Yūsuf
The goal of this chapter is to expound God’s guardianship over the servant who has sincerely dedicated his faith to Him and become so filled by His love that he seeks no substitute and never turns to anything besides God. God takes charge of his affairs, nurtures him with utmost care, brings him near, quenches his spiritual thirst from His nearmost source, chooses him exclusively for Himself, divinely grants him life even when all apparent causes appear to have resolved upon his destruction, elevates him even when circumstances seem to belittle him, and empowers him even when the vicissitudes of time seem to diminish his stature.
This is illustrated by God in this chapter through the narrative of Joseph. No other chapter in the entirety of the Qur’an provides a detailed account of any story from its beginning to its end like it does for the story of Joseph. Moreover, this chapter is exclusively dedicated to the story of Joseph, without any other narrative being included alongside it.
Joseph was a servant who was sincere and devoted in his worship, so God chose him exclusively and honored him with His might. Though circumstances conspired to degrade and belittle him, every time he was cast into peril, God saved him using the very means that seemed to drive him towards ruin: His brothers’ jealousy led them to throw him into a pit, then they sold him for a meagre price which took him to Egypt, where he was brought into a house of power and prestige. The lady of the house attempted to seduce him, and when unsuccessful, falsely accused him of impropriety before her husband. However, it wasn’t long before she confessed his innocence in front of the women of the city. Nevertheless, she had accused him, which led to his imprisonment. This became the reason for his eventual proximity to the king. The blood-stained shirt his brothers brought to his father Jacob on the first day was the very reason for the loss of Jacob’s eyesight. Yet, that same shirt, sent with his brothers from Egypt to Jacob at the end, was the reason for the restoration of his vision. And so on and so forth.
In sum, whenever any adverse circumstances befell Joseph or obstructed his path to perfection, God made that very obstacle the means of guiding him rightly and rendering him successful in his endeavours. God continuously transitioned him from one state to another until He granted him governance and kingship, made him one of the elect, taught him the interpretation of events, and completed His grace upon him, just as his father had promised him would be the case.
God begins the story of Joseph by mentioning the dream he saw in his early years while he was still in the care of his father. Dreams are often a sign of glad tidings, and God made real the blessings indicated in his dream by bestowing upon him a divine upbringing. This is God’s way with His devoted ones, as He has said: Look! The friends of Allah will indeed have no fear nor will they grieve. Those who have faith, and are Godwary. For them is good news in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. There is no altering the words of Allah. That is the great success ().
In God’s statement after mentioning Joseph’s dream and its interpretation by his father, In Joseph and his brothers there are certainly signs for the seekers, it hints that there were people who had asked the Prophet about this story. This supports the account that a group of Jews instructed the idolaters of Mecca to question the Prophet about the reason the children of Israel moved to Egypt when Jacob had been residing in the land of the Levant. Thus, this chapter was revealed.
Given this, the purpose is to detail the story of Joseph and the narrative of the family of Jacob. Through providing these details, however, God achieved a higher purpose still, namely illustrating His guardianship over His devoted servants, as evident from the beginning and the end of the chapter. The chapter is Meccan, as indicated by the context of its verses. Some narrations from Ibn ʿAbbās state that four of its verses are Medinan; three at the beginning and the verse, In Joseph and his brothers there are certainly signs for the seekers, which aligns with the context presented.
This is the ʿAllāmah's introduction to the sūrah, from the opening of the commentary.