The Best of Stories

Yusuf told his father about his dream: eleven stars, the sun, and the moon — all bowing down to him. Yaqub's eyes widened. He had the gift of interpreting dreams, and he understood immediately what this vision meant. But he also knew what its glory would cost. He told his son: "Do not relate your vision to your brothers, or they will plot against you — for Shaytan is to man a clear enemy."

The brothers had long nursed a wound of jealousy. Their father loved Yusuf more openly than them — or so it seemed to them. They gathered and said to one another: "Yusuf and his brother are more beloved to our father than we are, though we are a group. Our father is clearly mistaken." They decided on a plan: kill him, or cast him in a distant land, so their father's face might turn toward them again.

One of them — the eldest, with the most remaining conscience — spoke against killing. "Do not kill Yusuf. Cast him into the bottom of a well, and some travelers will pick him up." They went to their father and begged him to let Yusuf come out with them to play. Yaqub, reluctant, agreed. They took their brother out to the wilderness, stripped him of his shirt, and cast him into the deep darkness of a well. Then they sat down to eat.

وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ لَتُنَبِّئَنَّهُم بِأَمْرِهِمْ هَٰذَا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

"And We revealed to him: you will surely inform them of this deed of theirs while they do not perceive."

— Surah Yusuf, 12:15

At the bottom of the well, in the dark, alone — Yusuf received a divine whisper. God told him: you will one day tell them what they did here, and they will not know it is you. In the darkest moment, God planted a seed of certainty: this story is not over. This is not the end. The well is not a grave. It is a beginning.

They returned to their father that night with the shirt — stained with the blood of an animal — and told him a wolf had devoured Yusuf. Yaqub looked at the shirt. He looked at his sons. A man who had spent his life reading truth could read deception in an instant. "Rather, your souls have enticed you to something," he said. "Beautiful patience." And he wept — a grief so profound it would last years, until it took his sight.

A caravan of travelers found the well and pulled up their bucket — and Yusuf came with it. They said, "Good news — here is a boy!" They sold him in Egypt as a slave. The Quran tells us that God was with him in every step of this descent — what looked like disaster was the road to the throne.

He was purchased by a man of high rank — an official in Pharaoh's court — whose wife looked at this young man and felt something stir in her heart. He was the most beautiful human being of his generation — the hadith tells us half of all beauty was given to him. She tried to seduce him. He refused with the most complete refusal: "I seek refuge in God — He is my Lord, who made my dwelling good. The wrongdoers do not succeed." She had him imprisoned on a false accusation.

In prison, Yusuf interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners — a wine steward and a baker. The wine steward would be freed and serve the king again. The baker would be executed. Yusuf asked the wine steward to remember him before the king. The steward forgot for years. But in the economy of God, nothing is ever truly lost — only delayed.

The king of Egypt dreamed: seven fat cows devoured by seven thin ones; seven green ears of grain and seven dry. No one could interpret it. The wine steward suddenly remembered — the young man in the prison. Yusuf's interpretation came back to the palace: seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of severe drought. Store the grain. The king was stunned. He ordered Yusuf brought before him immediately.

قَالَ اجْعَلْنِي عَلَىٰ خَزَائِنِ الْأَرْضِ إِنِّي حَفِيظٌ عَلِيمٌ

""Set me over the storehouses of the land — I am a knowing guardian.""

— Surah Yusuf, 12:55

The king offered him a position of trust. Yusuf took it further: "Set me over the storehouses of the land — I am a knowing guardian." From the bottom of a well, to a slave market, to a prison — to the treasury of Egypt. Every step of the descent was preparation for the ascent. Yusuf was now, by the age of thirty, one of the most powerful men in the ancient world.

When the drought came and reached Canaan, Yaqub sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain. They stood before the minister of Egypt — not recognizing their brother. Yusuf recognized them immediately. He played a long game: tested them, tested their conscience, their love for their youngest brother Benyamin. And finally, when the moment was perfect, he said the words that are among the most moving in all of human literature: "I am Yusuf. And this is my brother. God has blessed us. For indeed, whoever fears God and is patient — God does not allow the reward of the good-doers to go to waste." His brothers stood frozen in shame. And Yusuf said: "There is no blame on you today. God will forgive you, for He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy."