Prophet Yūsuf: Part 1 — The Well, the House and the Prison
Section 11 of 31 · Lives of the Prophets
Three Who Saw Ahead
وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِى ٱشْتَرَىٰهُ مِن مِّصْرَ لِٱمْرَأَتِهِۦٓ أَكْرِمِى مَثْوَىٰهُ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَنفَعَنَآ أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُۥ وَلَدًا ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُۥ مِن تَأْوِيلِ ٱلْأَحَادِيثِ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَىٰٓ أَمْرِهِۦ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
“And the one who bought him from Egypt said to his wife, “Make his stay graceful. He may be useful for us. Or, we may adopt him as a son.” And thus We established Yūsuf in the land, so that We should teach him the interpretation of events. Allah is powerful in (enforcing) His command, but most of the people do not know.” (12:21)
And the man from Egypt who bought him said to his wife: make his stay comfortable; perhaps he will benefit us, or we will adopt him as a son.
One of the Salaf said that three people had very, very good firāsah. Firāsah is the ability to foresee an event, to look into the future. One of them, he said, is this man in Egypt. He bought Yūsuf and said: perhaps one day he will benefit us. Perhaps this boy has a future.
The second is the daughter of the man in Madyan, who went to her father and said:
قَالَتْ إِحْدَىٰهُمَا يَـٰٓأَبَتِ ٱسْتَـْٔجِرْهُ ۖ إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ ٱسْتَـْٔجَرْتَ ٱلْقَوِىُّ ٱلْأَمِينُ
“One of the two women said, “Dear father, hire him; the best man you can hire is someone who is strong, trustworthy.”” (28:26)
Hire him to work for you, because the best man you can hire is the strong and the trustworthy. And who was she speaking about? Mūsā. And the third is Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, when he appointed ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb to be the Khalīfah. These, he said, are the three with the best firāsah — the best vision of what lay ahead.