wait the issue; for we certainly wait it also. Unto God is known that which is secret in heaven and earth; and unto him shall the whole matter be referred. Therefore worship him, and put thy trust in him; for thy LORD is not regardless of that which ye do.

CHAPTER XII.

INTITLED, JOSEPH;' REVEALED AT MECCA.*

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.

AL. R. These are the signs of the perspicuous book; which we have sent down in the Arabic tongue, that, peradventure, ye might understand. We relate unto thee a most excellent history, by revealing unto thee this Korân, whereas thou wast before one of the negligent. When Joseph said unto his father, O my father, verily I saw in my dream eleven stars, and the sun and the moon; I saw them make obeisance unto me: Jacob said, O my child, tell not thy vision to thy brethren, lest they devise some plot against thee; for the devil is a professed enemy unto man: and thus, according to thy dream, shall thy LORD choose thee, and teach thee the interpretation of dark sayings,' and he shall accomplish his favour upon thee and upon the family of Jacob, as he hath formerly accomplished it upon thy

The Koreish, thinking to puzzle Mohammed, at the instigation, and by the direction of certain Jewish Rabbins, demanded of him how Jacob's family happened to go down into Egypt; and that he would relate to them the history of Joseph, with all its circumstances: whereupon he pretended to have received this chapter from heaven, containing the story of that patriarch. It is said, however, to have been rejected by two Moham medan sects, branches of the Khârejites, called the Ajâredites and Maimûnians, as apocryphal and spurious.

"The Mohammedan, says al Beidâwi, who shall read this chapter, or teach it to his friends or servants, shall have an easy death, and strength of mind sufficient to envy no one."-Savary.

4 Or this particular chapter. For the word Korân, as has been elsewhere observed,▪ properly signifying no more than a reading, or lecture, is often used to denote, not only the whole volume, but any distinct chapter or section of it.

i. e. So far from being acquainted with the story, that it never so much as entered into thy thoughts: a certain argument, says al Beidâwi, that it must have been revealed to him from heaven.

Who was Jacob, the son of Isaac, and the son of Abraham."

The commentators give us the names of these stars (which I think it needless to trouble the reader with), as Mohammed repeated them, at the request of a Jew, who thought to entrap him by the question."

For they say, Jacob, judging that Joseph's dream portended his advancement above the rest of the family, justly apprehended his brethren's envy might tempt them to do him some mischief.

That is, of dreams; or, as others suppose, of the profound passages of scripture, and all difficulties respecting either religion or justice.

• Al Beidâwi.

Idem Al Zamakhshari.

Prelim. Disc. sect. iii. p. 40.

• Al Beidâwi, &e

m

*

fathers Abraham and Isaac; for thy LORD is knowing and wise. Surely in the history of Joseph and his brethren there are signs of God's providence to the inquisitive; when they said to one another, Joseph and his brother* are dearer to our father than we, who are the greater number: our father certainly maketh a wrong judgment. Wherefore slay Joseph, or drive him into some distant or desert part of the earth, and the face of your father shall be cleared towards you; and ye shall afterwards be people of integrity. One of them spoke and said; Slay not Joseph, but throw him to the bottom of the well; and some travellers will take him up, if ye do this. They said unto Jacob, O father, why dost thou not intrust Joseph with us, since we are sincere wellwishers unto him? Send him with us tomorrow, into the field, that he may divert himself, and sport," and we will be his guardians. Jacob answered, It grieveth me that ye take him away; and I fear lest the wolf devour him," while ye are negligent of him. They said, Surely if the wolf devour him, when there are so many of us, we shall be weak indeed. And when they had carried him with them, and agreed to set him at the bottom of the well, they executed their design: and we sent a revelation unto him," saying, Thou shalt hereafter declare this

viz. Benjamin; his brother by the same mother.

Joseph and Benjamin enjoy all the tenderness of Jacob; yet we are more deserving than they. He commits a flagrant injustice against us."-Savary.

'Or, he will settle his love wholly upon you, and ye will have no rival in his favour.

This person, as some say, was Judah, the most prudent and noble-minded of them all; or, according to others, Reuben, whom the Mohammedan writers call Rubîl." And both these opinions are supported by the account of Moses, who tells us, that Reuben advised them not to kill Joseph, but to throw him into a pit privately, intending to release him; and that afterwards Judah, in Reuben's absence, persuaded them not to let him die in a pit, but to sell him to the Ishmaelites.10

9

"Some copies read, in the first person plural, that we may divert ourselves, &c.

The reason why Jacob feared this beast in particular, as the commentators say, was either because the land was full of wolves; or else because Jacob had dreamed he saw Joseph devoured by one of those creatures.

*Should he be attacked by a wild beast, we are numerous, and we will die in his defence."-Savary.

Pi. e. It will be an instance of extreme weakness and folly in us, and we shall be justly blamed for his loss.

This well, say some, was a certain well near. Jerusalem, or not far from the river Jordan; but others call it the well of Egypt, or Midian. The commentators tell us, that when the sons of Jacob had gotten Joseph with them in the field, they began to abuse and to beat him so unmercifully, that they had killed him, had not Judah, on his crying out for help, insisted on the promise they had made not to kill him, but to cast him into the well. Whereupon they let him down a little way; but as he held by the sides of the well, they bound him, and took off his inner garment, designing to stain it with blood, to deceive their father. Joseph begged hard to have his garment returned him, but to no purpose; his brothers telling him, with a sneer, that the eleven stars, and the sun and the moon, might clothe him and keep him company. When they had let him fall thence to the bottom, and there being water in the wen (though the scripture says the contrary), he was obliged to get upon a stone, on which he stood weeping, the angel Gabriel came to him with the revelation mentioned immediately."

Joseph being then but seventeen years old, Al Beidâwi observes that herein he resembled John the Baptist and Jesus, who were also favoured with the divine communication very early. The commentators pretend that Gabriel also clothed him in the well with a garment of silk of paradise. For they say that when Abraham was thrown into the fire,

Al Beidâwi, Al Zamakhshari.

• Gen. xxxvii. 21, 22.

Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin, Al Zamakhshari.

⚫ lidem.

10 Ibid. v. 26, 27.

their action unto them; and they shall not perceive thee to be Joseph. Aud they came to their father at even, weeping, and said, Father, we went and ran races with one another, and we left Joseph with our baggage, and the wolf hath devoured him; but thou wilt not believe us, although we speak the truth. And they produced his inner garment stained with false blood. Jacob answered, Nay, but ye yourselves have contrived the thing for your own sakes: however patience is most becoming, and God's assistance is to be implored to enable me to support the misfortune which ye relate. And certain travellers" came, and sent one to draw water for them; and he let down his bucket,' and said, Good news! this is a youth. And they concealed him," that they might sell him as a piece of merchandize: but GoD knew that which they did. And they sold him for a mean price, for a few pence, and valued him lightly. And the Egyptian who bought him said to his wife, use him honourably; peradventure he may be serviceable to us, or we may adopt him for our son. Thus did we prepare an establishment

d

by Nimrod,' he was stripped; and that Gabriel brought this garment and put it on him; and that from Abraham it descended to Jacob, who folded it up, and put it into an amulet, which he hung about Joseph's neck, whence Gabriel drew it out.

These races they used by way of exercise; and the commentators generally understand here that kind of race wherein they also showed their dexterity in throwing darts, which is still used in the East.

This Jacob had reason to suspect, because when the garment was brought to him, he observed that though it was bloody, yet it was not torn.

viz. A caravan or company travelling from Midian to Egypt, who rested near the well, three days after Joseph had been thrown into it.

The commentators are so exact as to give us the name of this man, who, as they pretend, was Malec Ebn Dhór, of the tribe of Khozââb."

▾ And Joseph, making use of the opportunity, took hold of the cord, and was drawn up by the man.

The original words are Ya boshra: the latter of which some take for the proper name of the water-drawer's companion, whom he called to his assistance; and then they must be translated, O Boshra. (Savary's translation agrees with Sale's.)

The expositors are not agreed whether the pronoun they relates to Malec and his companions, or to Joseph's brethren. They who espouse the former opinion say, that those who came to draw water concealed the manner of their coming by him from the rest of the caravan, that they might keep him to themselves; pretending that some people of the place had given him to them to sell for them in Egypt. And they who prefer the latter opinion tell us, that Judah carried victuals to Joseph every day while he was in the well, but not finding him there on the fourth day, he acquainted his brothers with it: whereupon they all went to the caravan and claimed Joseph as their slave, he not daring to discover that he was their brother, lest something worse should befall him ; and at length they agreed to sell him to them."

Namely, twenty, or twenty-two dirhems, and those not full weight neither; for having weighed one ounce of silver only, the remainder was paid by tale, which is the most unfair way of payment.

His name was Kitfîr, or Itfîr, (a corruption of Potiphar;) and he was a man of great consideration, being superintendent of the royal treasury."

The commentators say, that Joseph came into his service at seventeen, and lived with him thirteen years; and that he was made prime minister in the thirty-third year of his age, and died at a hundred and twenty.

They who suppose Joseph was twice sold, differ as to the price the Egyptian paid for him: some saying it was twenty dinârs of gold, a pair of shoes, and two white garments; and others, that it was a large quantity of silver, or of gold.

Some call her Raïl: but the name she is best known by, is that of Zoleikha.
It is said that Joseph gained his master's good opinion

Kitfîr having no children.

1

for Joseph in the earth, and we taught him the interpretation of dark sayings: for God is well able to effect his purpose; but the greater part of men do not understand. And when he had attained his age of strength, we bestowed on him wisdom, and knowledge; for thus do we recompense the righteous. And she, in whose house he was, desired him to lie with her; and she shut the doors and said, Come hither. He answered, GOD forbid! verily my lord hath made my dwelling with him easy; and the ungrateful shall not prosper. But she resolved within herself to enjoy him, and he would have resolved to enjoy her, had he not seen the evident demonstration of his LORD. So we turned away evil and filthiness from him, because he was one of our sincere servants. And they ran to get one before the other to the door; and she rent his inner garment behind. And they met her lord at the door. She said, What shall be the reward of him who seeketh to commit evil in thy family, but imprisonment, and a painful punishment? And Joseph said, She asked me to lie with her. And a witness of her family bore witness, saying, If his garment be rent before, she speaketh truth, and he is a liar: but if his garment be rent behind, she lieth, and he is a speaker of truth. And when her husband saw that his garment was torn behind, he said, This is a cunning contrivance of your sex; for surely your cunning is great. O Joseph, take no farther notice of this affair and thou, O woman, ask pardon for thy crime; for thou art a guilty person. And certain women said publicly in the city, The nobleman's wife asked her servant to lie with her; he hath inflamed her breast with his love; and we perceive her to be in manifest error. And when she heard of their subtle behaviour, she sent unto them,' and prepared a banquet. for them, and she gave to each of them a knife; and she said unto

*

so suddenly by his countenance, which Kitfîr, who, they pretend, had great skill in physiognomy, judged to indicate his prudence and other good qualities.

viz. Kitfir. But others understand it to be spoken of God.

That is, had he not seriously considered the filthiness of whoredom, and the great guilt thereof. Some, however, suppose that the words mean some miraculous voice or apparition, sent by God to divert Joseph from executing the criminal thoughts which began to possess him. For they say, that he was so far tempted with his mistress's beauty and enticing behaviour, that he sat in her lap, and even began to undress himself, when a voice called to him, and bid him beware of her; but he taking no notice of this admonition, though it was repeated three times, at length the angel Gabriel, or, as others will have it, the figure of his master, appeared to him: but the more general opinion is that it was the apparition of his father Jacob, who bit his fingers' ends, or, as some write, struck him on the breast, whereupon his lubricity passed out at the ends of his fingers.'

For this fable, so injurious to the character of Joseph, the Mohammedans are obliged to their old friends the Jews, who imagine that he had a design to lie with his mistress, from these words of Moses,' And it came to pass-that Joseph went into the house to do his business, &c.

He flying from her, and she running after to detain him.

1 viz. Á cousin of hers, who was then a child in the cradle.*

These women, whose tongues were so free with Zoleikha's character on this occasion, were five in number, and the wives of so many of the king's chief officers, viz. his chamberlain, his butler, his baker, his jailor, and his herdsman.

The number of all the women invited was forty, and among them were the five ladies above mentioned.

1 Al Beidâwi, Al Zamakhshari, Jallalo'ddin, Yahya. Nashim. p. 36. Vide Bartolocc. Bibl. Rabb. part 3, p. 509. • Supra citati interpretes.

• Al Beidawi.

Joseph, Come forth unto them. And when they saw him, they praised him greatly; and they cut their own hands," and said, O GOD! this is not a mortal; he is no other than an angel, deserving the highest respect. And his mistress said, This is he, for whose sake ye blamed me: I asked him to lie with me, but he constantly refused. But if he do not perform that which I command him, he shall surely be cast into prison, and he shall be made one of the contemptible. Joseph said, O LORD, a prison is more eligible unto me than the crime to which they invite me; but unless thou turn aside their snares from me, I shall youthfully incline unto them, and I shall become one of the foolish. Wherefore his LORD heard him, and turned aside their snare from him; for he both heareth and knoweth. And it seemed good unto them even after they had seen the signs of innocency, to imprison him for a time. And there entered into the prison with him two of the king's servants." One of them said, it seemed to me in my dream that I pressed wine out of grapes. And the other said, It seemed unto me in my dream that I carried bread on my head, whereof the birds did eat. Declare unto us the interpretation of our dreams, for we perceive that thou art a beneficent person. Joseph answered, No food, wherewith ye may be nourished, shall come unto you, but I will declare unto you the interpretation thereof, before it come unto you," This knowledge is a part of that which my LORD hath taught me; for I have left the religion of people who believe not in GoD, and who deny the life to come; and I follow the religion of my fathers, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. It is

"The Egyptian women frequently visit and give entertainments to each other. Men are excluded. Only the slaves necessary to wait on the company are admitted. The pleasures of the table are succeeded by music and dancing. They are passionately fond of both. The Almé, that is to say, the learned women, are the delight of these entertainments. They sing verses in praise of guests, and conclude with love songs. They afterwards exhibit voluptuous dances, the licentiousness of which is often carried to excess."-Savary.

The old Latin translators have strangely mistaken the sense of the original word acbarnako, which they render menstruate sunt; and then rebuke Mohammed for the indecency, crying out demurely in the margin, O fœdum et obscænum prophetam! Erpenius' thinks that there is not the least trace of such a meaning in the word; but he is mistaken: for the verb cabara in the fourth conjugation, which is here used, has that import, though the subjoining of the pronoun to it here (which possibly the Latin translators did not observe), absolutely overthrows that interpretation.

"Through extreme surprise at the wonderful beauty of Joseph; which surprise Zoleikha foreseeing, put knives into their hands, on purpose that this accident might happen. Some writers observed, on occasion of this passage, that it is customary in the East for lovers to testify the violence of their passion by cutting themselves, as a sign that they would spend their blood in the service of the person beloved; which is true enough, but I do not find that any of the commentators suppose these Egyptian ladies had any such design.

That is, to Kitfir and his friends. The occasion of Joseph's imprisonment is said to be either that they suspected him to be guilty, notwithstanding the proofs which had been given of his innocence; or else that Zoleikha desired it, feigning, to deceive her husband, that she wanted to have Joseph removed from her sight, till she could conquer her pas sion by time; though her real design was to force him to compliance.

viz. His chief butler and baker; who were accused of a design to poison him. Namely, the butler.

The meaning of this passage seems to be, either that Joseph, to show he used no arts of divination or astrology, promises to interpret their dreams to them immediately, even before they should eat a single meal; or else, he here offers to prophesy to them before. hand, the quantity of the victuals which should be brought them, as a taste of his skill.

In Not. ad. Hist. Josephi.