What did Ibn Kathir say about Prophet Yūsuf?
The single most complete prophetic biography in the Qurʾan — told in a single surah. Ibn Kathir unpacks the whole arc: the dream, the betrayal, the prison, the rise in Egypt, the reunion.
3 passages from 3 books in the library
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 3 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"If your condition were revealed to you in wakefulness or a dream, you would see yourself like one who shoots an arrow at his enemy hoping to kill him,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Yusuf Ibn Asbat mentioned that Hassan refrained from laughing for 30 years and it is said that a tall salami did so for 40 years"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"At that time, the ruler of Egypt was King al-Nasir Hassan, son of King al-Nasir Muhammad, son of King al-Mansur Qalawun."
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