Yūsuf

قَالَ إِنَّمَآ أَشْكُوا بَثّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَي اللَّهِ وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَ

86. “He said: ‘I only complain of my anguish and my grief to Allah, and I know from Allah that which you do not know’.”

Ya‘qub declared that he used to relate his grief, his need, his life problems and his difficulties to Allah in the dark of night and in private times; and some commentators have said that /ba/ means an expression of grief while the word /huzn/ signifies hiding and covering one’s grief. The verse says:

“He said: ‘I only complain of my anguish and my grief to Allah, and I know from Allah that which you do not know’.”

The Prophet of Allah (S) has been narrated to have said that Gabriel came to visit Ya‘qub and said:

“Allah sends His greetings to you and says that you should be of good cheer that He swears upon His Glory and Magnanimity that if those two sons were dead He would return their lives to them. Now you should prepare some food for the poor, those who are Allah’s most favorite servants.”

From then on, whenever Ya‘qub wanted to have a meal, he would order someone to call any poor man outside his home that was hungry could come inside and share his meal with him. And when he was fasting, he would order someone to proclaim outside his house that whoever was fasting could come in and join him in breaking his fast with him. This narration has been quoted by Hakim Abu ‘Abdullah Hafiz in his Sahih. The sentence “and I know from Allah that which you do not know”, means that Ya‘qub well knew that Yusuf’s dream would come true, that he was alive and according to the dream he saw they would soon prostrate before him.

In the book entitled ‘An-Nubuwwah’ (The Prophethood) documented from Sadir Siyrafi, Imam Baqir (as) is narrated to have said that Ya‘qub prayed for Allah to send the Angel of Death to him, and when the latter came to Ya‘qub, the angel asked him what he could do for him. Ya‘qub asked him if he had seen the spirit of Yusuf among those that he had taken. He answered he had not, so Ya‘qub realized that Yusuf was still alive.

Messages to Note

1. A monotheist shares his secrets and his hidden troubles only with Allah.

2. There are two vicious and heinous attributes regarding human beings: The silence which rules and reigns over one’s heart and nerves, exerting pressure on them and jeopardizing one’s health. The other one is crying and moaning in front of people which diminishes ones honor, and lowers the chances of success.

The best action in this regard is to take one’s complaint to Allah.

3. There lies in a dialogue or a discussion with Allah such a great pleasure which cannot be understood by ordinary people.

4. Superficial people usually pass by events easily. However thoughtful people follow events until their outcome in the Hereafter.