ثُمَّ يَأتي مِن بَعدِ ذٰلِكَ عامٌ فيهِ يُغاثُ النّاسُ وَفيهِ يَعصِرون

Then after that there will come a year wherein the people will be granted relief and they will press [i.e. grapes or oil seeds, for juice and oil] therein.’

EXEGESIS

Yughāthu (will be granted relief) may derive from ghawth, which signifies aid or benefit received during times of hardship and need, serving to repel harm and distress. Alternatively, it may originate from ghayth, referring to life-giving rain that arrives when most desperately needed.[1] In this context, the term conveys that they will be granted relief and delivered from adversity.[2]

Yaʿṣirūn (they will press) from ʿaṣara which means to press and squeeze something to achieve a desired result,[3] such as squeezing wet clothes to wring out the water, or squeezing fruits to produce ʿaṣīr (juice). Clouds are called muʿṣirāt as water is squeezed out as rain from them. The afternoon is called ʿaṣr, since time is short and one is pressed to finish all their work before sunset.

Here it apparently means to press fruits, such as grapes or olives, or other seeds that grow after those seven years of famine in order to make juices or oils. Or it might mean that they will squeeze the udders of their cattle to produce milk,[4] although the former is more likely, as we discuss in the next section. In any case, it is a figurative way of saying that they will receive plentiful bounties during that year.[5]

EXPOSITION

Then after that: after the seven difficult years where the Nile would not flood sufficiently.

There will come a year wherein the people will be granted relief: the Nile will once again flood bounteously, allowing people to farm and water their crops.

And they will press [i.e. grapes or oil seeds, for juice and oil] therein: when the floods were good, the farmers did not need to simply plant staples and grains that were important to their diet in order to stave off hunger, but could plant more of ‘luxury’ crops, such as olives, grapes, and other fruits (which could not easily be stored and preserved for future years), which can then be squeezed for oils and juices. As a result, they will feast and celebrate with a variety of foods.

The chosen verb yaʿṣirūn to describe the year of bounty calls to mind the earlier conversation with the cupbearer, who described his dream as I dreamt that I am pressing (aʿṣiru) wine (verse 36). It is both a thematic link to that and an indirect way of describing that it will be a year of celebration, where people will celebrate by drinking wine and beer from what they harvest, which they could not do as easily during years of drought and hardship. Obviously as a prophet, Prophet Joseph (a) would not approve of people drinking alcoholic beverages in festivities, so he describes it in an indirect way, while also linking it to the earlier conversation he had years ago with the same man.

Overall, through Prophet Joseph (a), God greatly helped the people of Egypt, saving them from famine and the suffering, death, and chaos which would ensue from that. Naturally, the Egyptians would generally prepare for some years of bad harvest and have granaries and storehouses and other smaller scale local methods of preserving foods. However, these did not usually take into account seven consecutive years of drought (a massive and difficult undertaking that required lots of planning), but rather were a buffer for a year or two of poor harvest.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

It has been suggested that yughāthu (will be granted relief) refers to rainfall.[6] This is unlikely though, and as we explained in verse 47, the Egyptians did not depend on rainfall for farming, but rather the flooding of the Nile. Sudden unexpected rainfall might indeed cause more harm than benefit for farmers.

Despite acknowledging this, Tabatabai has nevertheless preferred the understanding of rainfall and has explained the rain as falling in Sudan or other areas which would then feed into the flooding of the Nile.[7]

[1] Tibyan, 6/150. Abū Ḥayyān points out that ghātha comes from ghayth, whereas aghātha comes from ghawth (Muhit, 6/287).
[2] Tabrisi, 5/365.
[3] Tahqiq, 8/177, ʿ-ṣ-r.
[4] Tibyan, 6/151; Tabrisi, 5/362; Tabari, 12/137-138.
[5] Mizan, 11/191.
[6] Tabari, 12/137; Thalabi, 5/227; Zamakhshari, 2/477.
[7] Mizan, 11/191. This is slightly inaccurate though, as the flooding of the Nile is mostly due to rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands. See https://www.britannica.com/place/Nile-River/Climate-and-hydrology, accessed: 25/09/2024. Subḥānī repeats Tabatabai’s point and correctly mentions Ethiopia (Munyah, 14/184).