Yusuf (Joseph)

3. “We relate unto you the best of stories, by that We have revealed to you this Qur’an; though before this, you were of those who did it not know.”

The Arabic term /qasas/ means both a story, and the telling of a story. Stories and tales play an important role in man’s education, for they depict the life of a nation and provide practical examples of an Ummah.

History is a mirror that reflects the deeds of nations and the more we are acquainted with the story of our predecessors, the more we acquire the feeling of having lived their lives.

Ali-ibn-Abitalib (as) in a letter to his son, Imam Hassan, implied that he had studied the lives of the former nations in a manner that as if he had lived with them and did it as long as their lifetimes.

Perhaps one of the reasons why stories and tales leave such a great impact upon man is because he has an inherent love for stories.

Usually, books on history, epics and myths have been successful throughout man’s cultural history, and understandable for the majority of people, while issues requiring rational proofs and intellectual matters have been the concern of only a small group among them.

The Qur’an calls the story of Hadrat Yusuf the ‘best of stories’. However, some narrations tell us that the entire Qur’an is also called /ahsanul qasas/ (the best of stories) and certainly, it is not incompatible with the previous definition of the Qur’an, that the Qur’an is the best among all the Holy Books, and the story of Yusuf is the best among the stories of the Qur’an.

At any rate, the story of Hadrat Yusuf is the best of stories for the following reasons:

A) It is the most relevant to our experience.

B) It deals with the struggle against one’s innermost self which is the greatest of struggles.

C) The hero of the story is Hadrat Yusuf, a youth who possesses all human virtues in himself (patience, faith, piety, modesty, wisdom, trustfulness, forgiveness and kindness).

D) All persons of the story have a happy ending. For example Yusuf attains a high political position, the brothers repent, his father regains his lost sight, the famine stricken country is saved; complains and envies are converted into the full gratification of love.

There are a number of opposites juxtaposed in this story: Departure and reunion, sorrow and joy, famine and plenty, loyalty and disloyalty, proprietor and tenant; palace and hovel, poverty and needlessness or wealth, servitude and domination; blindness and sight, chastity and making false accusations.

In conclusion, these points illustrate that the Qur’an, as far as telling stories and historical narratives, has utilized the best manner to educate man. Not only the Divine stories, but all the things of Allah are also the best /ahsan/, because:

1 - He is the Best Creator.

2 - He has sent down the Best of Books.

3 - He has produced the best of features.

4 - He has the best of religions.

5 - He provides the best of rewards.

6 - And finally, having such a background, He has demanded the best of actions from man.

Thus, ignorance is mentioned in the Qur’an signified by three forms:

A- The disagreeable ignorance, like what the verse says:

“But verily many among mankind are heedless of Our Signs.”1

B- The bearable type of ignorance and unawareness which has been referred to here:

“Verily those who accuse chaste believing women unaware (of the evil) are cursed in this world and the Hereafter…”2

Meaning: Those who accuse pure and innocent women, who are unaware of fornication or adultery, are damned in this world and the next.

C- Natural ignorance like being uninformed about something, for example in this verse:

The Qur’an says:

“…though before this, you were of those who did it not know.”

Meaning that before We told you this story, you were not informed about it nor had you heard it from anyone.¹

Or, similar to the verse which says:

“…You did not know what the Book was, nor (what) the Faith (was)…”4