J. F. Campbell Collection > Koran: or, Alcoran of Mohammed

192 AL KORAN. CHAP. xii.
not lawful for us to associate anything witli God. This knowledge of the
divine unity hath been given us of the bounty of God towards us, and
towards mankind ; but the greater pai-t of men are not thantfuL O
iny fellow-prisoners, are sundry lords better, or the only triL ana mighty
ilrOD 1 Ye worship not, besides him, other than the names which y i have
aamed,^ ye and your fathers, concerning which God hath sent down no
authoritative proof : yet judgment belongeth unto God alone ; who hath
commanded that ye worship none besides him. This is the right religion ,
but the greater part of men know it not. my fellow-prisoners, verily tlie
one of you shall serve wine unto his lord, as formerly ; but the other shall
be crucified, and the birds shall eat from off his head. The matter is
decreed, concerning which ye seek to be informed. And Joseph said unto
him whom he judged to be the person who should escape of the two,
Remember me in the presence of thy lord. But the devil caused him to
forget to make mention of Josejjh unto his lord ; * wherefore he remained in
the prison some yeai-s." And the king of Egypt ^ said, Verily, I saw in
my dream seven fat kine, which seven lean kine devoured, and seven green
ears of corn, and other seven withered ears. O nobles, expound my vision
unto me, if ye be able to interpret a vision. They answered. They are
confused dreams, neither are we skilled in the inteq^retation of such kind of
dreams. And Joseph's fellow-prisoner who had been delivered, said, (for
he remembered Josep)h after a certain space of time,) I will declare unto you
the intei-pretation thereof; wherefore let me go unto the person who will
interpret it unto me. And he went to tlie prison, and said, Joseph, thou
man of veracity, teach us the interpretation of seven fat kine, which seven
lean kine devoured ; and of seven green ears of corn, and other s&ven
withered ears, which the king saw in his dream ; that I may return unto
the men who hive sent me, that peradventirre they may understand the
same. Joseph answered, Ye shall sow seven years as usual : and the coi-n
which ye shall reap, do ye leave in its ear,^ except a little whereof ye may
^at. Then shall there come, after this, seven gi-ievous years of famine,
which shall consume what ye shall have laid up as a provision for the same,
except a little which ye shall have kept. Then shall there come, after this
• See chap. 7, p. 123, note *".
* According to the explication of some, who take the pronoun him to relate to
Joseph, this passage may be rendered. But the devil caused him (i. e. Joseph) to forget
to make his application unto his Lord; and to beg the good offices of his fellow-prisoner
for his deliverance, instead of relying on God alone, as it became a prophet especially
to have done.*
° The original word signifying any number from three to nine, or ten, the common
opinion is that Joseph remained in prison seven years ; though some say he was
confined no less than twelve years.*
^ This prince, as the oriental writers generally agree, was Riyan, the son of al
Walid, the Amalekite,^ who was converted by Joseph to the worship of the true God,
and died in the lifetime of that prophet. IJut some pretend that the Pharaoh of
Joseph and of Moses were one and the same person, and that he lived (or rather
reigned) four hundred years.'
y To preserve it from the weevil.'
sAlBeidawi. « Idem, Jallalo'ddin. ^ See the Prelim. Disc. p. 6. 'Al
Beid^wi. See chap. 7, p. 127, note *• » Idem, ibid.