(Revealed before Hijrah)
According to most Companions of the Holy Prophet, the whole of this Surah was revealed at Mecca; but, according to Ibn ‘Abbas and Qatadah, verses 2-4 were revealed after Hijrah. As already pointed out, Chapter 10 (Surah Yunus) deals with both aspects of God’s dealings with man—His punishment and mercy. But whereas Chapter 11 (Surah Hud) deals with the subject of Divine punishment, the present Chapter (Chapter 12) deals with that of God’s mercy. The Surah which deals with God’s punishment (Hud) has been placed before the present Surah which deals with His mercy, because the enemies of the Holy Prophet were to be shown mercy after they had been punished for their misdeeds. The Surah, however, possesses one peculiarity. The whole of it deals with the life-story of only one Prophet—Joseph. In this it differs from all other Surahs. The reason for this peculiarity is that the life of the Prophet Joseph bears a very close resemblance to that of the Holy Prophet, even in minor details. The entire Surah has been devoted to a somewhat detailed account of the Prophet Joseph’s life in order that it might serve as a forewarning of the incidents that were to occur during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet. In Chapter 10 the story of the Prophet Jonah was chosen as an illustration of Divine mercy, while in the detailed account given in the present Chapter the example of Joseph has been cited as an illustration for that purpose. Two reasons may be given for this:
The lives of Jonah and that of the Holy Prophet resemble each other only in their closing stages but Joseph’s life resembles that of the Holy Prophet even in small details.
Although the case of Jonah resembles that of the Holy Prophet in that as, the peoples of both Jonah and the Holy Prophet were ultimately pardoned through God’s mercy, the resemblance between the two is only partial, but the resemblance between Joseph and the Holy Prophet, especially in the way in which God treated Joseph’s brethren and the Holy Prophet’s people is very close and is almost complete. The mercy shown to Jonah’s people was the direct result of God’s grace, Jonah having no hand in it, but the declaration of pardon for Joseph’s brethren was made by Joseph himself, and so in the case of the Quraish of Mecca the announcement of their full and unqualified forgiveness came directly from the Holy Prophet’s own mouth.