
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We do relate unto thee the most beautiful of stories, in that We reveal to thee this (portion of the) Qur'an: before this, thou too was among those who knew it not.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
We narrate unto thee (Muhammad) the best of narratives in that We have inspired in thee this Qur'an, though aforetime thou wast of the heedless.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
We narrate to you the best of narratives, by Our revealing to you this Quran, though before this you were certainly one of those who did not know.
— M. Habib Shakir -
We relate unto you (Muhammad SAW) the best of stories through Our Revelations unto you, of this Qur'an. And before this (i.e. before the coming of Divine Inspiration to you), you were among those who knew nothing about it (the Qur'an).
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
We! We recount unto thee the best of stories, by Revealing unto thee this Our'an, although thou wast before that of the unaware ones.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
In the sending down of this Koran, We will narrate to you (Prophet Muhammad) the best of narratives, of which you were previously unaware.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
We narrate to thee the fairest of the narratives in that We have revealed to thee this Reading (Qur'an), though thou wast, before it, among the unaware.
— Ayub Khan -
We relate unto thee the best of narrative in that We have revealed to thee this Qur'?n though thou wast, before this among those unaware of the truth.
— Sher Ali -
In the measure that We reveal this Qur'ān unto thee, [O Prophet,] We explain it to thee in the best possible way, seeing that ere this thou wert indeed among those who are unaware [of what revelation is].
— Muhammad Asad -
We will relate to thee the fairest of stories in that We have revealed to thee this Koran, though before it thou wast one of the heedless.
— Arthur Arberry -
(O Muhammad), by revealing the Qur'an to you We narrate to you in the best manner the stories of the past although before this narration you were utterly unaware of them.{{3}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi