Surah 12 Yusuf — Ayah 42
وَقَالَ لِلَّذِى ظَنَّ أَنَّهُۥ نَاجٍۢ مِّنْهُمَا ٱذْكُرْنِى عِندَ رَبِّكَ فَأَنسَىٰهُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ ذِكْرَ رَبِّهِۦ فَلَبِثَ فِى ٱلسِّجْنِ بِضْعَ سِنِينَ
And he said to the one whom he knew would go free, "Mention me before your master." But Satan made him forget the mention [to] his master, and Joseph remained in prison several years.
waqāla lilladhī ẓanna annahu nājin min'humā udh'kur'nī ʿinda rabbika fa-ansāhu l-shayṭānu dhik'ra rabbihi falabitha fī l-sij'ni biḍ'ʿa sinīna
Word by word
- وَقَالَ waqāla And he said
- لِلَّذِى lilladhī to the one whom
- ظَنَّ ẓanna he thought
- أَنَّهُۥ annahu that he
- نَاجٍۢ nājin (would be) saved
- مِّنْهُمَا min'humā of both of them
- ٱذْكُرْنِى udh'kur'nī Mention me
- عِندَ ʿinda to
- رَبِّكَ rabbika your master
- فَأَنسَىٰهُ fa-ansāhu But made him forget
- ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ l-shayṭānu the Shaitaan
- ذِكْرَ dhik'ra (the) mention
- رَبِّهِۦ rabbihi (to) his master
- فَلَبِثَ falabitha so he remained
- فِى fī in
- ٱلسِّجْنِ l-sij'ni the prison
- بِضْعَ biḍ'ʿa several
- سِنِينَ sinīna years
Tafsir · Ibn Kathir (Abridged)
Yusuf asks the King's Distiller to mention Him to the King
Yusuf knew that the distiller would be saved. So discretely, so that the other man's suspicion that he would be crucified would not intensify, he said,
(Mention me to your King.) asking him to mention his story to the king. That man forgot Yusuf's request and did not mention his story to the king, a plot from the devil, so that Allah's Prophet would not leave the prison. This is the correct meaning of,
(But Shaytan made him forget to mention it to his master.) that it refers to the man who was saved. As was said by Mujahid, Muhammad bin Ishaq and several others. As for, `a few years', or, Bida` in Arabic, it means between three and nine, according to Mujahid and Qatadah. Wahb bin Munabbih said, "Ayyub suffered from the illness for seven years, Yusuf remained in prison for seven years and Bukhtanassar (Nebuchadnezzar - Chaldean king of Babylon) was tormented for seven years."