ذٰلِكَ مِن أَنباءِ الغَيبِ نوحيهِ إِلَيكَ ۖ وَما كُنتَ لَدَيهِم إِذ أَجمَعوا أَمرَهُم وَهُم يَمكُرونَ

These are accounts of the unseen which We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they conspired together and schemed.

EXEGESIS

Anbā՚ (accounts) is the plural of naba՚, which refers to any news that is of great importance. According to Rāghib, not every news is called a nabaʾ unless it is of great importance and conveys knowledge that overcomes speculation.[1] The Day of Resurrection is hence also called al-nabaʾ al-ʿaẓīm (the great tiding) (78:2).

Ghayb (unseen) is from the root verb ghāba meaning ‘to disappear from perception’, and refers to all realities beyond sensory detection. It encompasses past and future events, divine decrees, and metaphysical realms. Hence the one who knows the ghayb is the one who is aware of things imperceptible to the senses.[2]

EXPOSITION

As the story of Prophet Joseph (a) comes to end, the address now turns to Prophet Muhammad (s) and the audience of the Quran, so that conclusions may be drawn from the story and the lessons that it imparts.

These are – meaning the events recounted in the surah so far – accounts of the unseen which We reveal to you: God taught Prophet Muhammad (s) about these events through revelation, in this case by sending the angel Gabriel to him.[3] There are many similar verses in the Quran that recount how God taught the Prophet of events that he was previously unaware of and could not have known except through revelation, such as 11:49, 28:44, and 3:44, as well as verse 3 verse of this surah, which declared: We will recount to you the best of narratives in what We have revealed to you of this Quran, and indeed prior to it you were among those who are unaware [of it].

And you were not with them when they conspired together and schemed: the Prophet could not have derived the details of these narratives through conventional means, as he was not living at the time and had no documented engagement with Jewish or Christian scholarly traditions. His contemporaries in Quraysh, who were intimately familiar with his background and would have eagerly exposed any foreign influence, confirmed his lack of access to such sources. This historical context serves as compelling evidence of the divine origin of this story. Had he merely reproduced existing Judeo-Christian accounts, we would expect narrative conformity rather than the substantive divergences observable between the Quranic and Biblical traditions. Scholars have identified at least thirty-three points of distinction between the two accounts – ranging from theological emphases to chronological details – each serving as a deliberate corrective to prior textual discrepancies.[4]

Perhaps though, it is more accurate to say that this verse is emphasising that the knowledge given to Prophet Muhammad (s) in this surah included things that no one could have known except through revelation.[5] No one may have known what Prophet Joseph’s (a) brothers said whilst they were secretly plotting together except someone who was there, or God Himself.

One might wonder of all the pivotal moments in Prophet Joseph’s (a) story such as his ordeal in the well, his prison discourses, or his confrontation with the governor’s wife, why does God specifically highlight the brothers’ conspiracy in this concluding verse? While each of these events indeed constitutes unseen knowledge (ghayb) attainable only through revelation, the selection of this particular episode resonates profoundly with the surah’s central theme. As the surah has consistently demonstrated, God’s master plan prevails over all human scheming. The brothers’ jealousy-driven plot to undermine Prophet Joseph (a) by throwing him into the well and fabricating his death, epitomises the futility of opposing divine decree. Their every stratagem, rather than diminishing Prophet Joseph (a), inadvertently propelled him towards the exalted station God had ordained. Thus, this verse serves as a culminating reminder that no conspiracy against God’s will can endure, while His purpose unfolds with perfect precision. The brothers’ failed machinations become the ideal example through which the surah’s core message of divine omnipotence that transcends human intrigue, is crystallised for the reader.

[1] Raghib, p. 788.
[2] See Tibyan, 6/200.
[3] See Tibyan, 6/201.
[4] See Munyah, 14/251.
[5] See Alusi, 7/61.