This is the first time I read Yusuf Ali's introduction to it and I thought it was quite good:
In subject-matter this Sura is entirely taken up with the story (recapitulated rather than told) of Joseph, the younger (but one) of the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob. The story is called the most beautiful of stories (xii. 3) for many reasons:(I have yet to read that)
(1) it is the most detailed of any in the Qur'an;
(2) it is full of human vicissitudes, and has therefore deservedly appealed to men and women of all classes;
(3) it paints in vivid colours, with their spiritual implications, the most varied aspects of life - the patriarch's old age and the confidence between him and his little best-beloved son, the elder brothers' jealousy of this little son, their plot and their father's grief , the sale of the father's darling into slavery for a miserable little price, carnal love contrasted with purity and chastity, false charges, prison, the interpretation of dreams, low life and high life, Innocence raised to honor, the sweet "revenge" of Forgiveness, and Benevolence, high matters of state and administration, humility in exaltation, filial love and the beauty of Piety and Truth.
...The Qur'anic story...is a highly spiritual sermon or allegory explaining the seeming contradictions in life, the enduring nature of virtue in a world full of flux and change, and the marvelous working of God's eternal purpose in His plan as unfolded to us on the wide canvas of history. This aspect of the matter has been a favorite with Muslim poets and Sufi exegetists, and is further referred to in Appendix VI (at the end of this Sura), in connection with Jami's great Persian masterpiece, Yusuf-o-Zulaikha.
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It's interesting because the story of Joseph and the Pharaoh's wife has been retold as the story of Leila and Majnoon, which is believe is the same story as Yusuf and Zulaikha, from what I remember. All these stories tell of unreciprocated love, the contrast between transcedental and the physical, the contrast between the temporal and the everlasting. Basically, the woman chases after the man, only to find that he is gone; and/or the man chases after the woman only to find that she is betrothed/gone. Each searches for the other until one eventually dies. The metaphor of beauty is paramount, and plays well with sufi sentiments and themes: the endless quest for truth, union with the beloved, the ultimate discovery that leads to despair, the realization that the quest is ultimately better than the destination. The pharaoh's wife is recast as a stilted lover in some artist's imagination because she goes mad because of Joseph's rejection. It is interesting ultimately to note how often this story reappears in the Islamic tradition.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sadia for reading and commenting! :)
ReplyDeleteSo I just read the appendix (from a 1988 second edition Yusuf Ali rather than the revised edited ones…) and it’s pretty nice. He writes about Jami’s poem which connects with what you wrote:
“In almost all Islamic languages the romance of Yusuf and Zulaikha has justly attracted much attention in mystic poetry. Perhaps the order of the names should really be reversed and the romance should be called that of Zulaikha and Yusuf. In Persian the great Firdausi tried his hand at it. But the great masterpiece is that of Jami whose dates fall between A.H. 817 and 898, equivalent to A.D. 1414-1492. I consider it one of the masterpieces of the world’s literature. There is a good German translation by Rosenzwieg and an English translation by R.T.H. Griffith. The translation by A. Rogers is not so good. The Urdu translations which I have seen are not worth mention. The original Persian is so grand and instructive that it is a pity that our Islamic students do not study it with the attention which it deserves.” (pg. 594)
And then he proceeds to give a brief account of Jami’s version, at the end of which he writes, also connecting with you wrote:
“She, a widow, bereft of youth, honour, beauty, resources, health, even eye-sight, yet cherishes the memory of Yusuf and waters it with her tears. He is now far above her in worldly station, as he always was above her in spiritual worth. Her humbled pride opens her spiritual eyes. She cries to him in her agony, and he listens. He knows the true from the false, and he is just. The woman whom he repelled when she was in the bloom of health, youth, and beauty, when she was rich, proud, and high in rank—now that she is meek, lowly, and sincere, finds favour in his sight. At his prayer her health, youth and beauty are restored, and they are married in pure and true love. Even so, their love was not perfect until they united their hearts in pure worship to God.” (pg. 599)
And then:
“Just as, in human affairs, there is true and false love, so in our inner and higher life, there is a divine love that transcends all human love. This is the contrast between the ‘ishq haqiqi and the ‘ishq majazi.
“How blest is he who can close his eye
And let the vain pageants of life pass by!
Untouched by the magic of earth can keep
His soul awake while the senses sleep;
Scorn the false and the fleeting that meets the view,
And see what is hidden and firm and true!” (p. 599)
Alhamdullilah.
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