Al-Qur'an Surah Yusuf Verse 48

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Then seven hard years shall come after that, which shall eat up what you have stored for them, except a little which you preserve (to sow).

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Then after that will come seven years of great hardship which will consume whatever you have saved, except the little you will store ˹for seed˺.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Then after that will come seven years of hardship which will devour all what you had stored, except for a little that you may set aside.

A. J. Arberry

Then thereafter there shall come upon you seven hard years, that shall devour what you have laid up for them, all but a little you keep in store.

Abdul Haleem

After that will come seven years of hardship which will consume all but a little of what you stored up for them;

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Then thereafter will come seven hard years which will devour that which ye have laid up beforehand for them except a little which ye shall preserve.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Then will come after that (period) seven dreadful (years), which will devour what ye shall have laid by in advance for them,- (all) except a little which ye shall have (specially) guarded.

Abul Ala Maududi

Then there will follow seven years of great hardship in which you will eat up all you have stored earlier, except the little that you may set aside.

Ahmed Ali

Then there will come seven years of hardship which will consume the grain you had laid up against them, except a little you may have stored away.

Ahmed Raza Khan

“Then after that will come seven hard years which will devour all that you had stored for them, except a little which you may save.”

Ali Quli Qarai

Then after that there will come seven hard years which will eat up whatever you have set aside for them—all except a little which you preserve [for seed].

Ali Ünal

"Then will come after that seven hard years, which will consume what you have laid up for them, all but a little you should keep in store (to use as seed stock).

Amatul Rahman Omar

`Then there shall follow seven (years of famine) of great severity (and) these (years) shall consume all the stores you have laid by in advance for them except a little which you may have preserved.

English Literal

Then comes from after that seven (years) strong (severe), they eat what you advanced (stored) for them, except little from what you preserve .

Faridul Haque

"Then after that will come seven hard years which will devour all that you had stored for them, except a little which you may save."

Hamid S. Aziz

He said, "You shall sow for seven years, as is your wont; but what you reap, leave it in the ear, except a little whereof you eat.

Hilali & Khan

"Then will come after that, seven hard (years), which will devour what you have laid by in advance for them, (all) except a little of that which you have guarded (stored).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

He said: You shall sow for seven years as usual, then that which you reap, leave it in its ear, except a little which you eat.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Then there shall come after that seven years of hardship which shall eat away all that you have beforehand laid up in store for them, except a little of what you shall have preserved:

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Then after that will come seven hard years which will devour all that ye have prepared for them, save a little of that which ye have stored.

Muhammad Sarwar

After this will ensue seven years of famine in which all the grain that you have stored will be consumed except a small quantity.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Thereafter, seven hard years will come upon you, which will consume all but little of that which you have stored.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

"Then will come after that, seven hard (years), which will devour what you have laid by in advance for them, (all) except a little of that which you have guarded (stored)."

Wahiduddin Khan

Then there will follow seven years of great hardship which will consume all but a little of what you stored.

Talal Itani

Then after that will come seven difficult ones, which will consume what you have stored for them, except for the little that you have preserved.

Tafsir jalalayn

Then after that, in other words, after the seven fertile [years], there shall come seven hard, barren and unyielding, years -- the interpretation of the seven lean ones -- which shall devour what you set aside for them, of grain sown during the fertile years, in other words, you shall eat [all] this during these [seven hard years], all except a little which you have preserved, stored.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

ثُمَّ يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ سَبْعٌ شِدَادٌ

and that (the harvest) which you reap you shall leave it in the ears, (all) except a little of it which you may eat. Then will come after that, seven hard (years),

He said, `Whatever you harvest during those seven fertile years, leave it in the ears so as to preserve it better. This will help the harvest stay healthy longer, except the amount that you need to eat, which should not be substantial. Stay away from extravagance, so that you use what remains of the harvest during the seven years of drought that will follow the seven fertile years.'

This was represented by the seven lean cows that eat the seven fat cows. During the seven years of drought, they will eat from the harvest they collected during the seven fertile years, as represented by the dry ears of corn in the dream. Yusuf told them that during these years, the remaining ears will not produce anything and whatever they try to plant, will not produce any harvest, so he said,

يَأْكُلْنَ مَا قَدَّمْتُمْ لَهُنَّ إِلاَّ قَلِيلً مِّمَّا تُحْصِنُونَ



which will devour what you have laid by in advance for them, (all) except a little of that which you have guarded (stored).

ثُمَّ يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ عَامٌ فِيهِ يُغَاثُ النَّاسُ وَفِيهِ يَعْصِرُونَ