Joseph - salam to him - in prison:
{
35. Then they [: Zulaykha, her husband and the judge a] had another opinion [that is] to imprison him for a time [of three years b], even after they had seen the signs [of his truthfulness and innocence.]
36. And there entered the prison with him two youths [: the cupbearer of the king, and his baker.]
Said one of them [: the cupbearer]: "I dreamed that I was pressing [grapes as for] wine."
Said the other [: the baker]: "I dreamed that I was carrying on my head bread which the birds were eating of.
Tell us its interpretation; we see that you [Joseph] are of those good [at interpretation.]"
37. [Joseph] said c: "There will not come to you any food that you are provided with [in the dream], but I shall tell you its interpretation [in the wakefulness], before its [occurrence in reality] reaches you. d
e Such [knowledge of the interpretation] is some of that my Lord has acquainted me with.
f I have forsaken the religion of a folk [who are associaters: worshipping the idols with God, and ]who believe not in God [alone g] and [moreover] of the Next Life they are deniers. h "
38. "And I have followed the religion of my fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; we ought not to associate anything with God i; that is [some] of God's bounty to us and to people j, but most of people give no thanks [about God’s bounties to them.]"k
39. "O my two companions in prison, which is better: many differing lords [of stone, silver and copper which neither harm nor profit, or is God: the One, the Omnipotent l?"
40. "You worship none, apart from [God], other than mere names which you and your fathers have named, concerning which God has not revealed any authority m.
The decision [about the worship] is up to God [alone] n. He has commanded [in the heavenly books] that you should worship none other than He [alone].
That o is the religion of [Prophet Jacob] the guardian [on his sons and his people], but most of people do not know [the truth.]"
41. "O my two companions in prison, as for one of you, he shall pour wine for his lord p; as for the other, he shall be crucified, and birds will eat [of the flesh] of his head.
The matter [of the vision] is decided whereon you enquire."
42. And [Joseph] said to the one [: the cupbearer] of the two [prisoners] whom he thought should be saved: "Mention me to your lord q."
So Satan caused him to forget his Lord r; therefore he lingered in prison for few years s.}
...........................................................................
35
a After discussion and consultation.
35
b They wanted by imprisoning him to delude people that he was the guilty, not Zulaykha; so they imprisoned him.
The story [of interpreting the dreams of the two prison inmates]
The cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. So he ordered to put them in prison, and they were imprisoned together with Joseph.
The cup-bearer saw a dream, and he told Joseph about it; he said: "In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. The cup of the king was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into the king’s cup and put the cup in his hand."
Joseph said to him. "The three branches are three days.
Within three days you will get out of prison, restore your position, and you will put the king's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.
But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to the king and get me out of this prison. For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve this."
And the chief of bakers said, "I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets. In the top basket were bread, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head."
"This is what it means," Joseph said. "The three baskets are three days. After three days the king will crucify you on a tree. And the birds will eat away your flesh."
Now the third day was the birthday of the king, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He restored the cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into the king's hand, but he crucified the chief of bakers on a tree, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.
The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
37
c When he interpreted their dreams.
37
d So they said to him: How do you know that, while you are not any priest?
37
e Therefore he said to them:
37
f They said to him: Which of these idols is your Lord; so guide us to him, in order that he may acquaint us about the interpretation of the dream, as has he taught you?
So he said: (I have forsaken the religion of a folk who believe not in God [alone.])
37
g But they associate with Him.
37
h i.e. they deny the sending of souls to the Next Life and the Judgment.
38
i Therefore, we do not worship idols and statues.
38
j Who devote themselves to God alone.
38
k So this was his answer to their question: “Who is your Lord?” Therefore, he said to them: I don’t worship any idol, neither did my fathers worship the idols, but we worship God the Lord of the heavens and the earth. It is He Who taught me about the interpretation of dreams. Then if you want to be like myself, then worship God alone and refrain from worshipping the idols, and He will give you all that you want.
Then he said to them:
39
l Who revives and kills, and by Whose hand is everything?
40
m It means: The idols which you worship and to which you give names; such names are devoid of meaning, and are not true; moreover, God did not reveal any commandment in any heavenly book to worship the idols.
40
n It means: It is not allowed that anybody may worship anyone according to his own desire, but it should only be according to God’s commands in the heavenly books.
40
o i.e. That which I have explained to you, concerning the worshipping of God alone and forsaking the worship of idols …
41
p i.e. his master; i.e. the king.
42
q Tell the king about me, in order that he may liberate me from the prison, because I am innocent, not guilty.
42
r It means: Satan made Joseph forget to mention God and pray Him to liberate him from the prison, so he asked the cupbearer to mention him before the king.
42
s As a punishment for that word; i.e. Joseph stayed in the prison three years, because he stayed one year before he interpreted the dream of the cupbearer, and when the cupbearer went out of the prison, he forgot to mention Joseph to the king, until the king saw his dream of the seven cows, so the period was two years, so the total was three years.
By the interpreter of the Quran and the Bible: Mohammed-Ali Hassan Al-Hilly
Google search: quran-ayat Mohammed-Ali Hassan Al-Hilly the quran interpretation-pdf
http://quran-ayat.com/interpretation.pdf
