Joseph and his brothers

The Qur'an calls this "the best of stories". It opens with a boy, Joseph (Yusuf), telling his father Jacob (Ya'qub) about a dream. Eleven stars, the sun and the moon were bowing to him.

Jacob sensed what it meant, and warned him not to tell his brothers.

He had reason to worry. Joseph's older brothers resented how much their father loved Joseph and his younger brother. They plotted to get rid of him. Kill him, they said, or leave him in another land. One of them said: no, throw him down the well, where travellers may find him.

Joseph's first test came from jealousy inside his own family.

Joseph's brothers persuaded their father to let him go out with them. Jacob had told them his fear: that a wolf might eat the boy while they were not watching. Then they threw him into a well.

They brought his shirt home stained with false blood, and claimed a wolf had eaten him. Jacob did not believe them. He answered with two words that became a byword: sabrun jamil, beautiful patience.

Meanwhile, travellers sent their water carrier to the well. He let down his bucket, and cried out the good news: here was a boy. They sold him in Egypt for a few coins, to a powerful official, al-'Aziz.

Jacob's "beautiful patience": grief without complaint.

Joseph grew up in the house of al-'Aziz. As he did, the official's wife tried to seduce him, locking the doors.

He refused, saying he sought refuge in God, and ran for the door. She tore his shirt from behind.

A shirt again. A witness pointed out that a shirt torn from the back meant he had been fleeing.

Women in the city talked. So she invited them to a banquet, gave each of them a knife, and called Joseph out. When they saw him they cut their hands. This is no human being, they said.

Even so, to end the gossip in the city, Joseph was put in prison. He said he preferred prison to what they were calling him to.

Joseph chose prison over wrongdoing.

In prison, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners, and taught them about one God.

Years later the king had a dream of his own. Seven fat cows were eaten by seven lean ones. There were seven green ears of grain, and seven dry.

Joseph explained it: seven years of plenty, followed by seven of famine. Store the grain.

The king sent for him. Joseph would not come out. First, he said, ask about the women who cut their hands. Then the official's wife said it herself: it was she who had tried to seduce him.

Cleared of the old accusation, he was placed in charge of Egypt's storehouses. He saved the country through the famine.

Joseph's knowledge, used honestly, fed a nation.

The famine reached Canaan. Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy grain, and did not recognise him.

After several meetings, Joseph revealed who he was. Ashamed, they expected punishment. He said: "No blame will there be upon you today. May God forgive you."

He sent his shirt to his father, whose sight had failed from grief. As the caravan set out, Jacob said he could sense the fragrance of Joseph. His sight returned.

The family came to Egypt and bowed in greeting. Joseph said: this is the meaning of my dream. The Prophet ﷺ later used Joseph's words when he forgave Makkah.

Forgiveness was the ending Joseph's dream pointed to.

If you know Genesis, you know this outline. Joseph's story is one of the closest between Genesis and the Qur'an: the dreams, the jealous brothers, the sale into Egypt, the official's wife, prison, the king's dreams, the famine and the reunion.

The Qur'an's details carry its own emphasis. The torn shirt is proof of innocence. Jacob shows patience and trust in God. Joseph invites his fellow prisoners to monotheism. And the ending is framed as God's plan unfolding through every hardship.

Genesis and the Qur'an tell the same story; the Qur'an tells it to teach trust in a hidden plan.