The Best of Stories

The story of Sayyidunā Yūsuf is unique in the Qur'an, because the whole story, from the beginning to the end, was mentioned in one surah. And it takes almost all of the surah: with the exception of a few verses in the beginning and a few verses in the end, the whole surah is talking about Sayyidunā Yūsuf — to give us a complete story and experience of a Nabī of Allah (swt), from the beginning till the end.

And Sūrat Yūsuf — one of the Salaf says: anybody who is going through trouble and problems, and is feeling sorrow, if he reads Sūrat Yūsuf, it will eliminate it. Because it's the story of someone who went through difficulty; but because he armed himself with taqwā and ṣabr, righteousness and patience, eventually he was victorious.

Allah (swt) says: naquṣṣu ʿalayka aḥsana al-qaṣaṣi bimā awḥaynā ilayka hādhā al-Qurʾān, wa in kunta min qablihi la-min al-ghāfilīn. We relate unto you, Muhammad, the best of stories, through Our revelation unto you of this Qur'an; and before this, you were among those who knew nothing about it.

Qāla Yūsufu li-abīhi yā abati innī raʾaytu aḥada ʿashara kawkaban wa-l-shamsa wa-l-qamara raʾaytuhum lī sājidīn. Yūsuf said — and Yūsuf in English is Joseph — O my father, verily I saw in a dream eleven stars, and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating themselves for me.

Yūsuf was very young at the time; he was a child. He saw this dream: eleven planets, and the sun and the moon, are making sujūd, prostration, to him. So he told his father about this dream.