I Am Yūsuf

They said: are you indeed Yūsuf? He said: I am Yūsuf, and this is my brother. Allah has indeed been gracious to us.

Pay attention to the next part of this ayah. If you forget everything else in the story of Yūsuf, make sure you do not forget this, because this is the essence of the story of Yūsuf.

And keep in mind when this story was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). When was Sūrat Yūsuf revealed? In Makkah. When in Makkah? In ʿĀm al-Ḥuzn, the Year of Sorrow — when Abū Ṭālib passed away, and Khadījah (may Allah be pleased with her) passed away, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was left with no one to support him with strength, as his uncle Abū Ṭālib had, and no one to support him financially, as his wife Khadījah had. That was the Year of Sorrow.

It was not only sorrow and sadness for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) because he had lost his uncle and his beloved wife, but because the daʿwah was being hemmed in, and barriers were now being put up in his face. Before that he had strength: his uncle gave him an umbrella of protection, and his wife comforted him at home. Now he had lost these two supporters, and his heart was filled with sadness and sorrow. The moments he was going through were unbearable.

And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) received Sūrat Yūsuf in this particular situation, because that is what the Qur'an is for: li-nuthabbita bihi fuʾādak — so that We might strengthen your heart with it. When Allah (swt) says why He revealed the Qur'an, it is so that We might strengthen your heart. The Qur'an was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) at the appropriate times, for the appropriate situations, to serve the appropriate purpose. So in that period, the Year of Sorrow, Allah (swt) revealed to him the story of Yūsuf: the story of someone who went through difficulty, trials, misery, sorrow and sadness — and then, in the end: Allah has been gracious to us.