Quran 12:42 — Surah Yusuf Ayah 42 | Arabic, Translation & Tafsir

يَٰصَىٰحِبَىِ ٱلسِّجْنِ أَمَّآ أَحَدُكُمَا فَيَسْق...

12:42

Yusuf

وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلِكُ إِنِّىٓ أَرَىٰ سَبْعَ بَقَرَٰتٍۢ...

وَقَالَ لِلَّذِى ظَنَّ أَنَّهُۥ نَاجٍۢ مِّنْهُمَا ٱذْكُرْنِى عِندَ رَبِّكَ فَأَنسَىٰهُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِۦ فَلَبِثَ فِى ٱلسِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ

Wa qaala lillazee zanna annahoo najim minhumaz kurnee 'inda rabbika fa-ansaahush Shaitaanu zikra Rabbihee falabisa fis sijni bad'a sineen

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.

Related Tafsir

Ibn Kathir

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,

اذْكُرْنِى 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,

فَأَنْسَاهُ الشَّيْطَـنُ 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."

View Full Tafsir: Yusuf asks the King's Distiller to mention Him to the KingAyahs 42–42

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "If I stayed in prison as long as Joseph stayed and then the messenger came, I would respond to his call (to go out of the prison) ."

Sahih Muslim #1436This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira by another chain of transmitters up to the words:

" And cause them a famine like that (which broke out at the time) of Joseph," but the subsequent portion was not mentioned.

Sahih Muslim #7085This hadith has been narrated on the authority of A'mash with the same chain of transmitters up to the words:

And he forgot who had to forget that and. he did not make a mention of what follows after this.

Sahih al-Bukhari #3782Narrated Salman Al-Farisi:

That he was sold (as a slave) by one master to another for more than ten times (i.e between 13 and 19).

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #1432Narrated Bahz bin Hakim:

from his father, from his grandfather, that the Prophet (ﷺ) imprisoned a man for an accusation, then he let him go.