And remember when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House[219] (that is, building it), together with Ishmael, and they said, O our Lord, accept of us our building; for Thou art the Hearer of what is said, the Knower of what is done. O our Lord, also make us resigned[220] unto Thee, and make from among our offspring a people resigned unto Thee, and show us our rites (the ordinances of our worship, or our pilgrimage), and be propitious towards us; for Thou art the Very Propitious, the Merciful. (They begged Him to be propitious to them, notwithstanding their honesty, from a motive of humility, and by way of instruction to their offspring.) O our Lord, also send unto them (that is, the people of the House) an apostle from among them (and God hath answered their prayer by sending Moḥammad), who shall recite unto them Thy signs (the Ḳur-án), and shall teach them the book (the Ḳur-án), and the knowledge that it containeth, and shall purify them from polytheism; for Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.—And who will be averse from the religion of Abraham but he who maketh his soul foolish, who is ignorant that it is God’s creation, and that the worship of Him is incumbent on it; or who lightly esteemeth it and applieth it to vile purposes; when We have chosen him in this world as an apostle and a friend, and he shall be in the world to come one of the righteous for whom are high ranks?—And remember when his lord said unto him, Resign thyself:—he replied, I resign myself unto the Lord of the worlds.—And Abraham commanded his children to follow it (namely, the religion); and Jacob, his children; saying, O my children, verily God hath chosen for you the religion of El-Islám;[221] therefore die not without your being Muslims.—It was a prohibition from abandoning El-Islám and a command to persevere therein unto death.
(ii. 121-126.)
When the Jews said, Abraham was a Jew, and we are of his religion,—and the Christians said the like, [the following] was revealed:—O people of the Scripture, wherefore do ye argue respecting Abraham, asserting that he was of your religion, when the Pentateuch and the Gospel were not sent down but after him a long time? Do ye not then understand the falsity of your saying? So ye, O people, have argued respecting that of which ye have knowledge, concerning Moses and Jesus, and have asserted that ye are of their religion: then wherefore do ye argue respecting that of which ye have no knowledge, concerning Abraham? But God knoweth his case, and ye know it not. Abraham was not a Jew nor a Christian: but he was orthodox, a Muslim [or one resigned], a unitarian, and he was not of the polytheists.
(iii. 58-60.)
JACOB, JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.
Remember, when Joseph [Yoosuf] said unto his father, O my father, verily I saw in sleep eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them making obeisance unto me. He replied, O my child, relate not thy vision to thy brethren, lest they contrive a plot against thee, knowing its interpretation to be that they are the stars and that the sun is thy mother and the moon thy father; for the devil is unto man a manifest enemy. And thus, as thou sawest, thy Lord will choose thee, and teach thee the interpretation of events, or dreams, and will accomplish his favour upon thee by the gift of prophecy, and upon the family of Jacob, as He accomplished it upon thy fathers before, Abraham and Isaac; for thy Lord is knowing [and] wise.—Verily in the history of Joseph and his brethren are signs to the inquirers.—When they (the brethren of Joseph) said, one to another, Verily Joseph and his brother Benjamin are dearer unto our father than we, and we are a number of men; verily our father is in a manifest error; slay ye Joseph, or drive him away into a distant land; so the face of your father shall be directed alone unto you, regarding no other, and ye shall be after it a just people:—a speaker among them, namely, Judah, said, Slay not Joseph, but throw him to the bottom of the well; then some of the travellers may light upon him, if ye do this. And they were satisfied therewith. They said, O our father, wherefore dost thou not intrust us with Joseph, when verily we are faithful unto him? Send him with us tomorrow into the plain, that he may divert himself and sport; and we will surely take care of him.—He replied, Verily your taking him away will grieve me, and I fear lest the wolf devour him while ye are heedless of him. They said, Surely if the wolf devour him, when we are a number of men, we shall in that case be indeed weak. So he sent him with them. And when they went away with him, and agreed to put him at the bottom of the well, they did so.[222] They pulled off his shirt, after they had beaten him and had treated him with contempt and had desired to slay him; and they let him down; and when he had arrived half-way down the well they let him fall, that he might die; and he fell into the water. He then betook himself to a mass of rock; and they called to him; so he answered them, imagining that they would have mercy upon him. They however desired to crush him with a piece of rock; but Judah prevented them. And We said unto him by revelation, while he was in the well (and he was seventeen years of age, or less), to quiet his heart, Thou shalt assuredly declare unto them this their action, and they shall not know thee at the time.[223] And they came to their father at nightfall weeping. They said, O our father, we went to run races,[224] and left Joseph with our clothes, and the wolf devoured him; and thou wilt not believe us, though we speak truth. And they brought false blood upon his shirt. Jacob said unto them, Nay, your minds have made a thing seem pleasant unto you, and ye have done it;[225] but patience is seemly, and God’s assistance is implored with respect to that which ye relate.
And travellers came on their way from Midian (Medyen) to Egypt, and alighted near the well;[226] and they sent their drawer of water,[227] and he let down his bucket into the well: so Joseph caught hold upon it, and the man drew him forth; and when he saw him, he said, O good news! This is a young man!—And his brethren thereupon knew his case; wherefore they came unto him, and they[228] concealed his case, making him as a piece of merchandise; for they said, He is our slave who hath absconded. And Joseph was silent, fearing lest they should slay him. And God knew that which they did. And they sold him for a mean price, [for] some dirhems counted down, twenty, or two-and-twenty; and they were indifferent to him. The travellers then brought him to Egypt, and he who had bought him sold him for twenty deenárs and a pair of shoes and two garments. And the Egyptian who bought him, namely, Ḳiṭfeer,[229] said unto his wife Zeleekha, Treat him hospitably; peradventure he may be advantageous to us, or we may adopt him as a son. For he was childless. And thus We prepared an establishment for Joseph in the land of Egypt, to teach him the interpretation of events, or dreams; for God is well able to effect His purpose; but the greater number of men, namely, the unbelievers, know not this. And when he had attained his age of strength (thirty years, or three-and-thirty), We bestowed on him wisdom and knowledge in matters of religion, before he was sent as a prophet; for thus do We recompense the well-doers. (xii. 4-22.—Then follows an account of his temptation by his mistress, Zeleekha.)
Then it seemed good unto them,[230] after they had seen the signs of his innocence, to imprison him. They will assuredly imprison him for a time, until the talk of the people respecting him cease. So they imprisoned him. And there entered with him into the prison two young men, servants of the king, one of whom was his cup-bearer and the other was his victualler. And they found that he interpreted dreams; wherefore one of them, namely, the cup-bearer, said, I dreamed that I was pressing grapes: and the other said, I dreamed that I was carrying upon my head some bread, whereof the birds did eat: acquaint us with the interpretation thereof; for we see thee to be [one] of the beneficent.—He replied, There shall not come unto you any food wherewith ye shall be fed in a dream, but I will acquaint you with the interpretation thereof when ye are awake, before the interpretation of it come unto you. This is a part of that which my Lord hath taught me. Verily I have abandoned the religion of a people who believe not in God and who disbelieve in the world to come; and I follow the religion of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It is not fit for us to associate anything with God. This knowledge of the unity [hath been given us] of the bounty of God towards us and towards mankind; but the greater number of men are not thankful. O ye two companions (or inmates) of the prison, are sundry lords better, or is God, the One, the Almighty? Ye worship not, beside Him, [aught] save names which ye and your fathers have given to idols, concerning which God hath not sent down any convincing proof. Judgment belongeth not [unto any] save unto God alone. He hath commanded that ye worship not [any] but Him. This is the right religion; but the greater number of men know not. O ye two companions of the prison, as to one of you, namely, the cup-bearer, he will serve wine unto his lord as formerly; and as to the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will eat from off his head.—Upon this they said, We dreamed not aught. He replied, The thing is decreed concerning which ye [did] ask a determination, whether ye have spoken truth or have lied. And he said unto him whom he judged to be the person who should escape of them two, namely the cup-bearer, Mention me unto thy Lord, and say unto him, In the prison is a young man imprisoned unjustly.—And he went forth. But the devil caused him to forget to mention Joseph unto his lord:[231] so he remained in the prison some years: it is said, seven; and it is said, twelve.