Transliteration:( Wa qaala lillazee zanna annahoo najim minhumaz kurnee 'inda rabbika fa-ansaahush Shaitaanu zikra Rabbihee falabisa fis sijni bid'a sineen )
"And [Yusuf] said to the one whom he considered would be saved of the two, 'Mention me [95] before your lord (King); then Satan made him forget [96] to mention him to his lord, so [Yusuf] remained in prison for several more years [97]."
This verse teaches us that a person can be called a lord in the sense of being a patron or one who nourishes and supports. Seeking help from others during times of need is not idolatory, but rather permissible and follows the practice of Prophets. Hazrat Yusuf (on whom be peace) himself sought the assistance of the prisoner to mention him to the king in order to gain his freedom. This shows that relying on people for help does not contradict reliance on Allah, but rather aligns with the human need for assistance in certain situations.
Some people mistakenly believe that because Hazrat Yusuf (on whom be peace) sought help from someone other than Allah, the steward forgetting to mention him was a consequence of this. However, this view is not correct. If that were the case, the verse would have mentioned that Allah made the steward forget, not that Satan made him forget. The forgetting is attributed to Satan, highlighting that taking assistance from people is not wrong. In fact, it is the Sunnah of the Prophets. For example:
Hazrat Isa (on whom be peace) asked his disciples, "Who will be my helpers towards Allah?" (S3:V52).
Hazrat Zulqarnain (on whom be peace) said, "My Lord has given me control" (S18:V95).
Hazrat Yaqoob (on whom be peace) sent his children to Egypt for grain. Had it been wrong to seek help, these Prophets would have been censured, but they were not.
Thus, it is clear that seeking help from others, as part of divine wisdom, does not negate reliance on Allah. What is destined to happen will indeed come to pass.
The verse indicates that Hazrat Yusuf (on whom be peace) remained in prison for seven more years after this event. Prior to this, he had already been in prison for five years, making the total duration of his imprisonment twelve years. The total Arabic letters for the phrase "Mention me to your Lord (king)" are also a significant detail, reflecting the precision and significance of each word in the Qur'an.
42. And he said to the one whom he knew to be saved: “Mention me to your king.” But Shaytan made him forget to mention it to his master. So ﴿Yusuf﴾ stayed in prison a few (more) years.
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,
(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,
(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.”
(12:42) And Joseph said to the one of the two prisoners who he knew would be set free: “Mention me in your lord’s presence.” But Satan caused him to forget mentioning this to his lord (the ruler of Egypt) and so Joseph languished in prison for several years.[35]
35. Some commentators have interpreted it like this: Satan made Prophet Joseph neglectful of his Lord, Allah, so he placed his confidence in a man rather than Allah and desired him to mention him to his lord, the king, for his release. So Allah punished him by letting him languish several years in the dungeon. In fact, such an interpretation is absolutely erroneous for as Allamah Ibn Kathir and some early commentators like Mujahid, Muhammad-bin- Ishaq and some others say, the pronoun him refers to that person who he thought would be released. Therefore it will mean: Satan made him (the would be free man) so neglectful that he forgot to mention him (Prophet Joseph) to his lord (the king). They also cite a tradition in support of their interpretation to this effect. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If Prophet Joseph had not said that what he said, he would not have remained in imprisonment for several years. But Allamah Ibn Kathir says: This Hadith cannot be accepted because all the ways in which it has been reported are weak. Moreover, two of the reporters, Sufyan-bin-Wakii and Ibrahim-bin-Yazid, are not trustworthy. Besides being weak on technical grounds, it is also against the dictates of common sense: if a wronged person adopted some measures for his release, he cannot be considered to be neglectful of God and guilty of the lack of trust in Allah. 4
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