Al-Qur'an Surah Yusuf Verse 41

Mufti Taqi Usmani

“O my fellow prisoners, one of you will serve wine to his master, while the other will be crucified and birds will eat from his head. Destined is the matter you are asking about.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

“O my fellow-prisoners! ˹The first˺ one of you will serve wine to his master, and the other will be crucified and the birds will eat from his head. The matter about which you inquired has been decided.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

“O my two fellow prisoners, as for one of you, he will serve wine to his master; as for the other, he will be crucified and the birds will eat from his head. The matter you are asking about has been decreed.”

A. J. Arberry

Fellow-prisoners, as for one of you, he shall pour wine for his lord; as for the other, he shall be crucified, and birds will eat of his head. The matter is decided whereon you enquire.'

Abdul Haleem

Fellow prisoners, one of you will serve his master with wine; the other will be crucified and the birds will peck at his head. That is the end of the matter on which you asked my opinion.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

O My two fellow-prisoners; as for one of you twain he will pour out wine for his lord; and as for the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will eat from off his head; O Thus is decreed the affair whereof ye twain enquired.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"O my two companions of the prison! As to one of you, he will pour out the wine for his lord to drink; as for the other, he will hang from the cross, and the birds will eat from off his head. (so) hath been decreed that matter whereof ye twain do enquire"...

Abul Ala Maududi

Fellow-prisoners! (This is the interpretation of your dreams): one of you will serve wine to his lord (the king of Egypt). As for the other, he will be crucified and birds will eat of his head. The question concerning what you asked has thus been decided."

Ahmed Ali

O fellow-prisoners, one of you will serve wine to your master, the other will be crucified and the birds will peck at his brain. Determined is the matter of your inquiry."

Ahmed Raza Khan

“O my two fellow-prisoners! One of you will give his lord (the king) wine to drink; regarding the other, he will be crucified, therefore birds will eat from his head; the command has been given concerning the matter you had enquired about.”

Ali Quli Qarai

O my prison mates! As for one of you, he will serve wine to his master, and as for the other, he will be crucified and vultures will eat from his head. The matter about which you inquire has been decided.’

Ali Ünal

"(As for your dreams:) O my fellow-prisoners! One of you will again give his lord (the king) wine to drink. As to the other, he will be hanged, and birds will peck at his head. The matter about which you inquired has already been decided."

Amatul Rahman Omar

`My two fellow-prisoners! as for one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink and as for the other, he shall be crucified so that the birds will eat (flesh) from off his head. The matter about which you inquired stands decreed.´

English Literal

You my two companions/friends (of) the prison/jail, but, one of you (B) so he gives drink an intoxicant (to) his lord, and but the other, so he be crucified/placed on a cross , so the birds eat from his head, the matter/affair which in it you (B) ask for an opinion/clarification was passed judgmen t/ordered158(resolved) .

Faridul Haque

"O my two fellow-prisoners! One of you will give his lord (the king) wine to drink; regarding the other, he will be crucified, therefore birds will eat from his head; the command has been given concerning the matter you had enquired about."

Hamid S. Aziz

What you worship beside Him are naught but names which you have named, you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority. Judgment rests with Allah only, who commands you to worship none but Him. That is the right religion, but most men know not.

Hilali & Khan

"O two companions of the prison! As for one of you, he (as a servant) will pour out wine for his lord (king or master) to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified and birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which you both did inquire."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

You serve not besides Him but names which you have named, you and your fathers -- Allah has sent down no authority for them. Judgment is only Allah’s. He has commanded that you serve none but Him. This is the right religion, but most people know not.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

O my two mates of the prison! as for one of you, he shall give his lord to drink wine; and as for the other, he shall be crucified, so that the birds shall eat from his head, the matter is decreed concerning which you inquired.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

O my two fellow-prisoners! As for one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which ye did inquire.

Muhammad Sarwar

"Fellow-prisoners, your dreams tell that one of you will serve wine to his master and the other will be crucified and his head consumed by the birds. Judgment has already been passed about the meaning of the dreams that you asked about."

Qaribullah & Darwish

My fellowprisoners, one of you will pour wine for his lord whereas the other will be crucified, and birds will peck at his head. The matter you inquired about has been decided.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

"O two companions of the prison! As for one of you, he will pour out wine for his master to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified and birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which you both did inquire."

Wahiduddin Khan

O my two fellow-prisoners, one of you will serve wine to his lord, the other of you will be crucified and birds will feed off his head. The matter about which you have been seeking my opinion has been so decreed."

Talal Itani

“O my fellow inmates! One of you will serve his master wine; while the other will be crucified, and the birds will eat from his head. Thus the matter you are inquiring about is settled.”

Tafsir jalalayn

O fellow-prisoners! As for one of you, that is, the cup-bearer, he will depart after three [days] and, he shall serve his lord, his master, wine to drink, as usual; and as for the other, he will depart after three [days] and, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head; this is the interpretation of both your dreams. They said, `We never dreamed a thing!'; he said, decided, concluded, is the matter regarding which you sought opinion', about which you enquired, whether you spoke truthfully or were lying.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Interpretation of the Dreams

When Yusuf finished calling them, he started interpreting their dreams for them, Yusuf said,

يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَمَّا أَحَدُكُمَا فَيَسْقِي رَبَّهُ خَمْرًا

O two companions of the prison! As for one of you, he will pour out wine for his master to drink;

to the man who saw in a dream that he was pressing wine. He did not direct this speech at him, however, so that to lessen the grief of the other person.

This is why he made his statement indirect,

وَأَمَّا الاخَرُ فَيُصْلَبُ فَتَأْكُلُ الطَّيْرُ مِن رَّأْسِهِ

and as for the other, he will be crucified and birds will eat from his head.

which is the interpretation of the other man's dream in which he saw himself carrying bread above his head.

Yusuf told them that the decision about their matter has already been taken and it shall come to pass. This is because the dream is tied to a bird's leg, as long as it is not truthfully interpreted. If it is interpreted, then it becomes a reality.

Ath-Thawri said that Imarah bin Al-Qa`qa` narrated that Ibrahim said that Abdullah bin Mas`ud said,

"When they said what they said to him, and he explained their dreams to them, they replied, `We did not see anything at all.' This is when he said,

قُضِيَ الَامْرُ الَّذِي فِيهِ تَسْتَفْتِيَانِ



Thus is the case judged concerning which you both did inquire."

The understanding in this is that he who claims that he saw a dream and was given its interpretation, then he will be tied to its interpretation, and Allah has the best knowledge.

There is an honorable Hadith that Imam Ahmad collected from Mu`awiyah bin Haydah that the Prophet said,

الرُّوْيَا عَلَى رِجْلِ طَايِرٍ مَا لَمْ تُعْبَرْ فَإِذَا عُبِرَتْ وَقَعَت

The dream is tied to a bird's leg, as long as it is not interpreted. If it is interpreted, it becomes a reality