The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Yūsuf – Verse 22

وَلَمّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ آتَيناهُ حُكمًا وَعِلمًا ۚ وَكَذٰلِكَ نَجزِي المُحسِنينَ

When he came of age, We gave him judgement and [sacred] knowledge, and thus do We reward the virtuous.

EXEGESIS

Balagha (reached) can be from the verbal noun bulūgh or balāgh, meaning ‘to attain the farthest limit or ultimate end of something, whether in time, place, or a specific matter’. It can denote reaching a particular stage, such as physical or mental maturity, like puberty or the peak of intellectual strength (as in 46:15), or the completion of a task, particularly in delivering a message in its entirety (as in 5:67).‎[1]  

Ashudd (of age) stems from the root shadda, which originally denotes ‘to bind firmly’ or ‘to tighten’.‎[2] This root extends to connotations of intensity, strength, and severity in various contexts.‎[3] In this verse, it specifically signifies physical maturity, a stage of full-grown vigour, as elaborated in the following sections.

Ḥukm (judgement): ḥukm is a noun in Arabic that includes a wide range of meanings like judgement, decision, sentence, wisdom, authority, government, and power.‎[4] Tracing back the original meaning of the term ḥukm, Rāghib maintains that it signifies to prevent someone from doing something for the purpose of creating order and harmony. It is based on this very concept that a bridle is called ḥakamah in Arabic, since it holds back the animal from going out of control.‎[5]

The word ḥukm has appeared in several verses in the Quran denoting judgement (6:57, 28:70, 28:88), sovereignty (verses 40 and 67), and at times the power to pass correct judgement.‎[6] In the verse under discussion, the majority of exegetes‎[7] have held that the term represents prophecy (nubuwwah).‎[8] This is because ḥukm indicates absolute authority over the people, a position of power that is obtained only after one has attained divine messengership.‎[9]

Nonetheless, the word ḥukm and nubuwwah have appeared in the Quran in 6:89 next to each other, thus indicating that they bear two different connotations.‎[10] Accordingly, the reality of ḥukm in the Quran seems to be other than that of divine prophecy. On this basis, the term ḥukm in the verse has been interpreted by some exegetes as wisdom (ḥikmah).‎[11] Based on what is inferred from 2:129 and 61:2, Tabatabai explains ḥikmah as the realisation of divine realities and the power to witness the unseen that is normally hidden from ordinary vision.‎[12]

EXPOSITION

The second act of the story begins with Prophet Joseph (a) having grown up into a man, full of prophetic wisdom.

When he came of age: when he finished the years of his childhood and achieved full intellectual capacity.‎[13] Some have specified that the term ashudd can be used for anyone past the age of full maturity as long as they have not entered into decline.‎[14] Hence, we read in Sūrat al-Aḥqāf: When he comes of age (ashuddahu) and reaches forty years (46:15), where a forty-year-old is still considered to be in his ashudd. In fact, there is an argument to be made that a person is at their peak intellectual capacity at forty, when they have fully matured intellectually but have not yet begun to decline due to old age.

In this verse though it is clearly talking about Prophet Joseph (a) having grown up to his full physical maturity. In this way, it is setting the stage for what is to come, regarding the governor’s wife and her illicit longing for him. In addition to his physical development, he experienced immense mental and spiritual development: We gave him judgement and [sacred] knowledge. Judgement is the decisive word (qawl al-faṣl), which guides one to wisdom.‎[15] It is said that judgement (ḥukm) refers to prophethood, and knowledge (ʿilm) to shariah.‎[16] However, as noted before, ḥukm should refer to a quality that is distinct from prophethood and something related to decisive ḥikmah (wisdom).‎[17] Tabatabai explains this type of ḥikmah as realisation of divine realities and the power to witness the unseen that is normally hidden from ordinary vision.‎[18] It is a judgement that is free from the corruption of base desires and Satanic influence. Similarly, the knowledge given to Prophet Joseph (a) was one unadulterated by ignorance,‎[19] free from baseless misconceptions, and unblinded by bias.

And thus do We reward the virtuous: it is clear that the special blessings of God are not given wantonly, but rather only to those who are deserving of them and are able to receive them. Prophet Joseph (a) was given judgement and [sacred] knowledge only after he came of age and earned those through his virtuous behaviour, as 7:58 states: The good land – its vegetation comes out by the permission of its Lord, and as for that which is bad, it does not come out except sparsely. Thus do We paraphrase the signs variously for a people who give thanks.‎[20]

At the same time, it is a reminder that God will similarly reward anyone who is virtuous in the way that Prophet Joseph (a) was rewarded, by granting them some knowledge and wisdom.‎[21]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Scholars have debated the precise age at which a person attains ashudd (full maturity), with differing opinions, including:

  1. From al-Ḍaḥḥāk, that it is 20 years.‎[22]
  2. From Mujāhid ibn Jabr, that it is 33 years.‎[23]
  3. From Ibn Abbas, that it is between 18-30.‎[24]
  4. From ʿIkramah, that it is anything between 18-60.‎[25]
  5. From Zajjāj, that it is between 17 to around 40.‎[26]
  6. From Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib, that it is from 35-40.‎[27]
  7. From Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that it is 10 years.‎[28]
  8. From Mālik ibn Anas and others, that it is to reach puberty (ḥulum).‎[29]
  9. Ālūsī says it is between 30-40.‎[30]

The variety of these speculations seems to stem from the fact that ashudd as we stated can refer to any age when a person is fully matured and in well-functioning physical and mental condition. Some of these opinions clearly do not apply to this verse though, as the verse is not talking about Prophet Joseph’s (a) childhood or early years of puberty and nor is it talking about him as an older man, but simply a later age, when he had reached full intellectual maturity.

Tabatabai argues that the apparent meaning of the verse here is that Prophet Joseph (a) was at the initial stages of the age of ashudd and not for example in its middle parts, unlike Prophet Moses (a) whom we can imagine was already further along when God says regarding him: When he came of age (ashuddahu) and became fully matured (istawā), We gave him judgement and knowledge, and thus do We reward the virtuous (28:14). Tabatabai argues that in this verse the statement became fully matured (istawā), seems to be a specification added to ashudd, otherwise, if ashudd was simply full maturity or age forty, it would be an unnecessary repetition.

Rāzī relates an opinion that interprets judgement to mean ‘practical knowledge’, in other words the know-how of controlling one’s desires. Knowledge is then taken to mean ‘theoretical knowledge’. Judgement precedes knowledge because it is the necessary and practical step of self-purification that must precede the acquisition of pure knowledge.

He then elaborates a second opinion that essentially builds on the first, saying that judgement means reaching the state of nafs al-muṭmaʾinnah or the soul at peace (89:27) which is in control of the nafs al-ammārati bil-sūʾ or the soul that prompts to evil (verse 53). Knowledge, he says, means the ‘sacred lights (anwārun qudsiyyah)’ which shine from the ‘sacred realm (ʿālam al-quds)’ onto the ‘substance of the soul (jawhar al-nafs)’. He says that Prophet Joseph (a) reaching the age of ashudd is reference to how the ‘bodily limbs (al-ālāt al-badaniyyah) reached a state of balance in him and consequently the judgement and [sacred] knowledge that he attained is reference to his soul attaining a full intellectual maturity.‎[31] 

[1] Raghib, p. 144, b-l-gh.
[2] Raghib, p. 447, sh-d-d.
[3] Tahqiq, 6/32, sh-d-d. See also Tantawi, 7/336.
[4] Hans Wehr, under ḥakama.
[5] Raghib, under ḥ-k-m.
[6] Nemuneh, 15/261; Sabzawari, 5/190.
[7] Alusi, 8/392.
[8] See Tabrisi, 6/781; Nemuneh, p. 318; Ibn Ashur, 16/18; Ithna Ashari, 8/151; Kawthar, 6/504; Razi, 21/516-517.
[9] Razi, 21/516-517. See also Nemuneh, 3/432.
[10] Ahsan al-Hadith, 6/302.
[11] Khatib, 8/727; Alusi, 8/391-392; Zubdah, 4/165; Zamakhshari, 3/7; Sabzawari, 4/378.
[12] Mizan, 14/19.
[13] Tabrisi, 5/339; Baghawi, 2/483.
[14] Razi, 18/436; Shawkani, 3/18.
[15] Tibyan, 6/117; Tabrisi, 5/339.
[16] Baghawi, 2/483; Mudarrisi, 5/179; related in Tabrisi, 5/339; Razi, 18/437. This opinion is also attributed to Ibn Abbas.
[17] This is what some have mentioned, albeit in fewer words. See Tabari, 12/106; Thalabi, 5/207.
[18] Mizan, 14/19.
[19] Mizan, 11/118-119.
[20] See Mizan, 11/119.
[21] Tibyan, 6/117; Muhit, 6/256; Mizan, 11/119; Tantawi, 7/336-337. Of course, this does not mean that prophethood is something that can be earned in this way, but rather it is only by divine decree (see also Razi, 18/436).
[22] Related in Tabrisi, 5/339; Tabari, 12/105.
[23] Related in Tibyan, 6/117; Tabrisi, 5/339; Tabari, 12/105.
[24] Related in Tabrisi, 5/339; Thalabi, 5/207.
[25] Related in Muhit, 6/255; Tibyan, 6/117; Tabari, 12/105. This view is adopted in Mizan, 11/118.
[26] Related in Muhit, 6/255.
[27] Related in Muhit, 6/255; Alusi, 6/400.
[28] Related in Suyuti, 4/12.
[29] Related in Qurtubi, 9/162.
[30] Alusi, 6/400. This is apparently the favoured opinion in Tantawi, 7/336.
[31] Razi, 18/437.