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Getting Out From
The Jail to The King of Egypt
God desired not but to make things go
along for a reason, for He said: We made a reason for everything. When
God wanted to release Joseph (PUH) after many years in jail, He prepared
a reason for him, and the king saw his dream about seven fat cows getting
out of the river and went into a green field, then he saw seven ugly thin
cows getting out of the river also and ate the seven fat cows, then he
woke up and slept again and then he saw seven good ears of grain and behind
them seven bad ears of grain, and the bad grains ate the good ones, and
then in the morning the king became so annoyed about these two dreams.
Then he called for the magicians and priests to interpret this dream, but
none could give an answer, and they said to him: Jumbled dreams! And we
are not knowing in the interpretation of dreams(Yousof:44). At that time
the cupbearer recognized and remembered what happened to him with his friend
with Joseph (PUH) in the prison and so pointed out to the king that only
Joseph can solve this puzzle, and he interpreted their dreams as if he
was looking what will happen by his eyes, and so when he suggested that
to the king and suggested that he goes to Joseph in jail and ask him, the
king sent him to Joseph and when he saw him he said: Joseph! O thou truthful
one! Expound for us the seven fat kine which seven lean were eating and
the seven green ears of corn and other (seven) dry(Yousof:46). Then Joseph
(PUH) interpreted that for him and that is Egypt will face seven fertile
years and then will be followed by dry seven years that will empty the
granaries from grains, and so they have to manage this so that when the
dry seven years come they would find something to live by until things
would get back to normal as it was before.
Then the cupbearer got back to the
king with his interpretation with details, and when he heard that he got
delighted and knew that it is the truth for it goes along with the dream's
symbols, and also for he knew before how truthful he is, and also he interpreted
the dreams for the servants and it happened as he said, then the king said:
bring him to me, and when he ordered that, Joseph denied going out of the
prison until he knows that reason for being here in the first place and
asked the king to ask the women that cut their hands before, and so when
he brought them and asked them about Joseph they said: Allah Blameless!
We know no evil of him, God did say about that: And the king said: Bring
him unto me. And when the messenger came unto him, he (Joseph) said: Return
unto thy lord and ask him what was the case of the women who cut their
hands. Lo! my Lord knoweth their guile..etc(Yousof:50). Joseph did not
like going out of the jail with people considering him still as a criminal,
and so he desired not to go out of jail unless with honour and innocence
and never mocked for any mistake, and when all the women testified that
he was innocent then the wife of the king (noble) found no escape to confess
and admit the truth and for this she said: Now the truth is out. I asked
of him an evil act, and he is surely of the truthful(Yousof:51).
What we understand that Joseph (PUH)
had a high place in jail and everyone respected him and he became like
a ruler for the jail and everyone that comes in there and this is pointed
out by the speech of the cupbearer of the king and also the king's messenger
with Joseph when he said "Joseph! O thou truthful one!, Expound for us
the seven fat kine..etc." Then when the women testified for the innocence
of Joseph and the wife of the noble (king) saw that the one who put him
in prison, now working on getting him closer, and that the charges made
against him did not change anything of his high place, she became humble
for his high place and gave up her anger against him and became tender
towards him for he had places in her heart, and she got back to the path
of truth after charging him for things he did not do, while she insisted
on that all the past years, and so she confessed what no woman would confess
against herself, and she gave up the secret that she kept away from her
husband and her relatives and said: Now the truth is out. I asked of him
an evil act, and he is surely of the truthful. (Then Joseph said: I asked
for) this, that he (my lord) may know that I betrayed him not in secret(Yousof:51-52),
and she said: I do not exculpate myself. Lo! the (human) soul enjoineth
unto evil(Yousof:53), and when the noble of Egypt saw the situation and
saw how high is Joseph and how he is able to do what others can not do,
and how trustful he is, he ordered for him to be out of jail and said to
him: Lo! thou art to-day in our presence established and trusted(Yousof:54),
and since Joseph did not mind going out to the king, he went out and answered
the king for his request, and he liked his logic and his wisdom, he (the
king) asked him: what job you like to take that brings happiness to you?
So he said: Set me over the storehouses of the land. Lo! I am a skilled
custodian(Yousof:55), and so God said: Thus gave We power to Joseph in
the land. He was the owner of it where he pleased(Yousof:56). Al-Þa`labi
mentioned in his book "`Arâ'is Al-Majâlis" that the king of
egypt which was Al-Rayyân ben Al-Waleed believed in God by the help
of Joseph after that he saw how truthful he was and made Joseph take care
of the storehouses in the land. Also said Al-Þa`labi: when Al-Rayyân
died, Qâbus ben Mos`ab ben Al-Rayyân became a king after him,
and he did not believe in God and was a tyrant, and he died, then his brother
Abu-Al-`Abbâs Al-Waleed ben Mos`ab ben Al-Rayyân became a king.
It is seems to be that Al-Rayyân
ben Al-Waleed was their grandfather and the speech of Al-Þa`labi
was about the conditions of Moses (PUH) and it is a long speech with lot
of details, and he mentioned that the pharaohs that ruled the Israelites
were four: Al-Rayyân, the noble of Egypt, and Qâbus ben Mos`ab,
and his brother Al-Waleed ben Mos`ab ben Al-Rayyân and the fourth
was the pharaoh of Moses (PUH) and he was the most tyrant of all, and God
knows better.
About this matter, Torah mentioned
what is in summary: Then Joseph said to them: you must save the fifth of
the lands production in the fertile years for the dry years, and to be
ready to face famine, and this should be done by guards all over the land.
Then the pharaoh said to his soldiers: can we find someone like this man?
Then he looked at Joseph and said: we do not have someone like you in wisdom
so you shall manage all the matters, but I will be higher than you in place,
and also said the pharaoh to him: I've appointed you all over the land
of Egypt, and then took off his ring from his finger and placed it in the
hand of Joseph, and made him wear his clothes and put around his neck a
golden necklace and made him ride in his second chariot and called for
the people to prostrate before him, and he appointed him all over the land
of Egypt and the owner of commands and he made him marry the daughter of
Futi-Fâre` (Potiphera) the priest of Ur-Asnât (On), and Joseph
at that time was thirty years old when he had the kingdom of Egypt and
married Asnât (Asenath), then Joseph went out all around Egypt to
note what should be done for the hard years and to face the famine, and
then he went on working to order and took care of matters in all the fields
and crafts, and only the king was higher than him.
What we understand from clues is
that after the death of the king of Egypt all the rule came into the hands
of Joseph without anyone opposing this for they knew how just and wise
he was, and there were no bad deeds for him to mock at him, and so he was
a brilliant worker and wise noble, and so Joseph became the king after
the death of the king, and all the others were his assistors, and it is
mentioned that after the death of the king and that was during the dry
years, the wife of the king, Zalikhâ became so poor and needy, so
they said to her: wouldn't you see the king, and it was Joseph (PUH), she
said: I am shy of him, but they insisted until they made her sit in his
way, and so when Joseph approached with his march she stood for him and
said to him: O thanks be to God that made the kings slaves by the evil
acts, and made the slaves kings by their worshipping, so then Joseph said
to her and she was old: did not you do me this and that? She said then:
O prophet of God do not blame me, I was troubles with three that none was
troubled with before, and he asked: what are they? She said: I was troubled
with your love and God did not create some one like you, and I was troubled
with my beauty for there were no woman as pretty as I was and nor had money
as much as I did, and I was troubled with my husband for he was impotent,
so then Joseph said to her: what is your need? She said: ask God to get
me back my youth, and so he did and her youth was back to her, and then
Joseph married her and she was virgin, and there is another tale about
this matter but incremented with that he mentioned Muhammad (PUH) and mentioned
that he is better than him in creation and so she believed in him and God
ordered him to marry her and so he did.
Next: The Beginning of Easiness
For The Household of Jacob (PUH)