Yousef (Joseph) 8
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
Prophet Yousef chose to go to prison in response to Zuleikha’s advise to pick out between being imprisoned and giving a positive answer to her sinful request. The holy Qur’an reports as follows:
قَالَ رَبِّ السِّجْنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ وَإِلَّا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّي كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَكُنْ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ؛
He said, ‘My Lord! The prison is dearer to me than to what they invite me. If You do not turn away their schemes from me, I will incline towards them and become one of the senseless.’ (Yousef: 33)
We learn two more lessons from this holy verse and the prayers of prophet Yousef to the almighty God:
- Preferring a hard and virtuous life over a comfortable sinful life
The prophet Yousef said to God that he preferred being imprisoned and living in prison and hardship but with chastity over a comfortable life and prosperity and freedom but with immorality and sin: قَالَ رَبِّ السِّجْنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ؛ He said, ‘My Lord! The prison is dearer to me than to what they invite me. (Yousef: 33)
Man can be busy with worldly divine blessings and enjoy a comfortable life with prosperity and comfort. Taking advantage of worldly blessings is not a bad thing. God says that He created the whole world and its many blessings for human use: أَلَمْ تَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُمْ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً؛ Do you not see that Allah has disposed for you whatever there is in the heavens and whatever there is in the earth and He has showered upon you His blessings, the outward, and the inward? Yet among the people are those who dispute concerning Allah without any knowledge or guidance or an illuminating scripture. (Loghman: 20). As Saadi says:
Clouds, wind, moon, sun, and sky are in work;
So that you have bread and are not neglected;
Everyone is confused and obedient because of you;
It is not a condition of fairness if you do not obey;
And God wants man to live a pure and healthy life. All divine commands are for the happiness and prosperity of mankind in the temporary life of this world and the eternal life of the hereafter. However, there are times in everyone’s life when they have to choose between happiness and comfort in the temporary life of this world, and happiness in the eternal life of the hereafter, this is one of the divine tests that may happen to everyone. In fact, it is a choice between comfort in this world and a lasting happiness in the hereafter.
A person who can make a lot of profit by lying in a deal; or by deceiving the buyer to sell his property at a higher price; or win a legal case in court by forging a document; is standing at the head of these two paths of this world and the hereafter.
It is in such divine tests that man should prefer the eternal bliss and happiness of the hereafter over the temporary comfort and well-being of this world, with his intellect and wisdom. It is in such a situation that Imam Ali, peace upon him, says that gaining the whole world is not worth oppressing an ant: By God, if they give me the seven climates with what is under the heavens, so that I disobey God by taking an oat seed from an ant, I will not do that, and indeed, this polluted world of yours is less than the chewed leaf of a grasshopper.” As Hafez says:
There is no possibility of silence in this turquoise porch;
Consider pleasure as an opportunity for happiness and prosperity;
What is the way of pleasure? To give up one’s pleasure;
The serving hat is the one that is sewed of this abandonment;
I say words at a curtain like a flower coming out of a bud;
The Newrus government is not more than five days;
- Not to acquit the self, always to be surrounded by God
Prophet Yousef showed a great chastity and avoidance of sin from himself, but he did not become proud of himself and did not consider himself to be free from sin, but entrusted to God and asked God for help to avoid sin: وَإِلَّا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّي كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَكُنْ مِنَ الْجَاهِلِينَ؛ If You do not turn away their schemes from me, I will incline towards them and become one of the senseless.’ (Yousef: 33)
One of the devil temptations, which cause a person to be negligent of the devil and to be attacked by it due to this negligence, is to think that he is immune from the deceptions of the devil. It is certain that the devil will deceive that person exactly from the same area where he considers himself immune from being deceived, because he will not take the necessary care for that area and will provide the best situation for the devil. The almighty God has warned people against thinking that they are pure and immune from sin and says:
إِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَاسِعُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ، هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنْشَأَكُمْ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ وَإِذْ أَنْتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ، فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ، هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَى؛
Those who avoid major sins and indecencies, apart from [minor and occasional] lapses. Indeed your Lord is expansive in [His] forgiveness. He knows you best since [the time] He produced you from the earth and since you were foetuses in the bellies of your mothers. So do not flaunt your piety: He knows best those who are Godwary. (Najm: 32)
And the words of the prophet Yousef are: وَمَا أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِي إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي؛ ‘Yet I do not absolve my [own carnal] soul, for the [carnal] soul indeed prompts [men] to evil, except inasmuch as my Lord has mercy. Indeed my Lord is all-forgiving, all-merciful.’ (Yousef: 53)
A person who considers himself innocent of sin becomes proud of God’s forgiveness. Sometimes it is the worshiping manner of a person that makes him pride, and makes him prey to Satan.
Asceticism, wonder, prayer, me, unawareness, and need;
So that you are among those who care for you;
The holy Qur’an blames such a person who: يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنْسَانُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ الْكَرِيمِ؛ O man! What has deceived you about your generous Lord, (Enfetar: 6). Imam Ali, peace upon him, in interpreting this verse and expressing this misleading negligence, says:
یَا أَیُّهَا الْإِنْسَانُ مَا جَرَّأَکَ عَلَی ذَنْبِکَ؟ وَ مَا غَرَّکَ بِرَبِّکَ؟ وَ مَا أَنَّسَکَ بِهَلَکَهِ نَفْسِکَ؟ أَ مَا مِنْ دَائِکَ بُلُولٌ؟ أَمْ لَیْسَ مِنْ نَوْمَتِکَ یَقَظَهٌ؟ أَ مَا تَرْحَمُ مِنْ نَفْسِکَ مَا تَرْحَمُ مِنْ غَیْرِکَ؟
O man, what made you dare to sin? And made you proud in front of your Lord? And he is interested in his own destruction? Is there any cure for your disease? And does sleepiness wake you up? Why don’t you have mercy on yourself the way you have mercy on others? (Nahj al-Balaghe, Speech 223)