the three incarcerations of yusuf: a reading of the story of joseph as presented in the 12th...
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The Three Incarcerations
of Yusuf:A reading of the story of joseph as
presented in the 12thsurah
From the time man begins to climb
the ladder of ascent (mirj), he
receives divine self-disclosure in
accordance with the ladder of his
ascent. Each individual among the
Folk of Allah has a ladder specific to
him which no one else climbs
all steps of the meanings for the
prophets, the friends, the faithful, and
the messengers are the sameThe
first step is islm, which is
submission (inqiyd). The last step isannihilation (fan) in going up
(uruj) and subsistence (baq) in
going out (khurj).
Ibn al-Arab qtd. in SPK 219 b[1]
In the Qurn Joseph suffers threeincarcerations: the well, Zulaykhas bedroom, and
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the prison. It is my contention that each of
Josephs incarcerations represents metaphorically
the steps from submission towards annihilation in
the Real as referred to by Ibn al-Arab above. And
each imprisonment is an important phase in
Josephs formation as a prophet. As such each
confinement marks a phase in the transformation
of the soul from the soul of the ordinary mortal, tothat of those who reach the fullness of human
perfection (TI 254 a).
Following Abd al-Razzq Kshns
commentary The Sura of Joseph,[2]
I will attempt
to make an esoteric interpretation of the threeincarcerations of Joseph viewing them as mirrors
of the microcosmic evolution of the Heart. These
incarcerations trace the path that the human being
must take from the soul commanding to evil,
through the station of the blaming soul, to finally
reach the station of unconditional servanthooddepicted as the soul at peace with God.
The Well
In verse 12:15[3]
Joseph is lowered into a well
by his brothers. Later, in 12:19, Joseph is found by
a water-drawer from a passing caravan.
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So when they went with him, and
agreed to put him in the bottom of the
well, and We revealed to him, Thou
shalt tell them of this their doing
when they are unaware (12:15).
Then came travelers, and they sentone of them, a water-drawer, who let
down his bucket. Good news! he
said. Here is a young man
(12:19).
Before actually commencing the discussion ofthe first incarceration, it would help to understand
its implication if we first look at the use of the
word well by the translators. Both Arberry and
Sher Al use the word well in verse 12:15. On the
other hand, Palmer and Pickthall translate the word
as pit. The problem stems from the originalArabic phraseghayabt jubb which translates
roughly into the bottom of the pit. Furthermore,
the same phrase construction,ghayabt jubb,
appears in verse 12:10, were both Arberry and
Sher Al translatejubb as pit.
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Now the dictionary gives us the English nouns
covert, screen for the Arabicghayabt, while
fromjubb we get the nouns well, cistern, pit. In
fact, the dictionary tells us that the phrase
constructionghayabt with the word well
translates into the bottom of the pit. Hence, it is
possible to transpose the term pit or cistern for
the term well. But, the usage of well by Arberryin 12:15, rather than pit, could be validated by
the mention of the water-drawer lowering his
bucket into the well/pit in verse 12:19. I tend to
favor Arberrys choice of well, and propose that
this well symbolizes the beginning of Josephs
traverse, as the Heart, toward the realization of hisinnate condition of perfection.
Now, in 12:8-10, where the brothers plan to get
rid of Joseph, the translators agree on the use of
pit. It is in 12:15 that translators disagree in the
word, as stated above. The problem now is that theterm pit and well may seem alike, yet they
really evoke different feelings. The word pit
brings to mind the image of a barren hole in the
ground.
How does this relate to Joseph as the Heart? A
well implies something from which one can extract
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something else. The word well is usually used
for a hole from which one can extract water, oil,
natural gases. So, basically a well is composed of
a solid, in this case earth, which encases liquid or
gas. Thus a well or a cistern always carries
the feeling of hope. Even what seems to be no
more than an empty well, symbolically portrays
the longing sense of hope. That is why inverse 12:19 we are told that it was a water-drawer
who finds Joseph. The act of the water-drawer
accentuates the feeling of productivity, of fertile
ground, and of hope that Josephs character
represents as the Heart. Thus Joseph suffers his
first transformation from a mere unproductivenuisance to the hope of the coming revelations.
As a solid shell, Joseph, as the body that contains
the Heart, is the well from which the light from
God will eventually emanate.
Second the water, the hope which lingers out inthe desert, has been interpreted by commentators
to signify knowledge. For example, Kshn, in
discussing verse 13:17, states the following:
He sends down out of Heaven, which
is the Spirit of holiness, water, that is
knowledge (qtd. in TI 130 a).
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Rashd al-Dn Maybud also sees the same analogy
for water in his commentary to verse 13:17.
This verse is the sphere of the science
of reality and gnosis.He sends down
out of Heaven water. In other words,
He revealed from on high to the heartsand the ears of the prophets and He
inspired the intellects and insights of
the sages (qtd. in TI 129 a).
Both Kshn and Maybud see water as a
knowledge or intellect which descends unto thehearts (wadis) from a higher spirit.
But water is not only described as knowledge.
Nasaf suggests water as an Ocean of Light.
O dervish! Now that you have cometo know about the World of the
Invincibility, the World of the
Dominion, and the World of the
Kingdom . . . , you should know that
the Dominion is the Ocean of Light,
and the Kingdom is
the Ocean of Darkness.
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This Ocean of Light is the water of
life and is found in darkness. In the
same way, this Ocean of Light is
the Ocean of Darkness in the relation
to the Ocean of Knowledge and
Wisdom are the water of life found in
darkness. . . . It is an unlimited and
infinite light, an endless and shorelessocean. . . .everything comes from this
light. It is the niche and guardian of
this light and the locus of
manifestation for its attributes.
(qtd. in TI 161 a)
The water is the light, the knowledge found
shining in the darkness of creation by this light.
Josephs presence in the well clearly signifies a
bond created between the heart (Joseph) and the
intellect (water). But Joseph and the water cannot
be considered alone. In fact, they are encased bythe surrounding earth. As Nasaf clearly stipulates,
the darkness of the well into which Joseph is
lowered by his brothers is the darkness of the
material world. Thus, in the well, Joseph, as the
Prepared Heart[4]
, that is, as the heart which
contains the specific configurations through which
to receive the perfection of the soul, finds himself
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surrounded by the darkness of the Cosmos. And
this earth is understood as the body of
manifestation.
And each thing has a shadow, which
is attribute and locus of manifestation,
or its body, through which that thing
becomes manifest.(Kshn qtd. in TI 205b)
As it becomes obvious, the well is the body or the
womb, the barzakh, from which Joseph, as the
Prepared Heart, would become manifest. As all
men and women, Joseph's being drawn from thewell eventually symbolizes his being bourne into
his submission to the Real.
Womb is a name for the reality of
Nature. Nature is the reality that
brings together heat, cold, wetness,and dryness.
(Qnaw qtd. in TI 220 a-b)
In the well Joseph is surrounded by those
attributes which define human beings. As the
Prepared Heart, Joseph is entombed between the
fancies of the body (the multiple, the low, the
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imperfect), and the impending (latent) liberating
waters of knowledge. Hence the well becomes a
womb from which Joseph, as Adam before him,
will be bourne.
There is definitively a parallel to the story of
Adams creation present in Joseph. The well is a
clear analogy of the creation of the first or primalhuman being (Adam). Islamic tradition recognizes
that Adam was moulded from clay taken from the
earth. [Iblis said] ... him [Adam] Thou createdst
of clay (7:12). Clay is a mixture of earth and
water. Thus the image of Joseph in the well takes
us back to the original man, Adam, being broughtinto creation.
In the same way that Adam was risen from
earth and water (stinking mud, sticky clay
[37:11]), Joseph is brought up from the well.
Hence the well is the womb from which Joseph isbirthed.
Earth now denotes the body, the material.
Water denotes the intellect, knowledge. Joseph is
the Prepared Heart amidst the darkness of the earth
and the light received through the water. What,
then, is the product extracted from the well by the
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of the embryo. The constitution will
have reached equilibrium, the form
will have been impressed, and the
disposition will have been configured.
(Ikhwn al-Saf qtd. in TI 216 b)
Finally, the womb analogy comes to an end
by verse 12:19 where the water-drawer is the mid-wife who brings Joseph out into the world. It is not
Joseph who delivers himself from the bottoms of
the earth, but something external to him. Hence
Josephs release was not by his own actions.
Josephs birth from the womb of the well sets the
stage for the transformation of the soul.
Zulaykhas Bed
After being liberated from the well, Joseph was
sold to a governor in Egypt, Potiphar. It is in
Potiphars house where Joseph is incarcerated forthe second time.
The episode is simple in itself. Zulaykha falls
for Josephs beauty and tries to seduce him.
Fortunately, Joseph holds his place in the end,
having his shirt ripped from his back. Later, the
women of the city also succumb to his beauty,
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struggles of the soul on commencing its trek
towards God.
. . . The blaming soul, pertains to
those who have begun to struggle on
the path to God. They recognize their
own weaknesses and blame
themselves for their failure to adhereto the normative guidelines set down
by the prescriptive command.
(TI 254 a)
When, in verse 12:23-24 Zulaykha advances on
Joseph one could argue that this was because ofher marvel before the Spirits beauty shining
through Joseph. But she falls short of
comprehending the implications of this beauty.
For she desired him; and he would
have taken her, but that he saw theproof of his Lord. So was it,
that We might turn away from him
evil and abomination; he was one of
Our devoted servants (12:24).
Zulaykha, who represents the manifestation of the
lower stages of human development, is the
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struggling soul which slips before Josephs
radiance. Her adherence to the darkness misguides
her perception of the light. Thus, in blinded lust,
Zulaykha pursues the locus of the manifestation,
the material clothing through which the spirit
shines, rather than looking for the reality
beneath/behind the veil.
Joseph, as the Prepared Heart, also slips
momentarily. Line 12:24 clearly states that Joseph
had fallen for Zulaykhas attributes: . . . and he
would have taken her, but that he saw the proof of
his Lord. What is relevant in this line is that
Joseph, as the Heart, was tempted to follow theway of the Blaming Soul. At this moment Joseph
is in danger of stagnating in this phase.
Zulaykhas desire for Joseph, and Josephs near
consummation of his desires for her are indicative
of the lapse experienced by imperfect souls.Furthermore, the women who later on visit
Zulaykha and cut their hands before the presence
of Joseph are reminiscent of the the disbelievers
forgetfulness before the word of God (12:31).
Zulaykha and the women hold dear not what is
behind the manifestation, Gods ultimate Beauty,
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but rather they are blinded by the earthly locus of
manifestation itself, Joseph's physical beauty.
Have you not read in the Book of God
about the women who cut their hands
when Joseph came
before them. They said: Peerless is
Gods Glory! This is not ofhumankind. Now if such as this
could happen through contemplating
created beauty, why should not
something of the kind happen at the
contemplation of the Beauty of its
Creator, when He appears in all theSplendour of His Greatness?
(Shaykh Ahmad al-Alaw qtd. in Lings 96).
To prevent Josephs stagnation in the stage of
the blaming soul, God sends a warning to Joseph.
Islamic tradition concurs that the sign wasprobably Gabriel in the form of Jacob biting his
fingers. What is crucial is that given the human
condition, it takes the signs from God to guide us
through our tribulations. Had Joseph not warranted
the sign, his progress would have been arrested in
a lower rung of the ladder. Also, it is relevant to
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note that the sign was in accordance to
preparedness of Joseph as heart.
He gives the heart the preparedness as
indicated in His words, He gave each
thing its creation (20:50). Then He
lifts the veil between Himself and His
servant. The servant sees Him in theform of his own belief, so He is
identical to the object of his belief.
Hence neither the heart nor the eye
ever witness anything but the form of
the servants belief concerning the
Real.(Ibn al-Arab qtd. in SPK 339 b)
Joseph, as the Prepared Heart. sees his father
before him. Jacob is identified as the aql (reason,
intellect),[6]
the rational faculty which takes over
the flimsiness of the blaming soul. It is theappearance of this rational faculty which gives
Joseph the ability to run away from the
materialness of Zulaykha. It is reason which shows
Joseph the error of following the darkness
emminent in the soul. And it is this experience
which will later lead Joseph to ask for asylum
away from the women of the city. Kshn
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identifies the women with the mundane attribute
which seduce the heart.[7]
The women, then,
represent the misguided and the disbelieving
attributes of the soul which do not witness the
veiled light contained in the Heart.
the lightning wellnigh snatches
away their sight; whensoever it givesthem light, they walk in it, and when
the darkness is over them they halt;
(2:20)
Josephs physical beauty reflects the blinding
lightof his spirit. The women, blinded by themanifested reality in Joseph's beauty, cut their
hands, their bodily attributes, in an attempt to cut
themselves from the dominion that the light has
over their souls. Yet, in their misguided sense of
survival over the blinding light of the spirit, they
condemn the progress of the heart to its finalrealization. Hence the misguided, the attributes and
the darkness of the soul, demand their dominance
over the heart, over the loss of the self.
Joseph, receiving the sign, flees from Zulaykha
having his shirt torn away from behind in the
process.
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They raced to the door; and she tore
his shirt from behind (12:25).
When he [Potiphar] saw his shirt
[Josephs] was torn from behind he
said, This is of your womens guile;
surely your guile is great. Joseph turnaway from this; And thou, woman,
ask forgiveness of thy crime; surely
thou art one of the sinners.
(12:28-29)
Kshn interprets the tearing of the shirt asan allusion to the tearing of the luminous attribute
that belongs to the heart by the souls attributes
having an effect upon the heart.[8]
At the same
time, the shirt is considered as a veil that hides the
spirit or impedes the spirit from manifesting.
Joseph is the heart in its path toward realization.
Is not mans existence itself the shade,
veiling the lamp?
We ourselves were the veil
before our
friends face.
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We opened our eyes, and no
veil was left.
For the light of the eye is a shirt for
Yusuf
(Khwaja Mir Dard qtd. in Schimmel 143).
Zulaykha, as the blaming soul, represents the
soul's struggles against its misguided physicalattraction towards Joseph's body. The shirt is the
veil which reflects yet hides the spirit from
Zulaykha. The veil is torn away from the heart by
the fury of the material (represented in the
womans guile) attempting to maintain a grip on
Joseph, thus preventing his illumination andeventual disclosure of God.
Prison
Then it seemed good to them, after
they had seen the signs, that theyshould imprison him for a while.
(12:35)
In verse 12:7 the Qurn hints at the esoteric
essence of the story: In Joseph and his brethren
were signs for those who ask questions. And
again in verse 12:15, when Joseph is in the well,
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House of Jacob, as He perfected it
formerly on thy fathers Abraham and
Isaac (12:16).
What is at stake is Josephs future as ruler over
his people. The heart is destined to rule over the
senses. Yet, in its traverse toward the final stage,
the heart is at risk of stagnating in a lower rung. Agreat gift and a great responsibility is about to
thrusted upon Joseph. It is necessary for Joseph to
learn not to mistake its true meaning, as the Jews
and the Christians in the following passage from
the Qurn:
Had they performed the Torah and the
Gospel, and what was sent down to
them from their Lord, they would
have eaten both what was above them,
and what was beneath their feet. Some
of them are a just nation; but many ofthem--evil are the things they do.
(5:66)
Two problems arise: 1) Joseph has reached his
prime, and 2) how to prevent Joseph from being
tempted by the guile. The Qurn is explicit in
relating Zulaykhas intent to continue pursuing
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Joseph: Yet if he will not do what I command
him he shall be imprisoned, and be one of the
humbled(12:32). The guile of the women is the
veils which cover the word of the Book from the
people. Hence their worldly attributes present a
danger to Joseph.
But for Gods bounty to thee and Hismercy a party of them purposed to
lead thee astray (4:113)
Josephs radiance perturbs the pleats of the
veils. As a result, the people panic for they would
have to acknowledge that they had not beenfollowing the Book. Joseph understood this
problem.
He said, My Lord, prison is dearer to
me than that they call me to; yet if
Thou turnest me not from their guile,then I shall yearn towards them, and
so become one of the ignorant.
(12:33)
Hence the imprisonment takes the guise of a
sanctuary against the guile of the attributes.
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Joseph is placed in prison with two youths, of
which one is described as a cupbearer. It is the
cupbearer who is relevant to my discussion.
Joseph interprets the dreams of the two youths.
Of the two, it is the cupbearer who will come out
alive from prison. The other servant will end up
executed. Joseph then turns and pleads with thecupbearer to talk to his lord on his behalf.
Then he said to the one he deemed
should be saved of the two, Mention
me in thy lords presence. But Satan
caused him to forget to mention himto his master, so that he continued in
the prison for certain years. (12:42)
Josephs error was to place his faith on a
worldly lord over the Lord of his fathers. At this
moment Josephs ego/self maintains a hold overhis heart. Kshns comments that at this station
there arise a rebellion and I-ness.[9]
As such
Joseph remains in jail veiled by this I-ness.
Tabar mentions Ibn Abbs as relating that
The Prophet said, If Joseph had not
said that--meaning what he said [to
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Nab]--he would not have stayed in
prison as long as he did because he
sought deliverance from one other
than God.
Furthermore, Tabar cites Mlik b. Dnr as
relating that
Joseph said to the cupbearer,
Mention me in the presence of your
lord. And God said, O Joseph! You
have placed trust in one other thanMe,
therefor I shall lengthen your
imprisonment. And Joseph wept andsaid, O Lord! The weight of my
misfortunes made my heart forget;
and I said a word--woe is to my
brothers! (Tabar 163).
Both Kshn and Tabar agree that ifJoseph had not put his self before trusting his Lord
he would have left prison earlier.
Josephs adherence to the I-ness creates a sense
of lordship deprived of the humility towards God.
It is important to realize that to be a true lord one
has to manifest a perfected servanthood. Josephs
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there is an allusion to the illumination of the soul
and the faculties through the light of the
Real.[13]
The Prepared Heart is now ready to lead.
Conclusion
It is recorded that on arrival to Cairo
Fakhrudin Iraqi visited the sultan. The sultan,amazed with Iraqi, named him chief shaykh
ofCairo and arranged an event to honor the
occasion.
So next morning a thousand dervishes, as
well as all the religious scholars and notablesof Cairo, watched as the sultan mounted Iraqi on
his own horse, and clothed him in a robe and hood
of honor. He arranged that Iraqi alone be
mounted, and that all the others, nobles, scholars,
and generals alike, should walk at his stirrup.
When Iraqi saw all this, the thought
suddenly entered his head that no other man of the
age had ever been treated with such respect. At
once he realized that he was in danger of being
overcome by his ego. Immediately he ripped off
his hood and turban and placed them on the saddle
before him. The crowd watched in stunned silence
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as he sat there, till, after a few minutes, he picked
up the turban and hood and put them back on his
head.
This statement by Iraq created an
uproar among the people. All viewed this as a
defilement of the honor bestowed on Iraqi. Iraqi,
asked for an explanation by the sultan, replied:My carnal soul overcame me. If I had not acted in
that way, I should never have escaped from the
consequences of my sin (Iraqi 60-61).
Iraqi comprehended the duties of a shaykh.
Iraqi accepted his servanthood. And, confrontedwith the dangers of the I-ness, Iraqi confirmed
his covenant with God by divesting himself from
the veils of the self.
Similarly, Joseph has to divest himself of the
worldly garb so that he, as the manifestation of thePrepared Heart, may reach total enlightenment
from the Spirit. And, as noted above, each
incarceration takes Joseph closer to his goal. First,
it is in the well where Joseph is confronted with
the fact that his actions are powerless before the
Real. This is augmented in Zulaykhas bedroom
where Joseph falls prey momentarily to the wills of
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the senses. It is Josephs turn to learn of Gods
covenant with him. As a result Joseph
comprehends the power of the worldly over the
soul and is shocked into remembering his
submissiveness to his Lord.
Finally, it is in prison that Joseph learns the
final lesson: perfect servanthood throughannihilation of the I-ness. Josephs momentary
forgetfulness accentuates the erroneous belief of
the common people to rely on the worldly over the
mercy of God for their well-being. It is this final
lesson which propels Joseph into the station of the
soul at peace with God. Joseph, thrusted into thejoys of annihilation with the Real, learns to remove
his I-ness and become a perfect servant, then to
return into the manyness and serve as lord. Like
Adam, Joseph must learn his duties as
vicegerent. And like Iraqi, Joseph must adopt
the correct station of servitude.
And whosoever submits his will to
God, being a good-doer, has laid hold
of the most firm handle; and unto God
is the issue of all affairs. (31:22)
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The story of Joseph is guidance for those who
ask. One might say that one answer is explicitly
present to all who venture in its mysteries.
Works Consulted
I. English editions of the Qurn consulted.The Koran Interpreted. Translation by Arthur J.
Arberry. New York: MacMillan, 1955.
The Glorious Qurn. Text and Explanatory
Translation by Muhammad Marmaduke
Pickthall. New York: Muslim World
League, 1977.The Holy Qurn. Arabic and English
Translation. By Maulaw Sher
Al. Pakistan: The Oriental and Religious
Publishing Corp., 1979.
The Qurn. Part I. Translated by E. H.
Palmer. India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1981.
Vol. 6 of Sacred Books of the East. 50 vols.
II. Commentaries and References in English.
Chittick, William C. The Sufi Path of
Knowledge. Albany: SUNY Press, 1989.
Iraqi, Fakhruddin. Divine Flashes. Translation
and Introduction by William C. Chittick and
Peter Lamborn Wilson. The Classics of
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Western Spirituality. New York,
Ramsey, Toronto: Paulist Press, 1982.
Kshn, Abd al-Razzq. The Sura of Joseph.
from Tawl. Selected and Translated by
William C. Chittick. Unedited.
Lings, Martin. A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth
Century. Berkeley and Los
Angeles: University of California Press,1971.
Murata, Sachiko. The Tao of Islam. Albany:
SUNY Press, 1992.
Schimmel, Annemarie. Pain and Grace: A Study
of Two Mystical Writers of Eighteenth
Century Muslim India. Leiden: E. J. Brill,1976.
Tabar. Prophets and Patriarchs. Translated and
Annotated by William M. Brinner. Albany:
SUNY Press, 1987. Vol. 2 of The History
of al-Tabar.
[1]All references taken from William C.
Chitticks The Sufi Path of Knowledge will be
refered to as SPK. All references from Sachiko
Muratas The Tao of Islam will be refered to as TI.
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[2]All references to Kshns The Sura of
Joseph come from William C. Chitticks unedited
translation of Kshns Tawl.[3]
Quranc citations are taken from Arthur J.
Arberry's The Koran Interpreted.[4]
Kshn Tawl.[5]
Kshn Tawl.[6]
Kshn Tawl.[7]Kshn Tawl.
[8]Kshn Tawl.
[9]Kshn Tawl.
[10]Kshn Tawl.
[11]Kshn Tawl.
[12]
Kshn Tawl.[13]Kshn Tawl.
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