The Qur'an vis-à-vis Earlier Writings

In a context of civilisational decline

We relate to thee the best of stories in what We have revealed to thee of this Qur’an, though thou wast before it among those unaware.

(12:3)

Preface

As those who follow my work will know, I have been primarily interested in the question of how the Qur’an stands in regard to earlier writings for some time. My starting point and expectation was that the output of this project would take the form of a systematic comparison of every narrative in the Qur’an measured against writings which non-Muslims hold to as scripture, or to which they point as pre-existing the Qur’an and thus requiring a ‘defence’ by those who regard the Qur’an in keeping with its internal claim to be preserved revelation from God.

Since my intellectual and hermeneutic contribution to this point has been predicated upon a particular methodology,¹ one which has a body of exhaustive comparison as its foundation, it was, perhaps, natural to assume a similar approach in this case. To a hammer everything not only looks like a nail, nails are all a hammer can do anything with. Thus, having established the outline of the topic,² I picked up my hammer and went looking for nails.

However, in process of the reading and thinking which underpins and informs what follows, I arrived at the view that hammers and nails are not only inferior tools for the task in hand — namely, to explain the Qur’an’s relationship to earlier writings in terms which might assist those who take the Qur’an at its own assessment of itself — they are entirely unfit for purpose.³

I have come to the view that data⁴ per se is unable to provide access to the essence of this question. In order to address it in terms which are true instead of merely ‘correct’ I have found it necessary to adopt a register and tone essentially different to my previous work.

This approach may go against the grain of some of those readers who have been drawn to my data-orientated approach. The fact is that I have had to abandon it here;⁵ I have been forced, quite willingly I should add, over the central reservation and into the oncoming traffic of key parts of the substance of those men of the last hundred years whose work I have found most compelling and descriptive of reality as I experience it: René Guénon, Julius Evola, Frithjof Schuon, Jacques Ellul. And it is a fact that my thinking here, while maintaining an essential independence as well as a perspective which post-dates their respective eras, owes much to them in various ways and in unequal measures.⁶

The present investigation extends to just under 30,000 words. I understand that this is itself an imposition, especially in our time, but there was no other way to address the topic to an extent and in a manner which might preclude any need to return to it.

Introduction

In what follows I attempt to address the problem of how the Qur’an relates to earlier writings or scriptures and to offer a means of reconciling common tensions which arise in this connection in the mind of a man who holds to the Qur’an’s assessment of itself as a preserved scripture from God.

I have taken as the occasion for this discussion consideration of the story of Joseph as presented in the Qur’an and the Book of Genesis for three main reasons. Firstly, the Qur’an’s presentation of this story is both ‘complete’ (in the sense that it is fully satisfying as a narrative, comprising a beginning, middle and end); secondly, the Qur’an’s presentation of this story forms a single block (rather than being spread over various surahs as is commonly the case with stories which feature in the Qur’an); thirdly, its narrative elements are predominantly sequential (i.e. first this happened, then that happened). Since the Genesis account is likewise predominantly contiguous and sequential, the story of Joseph in both sources presents us with a singular opportunity to compare like with like, as it were.

However, the case of the story of Joseph as presented and understood in the Qur’an and Bible serves here as a platform for discussion of principles which attach to the broader issue I wish to consider.

Conclusions anticipated and contextualised

As I made clear elsewhere,⁷ I undertook to address this subject free of preconceived outcomes. My expectation was, as indicated above, that I could process ‘the data’ through a meat-grinder similar to that which provides the engine for previous researches.

Once steel met with steel in the heat of battle, however, I was forced to revise my assumed methods: I understood that the question could be meaningfully addressed only in a context predicated upon an assessment of the Modern age as understood by traditions founded in pre-Modern milieux. Happily, we have access to pre-Modern articulations in the present age in the writings of men I consider to be among the most authoritative and authentic thinkers of the previous century, namely, René Guénon, Julius Evola, and Frithjof Schuon.⁸

All three men identified the modern age as the Kali-Yuga of Vedic culture, which itself is equivalent to the Iron (or Dark) Age of Western traditions, one characterised by unprecedented moral and spiritual involution, blindness and ignorance, and which inevitably results in complete destruction.

Despite minor differences in their articulations, Guénon, Evola and Schuon were agreed upon the veracity of this traditional cosmological view. It is in all respects directly repugnant to modern orthodoxy. This has it that men are ‘equal’ (whatever that means) and therefore essentially fungible; that no objective truth exists; that Man began low and ascends ever higher as a function of ‘progress’; that the purpose of a man’s life is the man himself; and that meaning (if this term can be applied in this context) may be extracted from (and only from) the material. These postulates are the DNA of the modern world, and from these (typically unquestioned) premises all the rest follows.⁹

The traditional view is in fundamental conflict with the modern orthodoxy on all counts but, most notably (for our purposes), on the question of ‘progress’. Traditional man understood that Man had begun high and would be drawn ever lower. Thus, Man today, according to the traditional view, is currently not only not in a condition of relative ‘progress’, he is accelerating towards his nadir at an ever-increasing and unprecedented rate.¹⁰

A second (and related) point for our purposes is to understand that in the traditional view, men naturally pertain to a hierarchy of castes; they are not fungible units of equal value as required by the orthodoxy of Modernity.¹¹

While I risk doing each of these men some measure of injustice, I will attempt to present in summary how, in my view, they relate to each other in terms of Kali-Yuga, and why I think that — while they are not wrong in principle — they have latterly been shown to have been naïve, perhaps, where their more ‘hopeful’ allowances are concerned. I will then place this summary in the context of my own thought and work.

We should begin with Guénon (1886-1951). His conclusions, as they intersect with the topic here, are that the West is degenerate and degenerating; the entire world is becoming ‘westernised’ in the sense of adopting Technique as described and explicated by Jacque Ellul¹² (although Guénon’s life and writing pre-date Ellul’s major works — and, to my knowledge, Guénon nowhere uses the term Technique in the Ellulian sense — it is, in practical terms, this which Guénon is describing as the devourer of that tradition which underpinned pre-Modern societies); and the only possible alternative to the implosion and collapse in which the Kali-Yuga (or Dark Age) ultimately find its final expression in annihilation (at least, at this stage in the Cycle) is the emergence (or, more precisely, reconstitution) of a spiritual elite (i.e. the Brahman class) to guide mankind away from that eventuality and back to the perennial wisdom of the pre-Modern times.

In what I consider to be his seminal and most significant book, The Reign of Quantity & the Signs of the Times,¹³ despite his layering of the brutal facts between Hinduistic terminology and multiple folds of interminable exactitude, Guénon does eventually bite the bullet of his conclusions in his closing chapter which is, appropriately, entitled The End of a World. There he writes: ‘[…]it must be acknowledged that the end [i.e. of the age] now under consideration is undeniably of considerably greater importance than many others, for it is the end of the whole Manvantara,¹⁴ and so of the temporal existence of what might rightly be called a humanity[…]’. He then, perhaps inevitably, embarks on a further fractal sequence of qualification and specificity.

But for those of us who are interested in cutting to the chase, this is it: in Guénon’s view we’re all toast unless a genuine spiritual elite comes to the fore and is allowed to infuse society with the effects of what Guénon regards as the transcendent plane of all valid religious traditions — identified by the term sophia perennis —¹⁵ which outcome is achievable solely by an elite with access to genuine, living esotericism.¹⁶

Again, the only means by which to forestall Annihilation according to Guénon, and it bears emphasising that his view is entirely in keeping with authentic traditions. While, for reasons not worth going into here, it is an imperfect term, I shall refer to this position as Guénon’s ‘thesis of hope’.

Julius Evola (1898-1974), an Italian esotericist and traditional thinker in his own right, was so deeply struck by Guénon that he learned French specifically in order to communicate with him. But Evola always remained his own man, and guarded his intellectual independence as a matter of principle, including from Guénon. He was partially preoccupied with issues which were, at times, (at least apparently or superficially) political in a profane sense, and at others of a ‘darker’ spiritual aspect than we find in the generality of Guénon’s writings. At any rate, Benito Mussolini respected Evola, and was understood to be afraid of him.

Despite minor clarifications and distinctions on certain points, Evola was in general agreement with Guénon’s principal views, and certainly on those points which pertain to a traditional cosmological understanding in which Man descends from a higher state to a lower in a process of involution, and rejected utterly the cult of ‘progress’ as expressive of the ignorance and blindness which necessarily attach to the Kali-Yuga.

In terms of what I call Guénon’s ‘thesis of hope’ — in which he postulated a possible forestalling of that collapse which, even in the first half of the twentieth century, he knew must conclude the trajectory of Modernity¹⁷ — while Evola may have allowed for such a hope, he knew better than to build his plans around it. Rather, he was much concerned to prepare the inevitably dwindling numbers of traditional men whose lot it would be to live as ‘men among the ruins’ of a degenerate, collapsing civilisation — namely, among the bleating and blind human cyphers which comprise democratised mass man — in the prelude to that inevitable and final collapse, and to provide intellectual supports by which they might thus live on terms which are, for the want of a better word, heroic.¹⁸

This brings me to Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998). While, like Evola, Schuon’s range and interests intersect with those of Guénon only partially, where they do so, they also do so emphatically, and we can take as given a traditional worldview entirely opposed to the orthodoxy of Modernity (in short, opposed to progress, humanism, solipsism, and materialism). The elements upon which Guénon pronounced, and with which Evola concurred, concerning the nature of this age may be taken as normative for Schuon although he was, as noted, sensible of vistas of different hues and ranges to those which occupied either Evola or Guénon.

While Schuon nowhere says so in his book The Transcendent Unity of Religions,¹⁹ consideration of his biography and knowledge of the fact of his (entirely valid) realisation of himself as a teacher of tradition invested with authority according to the principle of disciplic succession, led me to the view that Schuon wished, by means of The Transcendent Unity of Religions, to provide a platform upon which Guénon’s ‘thesis of hope’ might be realised; that is, he was serving in a rôle of teacher and systematiser of the root concepts to provide the grist from which an elite might be expected to mill that flour which had once been their preserve and social purpose.

Whereas when Schuon first published his book such a hope might be characterised as erring on the side of unwarranted optimism, the obvious and expedited collapse from a traditional perspective into decay the West has demonstrated since that time (the late fifties) places a continuation of the same hope in the category of wanton delusion.²⁰

Guénon’s ‘thesis of hope’ may be disregarded; Schuon’s work on this front is not to bear fruit: the cavalry is not only not coming, the cavalry no longer possesses horses or sees any reason to ride them, and the processes which characterise Kali-Yuga, and through which we are living can only accelerate and do so unabated. Those to whom Guénon and Schuon addressed themselves are not only in a collapsed and eviscerated state, the place in the social order traditionally occupied by men possessed of the capacities Guénon and Schuon assume is, a priori, first marginalised, then trivialised, then precluded by Modernity. The premise and process (one might even say purpose) of Modernity is always downwards. And while it is at the stage today of a mass of degenerate sudra-slaves ruled by an ‘elite’ of degenerate vyaisha-merchants, it can only proceed to further stages of involution, and do so with increasing momentum. This process towards a collapse in quality and an associated ubiquity of mediocrity and deviation is, naturally, denied by Modernity, but fully in keeping with the anticipation of latter times in pre-Modern traditions.²¹

While my conclusion may be regarded as too ‘categorical’ by those for whom numbers, group effects and consensus are of principal importance, or as ‘depressing’ by those for whom feelings and a principled attachment to what they perceive as ‘optimism’ are decisive, all I am doing is, in effect, acknowledging the fact that rain exists and that it falls downwards.

Guénon, Evola and Schuon understood the fact of rain and its nature and consequences also, but responded in different ways. Whereas Guénon posited a possible resurgence in the art of umbrella-making by an elite which had forgotten it, Schuon wrote an umbrella-making manual in the hopes that umbrella-makers might be appear. Meanwhile, Evola provided advice to those men prescient enough to carry their own raincoats on how to do so to advantage amid the unpleasant necessity of picking one’s way through the heedless and decaying mass.

Today, I assert, the evidence is unambiguous: umbrella-making is lost as an art; meanwhile, the rain-clouds are gathering, and it is certain to rain. The only question is when precisely the clouds will break.

In that context which I describe in the preceding paragraphs and related notes, what is commonly described as esoteric truth is inaccessible, at least in social terms.²² Such access has always been, by definition, limited to a minority. But under the conditions I have summarised, Guénon’s ‘thesis of hope’ has been decisively shown to be superseded by events, and is inoperative in consequence.

Although René Guénon, Julius Evola and Frithjof Schuon refrain from overstating the case, it is a fact that they understood the absence, or failure to emerge, of an elite of the type I have alluded to here as intrinsic to the approach to the end of the current cycle (parsed by the Western mind in terms such as Apocalypse, Armageddon, or End of Days). While some doubt may have remained by Guénon’s death (1951), less by Evola’s death (1974), and even less by the time of Schuon’s death (1998), none can exist today: it is clear to anyone of even minimal discernment that ‘the West’ (cf. Ellul’s term Technique)²³ is today the locomotive which drives all parts of the world, unified as it is under the its banners of personal happiness, human goodness, progress, and matter-as-reality.

Moreover, the events of the intervening quarter century since Schuon’s death can leave no one who cares to consider the evidence in doubt: this age is careening towards its conclusion and, from the position of perennial philosophy, the last bank which could have forestalled that collapse — a guiding elite capable and willing to grasp and apply what Guénon outlines and Schuon explicates — has itself collapsed into the merely telluric and tamasic: greed, deviation and delusion. Not only is there now stopping the locomotive, the locomotive has been heading over the cliff for so long that Guénon and Schuon’s attempts to address the causes for the inevitable crash on a valid basis and to present a framework upon which a bulwark against that inevitable outcome might be raised were far too late even at the time of their original publication. The time which has elapsed since only can only confirm us in that fact, and this fact is central to the conclusions towards which this essay is directed.²⁴

I do not aspire to the analytical erudition of a Guénon, nor to be a teacher of the calibre of a Schuon. I am cut of an entirely different cloth; I do not lose myself in interminable struggles with fundamental definitions — happily, I do not have to, that work has been done for me — but neither do I require a valid traditional initiation, access to occult influences or an opening of the Heavens in honour of my personage to apprehend the blindingly obvious. Perhaps due, in part, to the fact that I was a small child when Evola died and still a young man when Schuon died, I have had the relative ‘advantage’ of living through an intensification of generalised civilisational collapse unknown to any of these men. Thus, the facts are clear to me in a way they may have anticipated but did live to see: the elites are irreversibly degenerate; ergo, the ‘thesis of hope’ must be disregarded; ergo, the Apocalypse is as unavoidable as the next shower of rain.

I do not aspire to guide others to encounter esoteric transcendence; moreover, not only do I regard the Apocalypse as inevitable, I welcome it as preferable to the alternative, and my preceding body of work is designed to force this eventuality on the basis of a valid, transcendent scripture.²⁵

While the segment above may be seen as a substantial digression, it is essential to the thinking which informs the conclusions of this essay.

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Logistics and essay divisions

In what follows, I admit as textual evidence the story of Joseph as found at surah 12 in the Qur’an and at Genesis chapters 37-50 in the Hebrew Bible.²⁶

This part of my presentation falls into two broad sections. In the first, I consider the story of Joseph, both on its own terms and as it is received among believers of various types at this time. Following my conclusions, I present both texts in their entirety using the Biblical narrative as a framework into which all verses which comprise surah 12 are inserted.

Story of Joseph in outline

The story of Joseph is familiar even to those outside the direct influence of Abrahamic faiths and worldviews. The bones of the story may be summarised as follows:²⁷

Joseph, beloved by his father and gifted with the ability to interpret dreams, is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Despite the trials he faces — false accusations, imprisonment, and separation from his family — Joseph remains faithful to God, eventually rising to power in the land of Pharaoh after interpreting Pharaoh’s dream. Through divine providence, Joseph’s path intersects with that of his brothers once again during a time of famine, leading to reunion and forgiveness.

The Qur’an as revelation

To place the Qur’anic presentation in context, we should first understand that the internal status of the Qur’an is as direct revelation from God sent down to a man:

And were it not for the bounty of God and His mercy upon thee, a number of them had purposed to lead thee astray; and they lead astray only themselves, and they harm thee not at all. And God sent down upon thee the Writ and wisdom; and He has taught thee what thou knewest not. And the bounty of God towards thee is tremendous.

(4:113)

We have sent down upon thee the Qur’an in a successive revelation,

(76:23)e

Obviously, Muslims accept this while non-Muslims do not. This core division does not seem to me to require further thought, and certainly the type of arguments and invective which issues forth in so-called debates between various factions on this question are, to my mind, pointless; God either guides a man (to the Qur’an and more generally) or He does not:

(Not upon thee is their guidance; but God guides whom He wills.) And what you spend of good, it is for yourselves. And spend not save seeking the face of God (and what you spend of good will be paid in full to you; and you will not be wronged)

(2:272)

Say thou: “Then to God belongs the conclusive argument: had He willed, He would have guided you all together.”

(6:149)

Thou guidest not whom thou likest; but God guides whom He wills. And He best knows the guided.

(28:56)

Accusations of forgery or textual theft

Claims that the Qur’an is ‘forged’ or that it is the product of work upon pre-existing texts such as one hears from a range of quarters are nothing new. The Qur’an itself includes mention of them; the following verses are representative:

And those who ignore warning say: “This is only a falsehood; he invented it, and other people assisted him in it.” And they have brought injustice and falsehood.

(25:4)

And they say: “Legends of the former peoples he has written, and they are dictated to him morning and evening.”

(25:5)

As above, there is essentially nothing to be done here; the Muslim, by definition, accepts the Qur’an’s assessment of itself and views descriptions of the archetypal reactions to it as a confirmation of his assessment, while one who denies the veracity of the Qur’an, by definition, does not admit it as evidence.

Popular context

I can expand upon some part of what I have outlined above by reference to the approach to the Qur’an common to a particular brand of populist Evangelical Christian (whose actions I have no choice but to simplify in the interests of brevity). I mean, of course, assertions calibrated to confirm an Evangelical Christian laity in the notion of the Qur’an — in essence and by definition — as ‘false’ or a ‘forgery’ (an approach which often has the attendant benefit of enraging certain Muslims whose responses are then interpreted as supporting evidence for the proof the preacher claims to have provided).

Such speakers guide their audiences to the required conclusions as follows: on the one hand (they say), the Qur’an rehearses earlier scriptures, therefore it is derivative or imitative (and to be dismissed as ‘false’ or a ‘forgery’ on that basis); at the same time, since the Qur’an differs from earlier scriptures, it can only be incorrect (and must be dismissed as ‘false’ or a ‘forgery’ on this latter basis, were it not on the first).

This type of strategic problem-posing either assumes its conclusions or locks the unwitting and gullible into predetermined outcomes, and where it is not entirely dishonest at first application it quickly becomes so. Like fool’s mate, this means of checkmating one’s opponent is contingent on almost total ignorance of common strategies on the part of the target. A similar trap is effected by children and salesmen with the heads I win, tails you lose strategy. However, in the case of chess and coin-flipping one may assume a counterpart with little vested interest in defeat — and none in repeated defeat. The audiences Evangelical Christian preachers of the type I am caricaturing generally address, meanwhile, are emotionally invested in remaining ignorant of the mechanics by which logic is circumvented, being only too happy to find fully torpedoed for them a boat to which their own presuppositions must deny any capacity to float. That is not to say that the Islamic world does not produce its putative advocates of a comparable type — men who answer the Christian Evangelicals in their own coin and with equal disregard for the rules of gentlemanly interlocution — because it does. When the two sides get together, the result is the dialectic equivalent of the MMA: a thinly-disguised bloodsport in which contemporary subsurface tensions are temporarily alleviated by the spectacle of two grown men beating each other to a pulp.²⁸

For his part, the more dignified cultural Muslim frequently does much to muddy the waters that he claims to wish others to drink by his admission of (if not insistence upon) non- or extra-Qur’anic literatures — almost Talmudic in their scope and modes of application — to which he ascribes the force of canon (always de facto, but frequently de jure also).²⁹

It is not my intention to convince either Christians or Muslims of the types characterised above; it is, rather, to lay out an understanding of the Qur’an vis-à-vis earlier writings which is acceptable to myself, and which may be acceptable also — or to provide substance for further investigation, thought and reflection — to others who hold de facto to a position which is in keeping with the terms in which the Qur’an presents itself.

Positions on others’ scriptures polarised and summarised

Naturally, views of the scriptural validity and authenticity of the Bible cover a wide range. Among Christians I will limit myself to the putative Fundamentalist view which claims as scripture all those writings which comprise the Bible in its current state and condition of translation. While millions of believing Christians do not themselves require such a stance for their own faith, I do not challenge the Biblical text for the purposes of this essay since this position mirrors my own view of the Qur’an, and it behoves a gentleman to allow his opponent a sword at least as sharp as his own even if such is not what he generally chooses to fight with.

Typically, as I have said above, the Christian Evangelical who would claim inerrancy for his own scriptures refuses, a priori, to consider as legitimate anything which does not mirror in all particulars his own scriptures. But this is simply another way of saying that he will consider as scripture only what he has: any distinction can only be deviation and falsehood. To be acceptable to him, the Qur’an should mirror in all points what he himself holds in his hands. If it did so, it would not be the Qur’an; it would be a facsimile of some portions of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures in that condition in which they have reached him. For him the question of the validity of the Qur’an vis-à-vis his received scriptures is sealed and permits of no review or consideration. This is his business, but he should not pretend to discuss an issue he will not allow to the table on terms other than those which presuppose the correctness of his own assumptions, conclusions, and theological requirements.

Where I can go some distance with the Christian fundamentalist in his view of the Qur’an is in his categorical approach. Since, to him, the Qur’an is ‘false’ or ‘forged’, it is entirely so. There can be no half-measures; no allowance for the possibility that Muḥammad received some part of the Qur’an from God but other parts are garbled or lost or glossed over (an approach entirely allowable, even required by the religious calculus of millions of believing Christians vis-à-vis the Bible). For a Christian of Fundamentalist stripe, the Qur’an is completely false and fabricated. While their conclusions are entirely opposed, Christian Fundamentalism of this type on the one hand, and Islamic orthodoxy and the Qur’an itself on the other, agree upon one essential point: the Qur’an is cut of a single cloth.

Naturally, modern Jewish views of the Hebrew Bible compass a broad range also, but as a rule of thumb, one can assume a view here also that the more ‘fundamentalist’ the individual Jew, the more categorical his rejection of the Qur’an.

Meanwhile, the scriptures of the Jews and Christians are considered by the generality of Muslims — typically, even the putatively most ardent among them — to be, in a vague and indeterminate way, valid scripture, some assumed (though usually unexamined and undefined) measure of corruption and textual errancy notwithstanding; and where the Qur’an contains stories which the Bible comprises also, those stories are taken to be the same in terms of essentials though differing in some (usually unexamined and undefined) specifics.

The Qur’an’s relation to previous scriptures

For its part, the Qur’an presents multiple positions vis-à-vis itself and those scriptures it postdates.

On the one hand, belief in (or at least intellectual assent to the validity of) previous scriptures is a sine qua non of ultimate success:

And those who believe in what was sent down to thee, and what was sent down before thee,³⁰ and of the Hereafter they are certain:

(2:4)

Those are upon guidance from their Lord; and it is they who are the successful.

(2:5)

Meanwhile, and apparently paradoxically, the Qur’an accuses those holding to earlier scriptures of falsifying or adding to what they have from God:

So woe to those who write the Writ with their hands, then say: “This is from God,” that they might sell it at a cheap price; so woe to them for what their hands have written, and woe to them for what they earn.

(2:79)

The Qur’an makes plain also that what it calls ahl kitāb (which collocation I render doctors of the Law, but which is generally translated people of the book),³¹ both obfuscate and distort the plain meaning of what they possess and ascribe the status of scripture to things which God did not authorise.³²

O doctors of the Law: why clothe you the truth in vanity and conceal the truth, when you know?

(3:71)

And among them a faction distorts the Writ with their tongues, that you might think it from the Writ, but it is not from the Writ. And they say: “It is from God,” but it is not from God. And they ascribe the lie to God, when they know.

(3:78)

The Qur’an itself is, as we considered above, unequivocally the revelation of what God sent down to Muḥammad (i.e. unimpeachable scripture) and both confirms what was before it (namely, previous scriptures) and serves as a ‘control’ or test of quality:

And We sent down to thee the Writ with the truth, confirming what is before it of the Writ, and as a control over it. So judge thou between them by what God has sent down; and follow thou not their vain desires away from what has come to thee of the truth. For each of you We appointed an ordinance and a procedure. And had God willed, He could have made you one community; but that He might try you in what He gave you[...]. — So vie in good deeds; unto God will you return all together, and He will inform you of that wherein you differed —

(5:48)

Again, for the Qur’an (or anything else for that matter), both to confirm something else while at the same time to act as a check upon it is, if not paradoxical, at least a problematical issue which requires consideration on a plane qualitatively superior to either clunky dogmatism or vague generalities.

Unspecified or non-extant writings

We should note that, in addition, the Qur’an indicates that certain writings are no longer extant.

And messengers We have related to thee before, and messengers We have not related to thee, — and God spoke to Moses with speech —

(4:164)

And again:

And We have sent messengers before thee; among them are those We have related to thee, and among them are those We have not related to thee. And it was not for a messenger to bring a proof save by the leave of God. And when the command of God comes the matter will be decided in justice, and thereupon will the creators of vanity be lost.

(40:78)

These verses allow the existence of writings, in addition to those writings to which Christians and Jews may point as scripture, which are not mentioned in the Qur’an.³³

Finally, the Qur’an indicates scriptures which must be understood as partially or entirely lost:

The truth is, you prefer the life of this world

(87:16)

When the Hereafter is better and more enduring.

(87:17)

This is in the former scriptures,

(87:18)

The scriptures of Abraham and Moses.

(87:19)

No one can today point to the ‘scriptures of Abraham’.³⁴ Additionally, the import of verses 87:16-17 is not to be found in those writings today ascribed to Moses.

One can, of course, say or think nothing of substance about writings which do not exist, beyond point to the thumbnails sketches and summaries of them where such are found in the Qur’an.³⁵

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While the Qur’anic verses listed in the segments above are not exhaustive they comprise a representative sample of the Qur’an’s attitude to itself and to those writings it postdates. Additionally, we have identified those tensions or problems which result;³⁶ it remains to reach an understanding in which those tensions are resolved.

Towards a paradigm for understanding earlier writings

We are reaching the point where we can begin to introduce the specific case which we are using to explore the wider topic.

I do not intend to attack the Biblical narrative of Joseph on the grounds that it is inferior as scripture (assessments of this order are beyond the purview of this essay). Rather, I choose here not to challenge as scripture that which the Christian and the Jew tell me is scripture not only on the basis of good manners, but because Qur’an tells me that what the Christian and the Jew regard as scripture is such, and I take the Qur’an at its word. So to this extent I comport with a normative Islamic approach.

At this point, apologists for the other side as it were claim their own conclusions: since the Qur’an tells me that what the Jews and Christians have is scripture — and I accept it as such — I must accept their doctrine also. But this conclusion does not follow not least because I accept also the Qur’anic view that there have been, in the past, those who insinuated something other than scripture into that which the Christian and the Jew tell us is scripture.

My position here is contained in the following analogy: if God says that water has at some time been added to the milk a certain man sells, I will know for a fact that this milk contains water; but so long as God regards the liquid the man sells as milk (albeit with an unspecified admixture of water), I accept it on that basis: as milk (albeit somewhat diluted).

The Qur’an is, in the estimation of those who accept it as scripture, pure milk. Since I have pure milk, there is no need for me to drink any milk other than that which is pure. Where milk which does not meet the standards of the pure milk I have access to exists, I may regard it as milk also, albeit in a state other than that of pure.

While this position does not mean it is my business to force my milk upon men who prefer either not to drink milk or to drink milk which is (as far as I am concerned) diluted, neither does it mean that I should be so indiscriminate as to permit myself to regard what milk others choose to drink as qualitatively (and textually) equal to what I have access to.

Health comes, as it were, from milk; and all milk is good, but all milk is not the same.

Having allowed that all scripture is, in some sense milk, I proceed now on a basis which assumes that, seen from a great enough height, no matter what apparently irreconcilable fissures between narratives may be encountered, the substance of all points listed above is reconcilable.

The question is only how this may be done, and in what sense.

Different peoples, different scriptures

I accept as axiomatic on the basis of the Qur’an the position that different peoples follow different books and have different normative requirements. To revisit a verse we have seen above but with a different emphasis:

And We sent down to thee the Writ with the truth, confirming what is before it of the Writ, and as a control over it. So judge thou between them by what God has sent down; and follow thou not their vain desires away from what has come to thee of the truth. For each of you We appointed an ordinance and a procedure. And had God willed, He could have made you one community; but that He might try you in what He gave you[...]. — So vie in good deeds; unto God will you return all together, and He will inform you of that wherein you differed —

(5:48)

According to this verse, God gave men instructions the substance of which varies, but the essence of which — according to a broader knowledge of the Qur’an — is one.

Irreconcilable narratives

I do not presume to convince the Christian or the Jew that their scripture is deficient or to convince them of the superiority of my scripture over theirs. But since I need to approach their scriptures with a view to addressing insinuations originating predominantly in Christian and Jewish quarters regarding my scriptures, I must tell it as I see it.³⁷

That the treatments of Joseph in the Qur’an and the Bible have certain plot points in common is, of course, beyond question. But what arises from a systematic comparison and ‘in-line’ consideration of their specifics³⁸ is that the story of Joseph in Genesis and that of Joseph in the Qur’an are not generally alike but divergent in some details of secondary significance (as per the Islamic position), they are entirely distinct stories whose differences, on the face of it, it is impossible to resolve.

The Biblical narrative reveals materialistic, clannish, devious, insidious, treacherous motives and outcomes, is firmly rooted in this world and its benefits, and advocates collaboration with and advancement of tyranny. I understand that this is not how the story is read, especially by Christians, but the facts are what they are: by the time Joseph has finished with the people of Pharaoh they are in a condition of indentured servitude; additionally, the account includes a lengthy diversion in the form of a matter-of-fact presentation of incest, fornication, deceit and hypocrisy (Genesis 38).

The Qur’anic narrative, which comprises the whole of surah 12, on the other hand is thematically anchored in eternity, transcendent values, faith and righteous action which are vindicated and rewarded and concludes with that Event in which God is to destroy all wrongdoers.

Thus, a plain reading of these texts reveals entirely different behavioural templates.

That view is not the fruit of my ‘preference’ for the Qur’an over the Bible, or of a desire to ‘refute’ those who prefer the Bible to the Qur’an, or of a wish to antagonise those for whom current Islamic orthodoxy is sacrosanct. It simply represents my conclusions based on a surface reading of both accounts.

Jewish and Christian views of Genesis 37-50

It is only fair to present views of Genesis 37-50 which pertain to those people for whom the Bible is holy writ to the exclusion of all else.³⁹

I will begin with what might be termed the pragmatic Jewish view of Joseph,⁴⁰ which is the nearest to a rational one to result from an objective surface reading (such as I summarise above) of the text in Genesis under which narrative schema, the irreducible and unavoidable imperative to one seeking guidance is clear: to usurp and reduce to slavery alien peoples by siding with tyrannical forces ranged against those peoples. Those whose response is immediately to take issue with this line of exegesis are invited to explain in a light which refutes it the catalogue of collusion between moneylending Jews and rulers of European peoples over millennia.

Given that such is clearly the plain reading of the story of Joseph in Genesis, it is of critical importance to note that this is not how the story of Joseph in Genesis has been understood traditionally by Christians.

The tension between the two readings, I think, lies near the crux of the problem this essay seeks to resolve: how is it — given the plain and obvious meaning of the words on the page between Genesis chapters 37 and 50 — that most Christians draw what is, on the face of it, entirely the wrong conclusions?⁴¹

The answer is not obvious for Moderns to discern as it does not submit to those forms of calculus we are primed to accept, but I think it is the correct one: Christians have the story of Joseph presented to them by their teachers and scholars in terms which convey a purport which belongs to a previous age, namely to that age in which the esoteric was understood to have objective reality.⁴² That is, their exegesis is both essentially an afterglow of — and serves as a vestigial conduit for — the wisdom of a lost time in which the esoteric was not only manifest and accessible, but the bedrock upon which all deeper understanding of scripture rested.

Thus, Christians (here, as elsewhere in this essay, we can talk only of general types) have taken the story of Joseph in something of the same light as it is objectively presented in the Qur’an: as the story of a young man who is deeply committed to God, and while his faith is rewarded with advancement and ultimate vindication in this world, the ultimate and dominant moral is anchored in Eternity. In the typical Christian’s reading, Joseph is a figure and foreshadowing of the coming Christ; the believer’s archetype and bellwether; a trusted brother whose example anticipates and directs him unerringly towards the Kingdom of God.

It is the esoteric understanding, then, of the story of Joseph which the Christian has internalised, while the Jew, at least typically, has internalised what we are assuming (or allowing) here to be the profane or exoteric sense.

This distinction and the reasons for it form the crux of my argument, and are implicit in the remaining discussion.

But no matter which of the two (admittedly polarised) views of Joseph in Genesis I have presented here one accepts — the more spiritual or ‘spiritualised’ Christian view operative upon a plane of truth I infer to be either largely or entirely lost, or the templated game plan of the usurper and destroyer⁴³ — the fact remains that the story as found on the page is irreconcilable with that of Joseph in the Qur’an.

And this fact is problematic for those who hold to the Qur’an since, as we have indicated, a priori acceptance of the validity of earlier writings is a sine qua non — or indispensable condition — of a believing engagement with the Qur’an.

The exoteric and esoteric

To reiterate in summary: a plain reading of the story of Joseph in the Bible supports what one might call a Jewish-supremacist worldview favouring infiltration, usurpation and domination,⁴⁴ while the typical Christian reading is infused with spiritual correlations with Christ and eternal rewards. My explanation for this tension is that the Christian reading has its origins in an esoteric intellection, one with origins in the pre-Modern age, the glow of which persists while its basis is no long accessible. Such esoteric intellection is unavailable given an obvious or profane reading; it is a function of an initiation into the symbols and language of metaphysics no part of which is available to a Modern. When a modern Christian ascribes transcendent values to the Joseph story of Genesis 37-50 he is, perhaps, acting in good faith, but he is not reading the text for himself. He is reading into the text an interpretation of transcendence which surely had meaning for the early Fathers and persisted as late as Thomas Aquinas, but the mechanics and logistics of which are lost to him not because he is evil or does not ‘believe’ in his own way, but because he is what we all are: a child of Modernity. And as such, he is a prisoner of the exoteric.

Given that my final argument hinges on this distinction and its consequences, it would be helpful to provide an outline sketch of what I mean by exoteric and esoteric.

By exoteric I mean the outer part of religion: its dogma, rites and common civilisational currencies. Where these have attached to genuine religion, they have had intrinsic value (I place this sentence in the past tense intentionally). Today, at best, the exoteric represents vestigial content only. The actual religion of today in all parts of the world is characterised by Technique (or Modernity), namely, a combination of solipsism, materialism, assumed ‘progress’, and humanism — in a word: Satanism.⁴⁵

If exoteric is the outer of valid, traditional religion, esoteric is its inner. But, as I have indicated, the world has, de facto — and increasingly de jure — a single religion and, in Christian terms, the object of this religion’s worship is ‘the Beast’. And nobody wants to make war with it. What people want is be at peace with the Beast⁴⁶ while earning its favours, consuming its sweetmeats, and wearing its trinkets. Claimed adherence to a valid tradition or ‘religion’ in this context is disingenuous at least and a silly lie at most.

The System requires its pound of flesh. Whatever one might choose to do with what little remains after that pound of flesh⁴⁷ has been extracted may be a private, individualised almost secret mode of — even heroic — resistance, but it is not a valid traditional religion.⁴⁸ And to pretend that what one is following is a valid traditional religion is self-delusion, pure and simple (delusion itself being a symptom of, and necessary corollary to, the involution which characterises the present time). Every valid tradition has had as its sine quo non recognition that service to Mammon and God are mutually exclusive; service to Mammon is the sine quo non of subscribing to what may be thought of today as a common or national religion.

But to return to genuine religion and expand on what I mean by esoteric in that context.

For Moderns comprehension of the notion of esotericism has been eroded. By esoteric we understand mystical; by mystical we understand immaterial; by immaterial we understand subjective and, in essence, unreal. But within a spiritually functional and valid (i.e. only in a pre-Modern) context, the esoteric was the unseen sap which sustained the visible tree. It was not the unreal, but the only Real.

By definition, however, even in a pre-Modern society, the esoteric is not available to the generality of men, but it must be present. While it does not pertain to surface ‘facts’ or data but is an intellection of transcendent truth, if removed, lost, or ignored, the exoteric dies also although, as in our day, the deadened husk of the tree remains.⁴⁹

This, in my view,⁵⁰ broadly describes our present state, one both intrinsic to and expressive of that involution implicit in the latter stages of what the ancients called Kali-Yuga or the Dark Age.⁵¹ The orthodox Modern, accordingly, ascribes all reality to the countable and material.⁵² Since he himself is a cypher — fungible, democratised, undifferentiated and profane, a unit on the counting-house floor of the banks which own him — it is only in highly atypical, divergent cases that such a man could see things any differently. This has nothing to do with intelligence in the sanitised sense that this word has been reduced to, per se. Rather, it is a matter of intellection, itself a concept which, being a type of transcendent intuition (and therefore subject neither to the countable nor to the material), is inaccessible to minds shaped and processed according to patterns which assume the countable and the material as the only possible verities.

It would be impossible to disabuse the average reader of such a view or to try to convey to him what is meant by esoteric in an ‘objective’ sense for reasons which are implicit in, and should be clear from, what precedes. I can attempt, however, to give a relatable example of what the dynamic between the exoteric on the one hand and the esoteric on the other is like in terms still accessible to an intelligent (in the modern sense) representative of the democratised mass.

The language of the esoteric is symbol; symbol is the signpost to meaning. Since the world has been stripped of meaning by Modernity, the life of Moderns has no meaning (and is actuated, in the main, by various efforts to avoid that fact). Esotericism is the means (if one can thus express it) by which meaning is read in symbol.

Of course, all this will seem like so much mush to someone who has either never thought about it before, or who is not predisposed to apprehend even what the esoteric is like, but I shall press on with my comparison.

Despite the fact that the cinematic genre, that dying breath of a civilisation attempting to express itself, is itself collapsing into the dramatic equivalent of fast food, films which do not entirely dull the senses still occasionally slip past the wire. These are the films which people who have read books and thought about things commonly refer to as good. In this context, good means that the movie must be more than a perfectly-weighted adventure pumping mental upgrades past the dazed indolence of a barely conscious, hypnotised audience; while such fare is adequate for the masses, the rest of us require more.

Films for this latter (and dwindling) category must engage the more intelligent viewer’s mind. And an indispensable means for achieving this is the use of subtext.

Subtext is essentially a state of tension between what a character says and what he means, and its value is a function almost entirely of context. It is an unspoken language which the ‘initiated’ as it were (e.g. intelligent and reflective viewers) automatically decode in process of parsing the narrative.

This subtext is not imagined (or immaterial to repeat a word used above), it expresses the actual reality of the drama. And the fact that subtext is lost on the less perspicacious does not — and can not — does not mean that it is not real. It is real. The people who wrote, directed and acted in the drama intend it to be there; it is ‘the truth’ of the story.

For the less perspicacious, of course, practical matters and visual pyrotechnics of car-chases, explosions and romantic encounters are sufficient: their souls are thereby made replete to the extent that they have the capacity to absorb meaning.

But no one who can follow subtext would say that the subtext only seems to be present; it is as I say, rather, the principal point of the dialogue. To grasp the subtext is not ‘mystical’, a pretension, or an elitist claim based in ego. It is an ability comparable to (although less common than) the ability to enjoy absorb car chases and explosions.

If one is to judge by the deterioration in quality of dramas intended for mass consumption, a facility for subtext is becoming a barrier to engagement. And given such sterile inputs, over time one may assume a facility for subtext to atrophy and wither from lack of exercise.

By analogy, the average Modern has fully lost the capacity to comprehend the esoteric. This is not because he is necessarily stupid in a technical sense, but because he simply no longer possesses the necessary receptors. And while the full range of symbols to which the Modern is now blind was accessible only to a pre-Modern elite, its generalities (car chases and explosions, as it were) formed part of the shared cultural language in which the whole civilisation participated.

While what I describe here is not what esotericism is, it imparts a sense of its features, namely, that meaning is the principal thing, and that meaning is not only not immaterial, it is the only Real.

There is nothing radical or new in any of this. Such things were common knowledge in the civilisations of the Vedas and ancient Egyptians, as well as among Pythagoreans, Platonists, followers of Plotinus, early Christians, early Muslims, and many others. It is what is known today as the perennial wisdom, or that which underpins all true religion.

And it is the facility to access this plane which must evaporate — and I argue has evaporated — as a function of the current age as it draws to its close.

Esotericism in the context of the Kali-Yuga

My attempt above to indicate something of the features of esotericism should not be understood as intended to justify the very modern phenomena of ecumenicalism on the one hand or syncretism (such as Theosophy or most of what is termed New Age) on the other. Properly understood, such are deviations, involutions and manifestations of the general collapse of which Kali-Yuga itself is one presiding symbol.

The idea that, for example, Theosophy (Helena Blavatsky, et al) or other New Age forms of so-called occultisms are esoteric is incorrect. They tend to rest upon syncretic confusions, conflations, and a form of jumbled subjectivism the totality of which is, as I say above, symptomatic of the decline of access to Reality rather than anything else. Along with modern psychology and ‘esoteric’ tourism and fads, such movements, insofar as they are based in any sort of reality indicate darker, lower, and infra-conscious realms; they transcend nothing, least of all Man, being expressive of the chaotic and subjective only.

While religious tradition may with validity lay claim to esoteric truths which transcend any ‘uninitiated’ or profane reading of their respective scriptures, such truths have, as I have said, never been accessible to the mass of men. But I conclude on the basis of everything above that they have been lost from view even for that relatively refined minority whose purpose traditionally was to be exercised in the task of apprehending them.

Uncomplimentary though it is, the fact remains that the age in which we now live was understood by the ancients to be one of relative and then absolute involution, which view compares unfavourably with Moderns’ view of themselves as the pinnacle of what they think of as ‘progress’. From the traditional point of view we are not ‘progressing’, we lost, blind and ignorant. The ‘further’ we deviate from the Real (although such terms are absolute and not relative), the more lost and degenerate in absolute terms we must become, certain types of technical achievements notwithstanding. We are not wiser than the ancients; we can just go nowhere much faster than they could.

Accordingly, all that remains to the cauterised and ennumbed (if one can thus express it) human of a standardised, inferior, and culture-less type is a degenerative and ever more stupefied fumbling towards even a plain and exoteric reading of scripture.

The principal thing remains wisdom. And that lake of wisdom from which our forefathers drank is now little more than a muddy puddle, the final dregs of which are evaporating in the mid-day sun and into which vain, media-appointed spokesmen for the religion of Meaninglessness publicly relieve themselves.

Were esoteric understanding accessible to the elites of today as it was to those of the past, it would seep into the profane society in simplified forms, and one could cite that fact as proof against the assessment of this time as that of final involution and collapse (as per Guénon’s ‘thesis of hope’). But this is not what one sees. One sees the infusion of the profane only with symbols derived from the very Satanism I identify above. While this may sound like a lament, it is a diagnosis based on given symptoms in a given context: the absence of a valid, dynamic esoteric current is itself a necessary corollary of a world civilisation characterised by self-worship, ignorance, and blindness.

Such is a function and expression of the Final Age, and a signpost that we can expect only the inescapable consequences which attach to that fact.

Conclusions: in consequence of the loss the esoteric

To attempt a summary of my thesis, I am saying the following: that, traditionally, symbolic and transcendent meaning in creation, in human events, in scripture was ‘objectively’ available to men, although in full measure only to that small minority inclined to it by temperament, breeding, education and caste; that this loss of access to transcendent meaning is itself a feature inherent to that age of collapse in which we live (the Iron Age); that given the loss of the esoteric, the exoteric inevitably dwindles into husk and parody; and that while the exoteric in traditional religions can be shown to have had meaningful correlates in sophia perennis, when divorced from the esoteric (as today) any promotion of what remains tends only to provoke to blind conflict those who seek to express themselves in zealous terms.

This brings me to the point where we can consider the Qur’an vis-à-vis earlier writings in the context of the various threads we have followed.

Earlier writings are valid as scriptures from God since God says in the Qur’an that they are. I accept all those writings as scripture without reservation according to God’s definition and usage. And, as scripture, I accept that they are broadly interoperable with the Qur’an where preexisting scriptures treat of stories the Qur’an includes. However, I accept this on an esoteric plane only (namely, on that plane on which the Christians retain a vestigial understanding of the story of Joseph; not on that plane on which the same text is understood and acted upon by the merchant Jew).

This brings me to my core conclusion. Since the kind of men who could at one time be expected to see beyond the exoteric forms of received religions and to apprehend a transcendent Reality have lost that capacity,⁵³ those verses in the Qur’an which assume interoperability — if not fungibility — between scriptures refer to and assume a language which is now lost.⁵⁴

Thus, I accept the Qur’an’s assessment on all points as concerns its relation to earlier writings and that it relates the ‘same’ message as they, but I accept this and resolve the apparent tensions which attach to it on a basis which assumes access to the esoteric plane. That corporate access⁵⁵ to the esoteric plane is no longer possible is a function of Kali-Yuga, ergo the means by which the equivalence of scriptures may be fully comprehended⁵⁶ are no longer available.

In closing, while I allow that an esoteric reading resolves whatever conflicts may be cited between any earlier scripture and the Qur’an, I accept also that we no longer possess tools equal to that task. I accept the existence of this transcendent equivalence — even though it is unavailable, by definition, at this time — much in the same way as I accept the Qur’an’s descriptions of times and places in which other men lived but which are gone forever and which I will never see.

---

The story of Joseph in Genesis and the Qur’an interwoven

My discussion and main points being concluded, I present below the whole of the Biblical narrative (i.e. Genesis chapters 37 through to 50 in the King James Version), with the Qur’anic narrative interwoven as block quotes (indented with a blue line). The Qur’anic translation is my own (see here), though that fact is not material.

While there are cases where verses are given outside their proper order, the entirety of surah 12 is included.

Genesis 37

alif lām rā Those are the proofs of the Clear Writ.

(12:1)

We have sent it down as an Arabic recitation, that you might use reason.

(12:2)

We relate to thee the best of stories in what We have revealed to thee of this Qur’an, though thou wast before it among those unaware.

(12:3)

In Joseph and his brothers were proofs for those who ask.

(12:7)

37:1 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

37:2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

When they said: “Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than are we, when we are a group; our father is in manifest error.

(12:8)

37:5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

37:6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

37:7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

When Joseph said to his father: “O my father: I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon; I saw them submitting to me,”

(12:4)

He said: “O my son: relate thou not thy dream to thy brothers lest they plan a plan against thee; the satan is to man an open enemy.

(12:5)

37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

“And thus will thy Lord choose thee, and teach thee the interpretation of events, and complete His favour upon thee and upon the house of Jacob as He completed it upon thy fathers before, Abraham and Isaac; thy Lord is knowing and wise.”

(12:6)

37:11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

37:12 And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

37:13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.

37:14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

They said: “O our father: what ails thee, that thou trustest us not with Joseph when we are sincere counsellors to him?

(12:11)

“Send thou him with us tomorrow, that he might run and play; and we will guard him.”

(12:12)

He said: “It grieves me that you should go with him; and I fear lest the wolf should eat him when you are unmindful of him.”

(12:13)

They said: “If the wolf should eat him when we are a group, then will we be the losers.”

(12:14)

37:15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

37:16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.

37:17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

37:18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

“Kill Joseph, or banish him to a land; the face of your father will pass to you — and be you after it a righteous people,”

(12:9)

37:19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

37:20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

37:21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.

37:22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.

Said a speaker among them: “Kill not Joseph, but cast him into the depth of the well — some caravan will gather him up — if you must act.”

(12:10)

37:23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;

37:24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

Then when they went with him, and agreed to place him in the depth of the well[...]. And We revealed to him: “Thou wilt inform them of this deed of theirs when they perceive not.”

(12:15)

37:25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

37:26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

37:27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.

37:28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

And there came a caravan; and they sent their water-drawer, and he let down his pail. He said: “O glad tidings: here is a lad!” And they hid him as merchandise; and God knows what they did.

(12:19)

And they sold him for a low price — a few dirhams — and they were, concerning him, of those content with little.

(12:20)

37:29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

37:30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

37:31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;

37:32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.

37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

And they came to their father in the evening, weeping.

(12:16)

They said: “O our father: we went to run races, and left Joseph with our goods — and the wolf ate him; and thou wouldst not believe us, though we were truthful.”

(12:17)

And they came with false blood on his shirt. He said: “Nay, your souls have enticed you into a matter; then: comely patience — and God is the one whose aid is sought against what you describe.”

(12:18)

37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

And he turned away from them and said: “O my grief for Joseph!” And his eyes became white from the sorrow he was suppressing.

(12:84)

They said: “By God, thou wilt never cease remembering Joseph until thou art decrepit, or art of those who perish!”

(12:85)

37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

Genesis 38

38:1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

38:2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

38:3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

38:4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

38:5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

38:6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

38:7 And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

38:8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

38:9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

38:10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

38:11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

38:12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

38:13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

38:14 And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

38:16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

38:17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

38:18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

38:19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

38:20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.

38:21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.

38:22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

38:23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

38:25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

38:26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

38:27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

38:28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

38:29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

38:30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

Genesis 39

39:1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

And said he who bought him from Egypt, to his wife: “Be thou honourable in his dwelling; it may be that he will benefit us, or we will take him as a son.” And thus did We establish Joseph in the land, and that We might teach him the interpretation of narratives; and God prevails over His affair, but most men understand not.

(12:21)

39:2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

39:3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

39:4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

39:5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

39:6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

And when he reached maturity, We gave him judgment and knowledge; and thus reward We the doers of good.

(12:22)

39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

39:8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

And she in whose house he was sought to lure him away from his soul; and she closed the doors, and said: “Come thou hither.” He said: “I seek refuge in God — He is my Lord who made good my dwelling; the wrongdoers do not succeed.”

(12:23)

39:10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

And she desired him; and he desired her[...] were it not that he saw the evidence of his Lord. Thus — that We might turn away from him evil and sexual immorality; he was among Our sincere servants.

(12:24)

39:11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

39:13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

39:14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:

39:15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.

39:16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.

39:17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:

39:18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.

And they raced to the door; and she tore his shirt from behind; and they met her master at the door. She said; “What is the reward of him who wished evil on thy household save that he be imprisoned, or a painful punishment?”

(12:25

39:19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

Said he: “She it was who sought to lure me away from my soul.” And there bore witness a witness from her household: “If his shirt is torn from the front, then she has spoken the truth and he is of the liars.

(12:26)

“But if his shirt is torn from behind, then she has lied and he is of the truthful.”

(12:27)

39:20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

And when he saw his shirt torn from behind, he said: “This is a plan of you women; indeed, your guile is great.

(12:28)

“Joseph: disregard thou this; and wife: ask thou forgiveness for thy transgression; thou art of the offenders.”

(12:29)

And women in the city said: “The wife of the Governor is seeking to lure her houseboy away from his soul; he has enslaved her to love; we see her in manifest error.”

(12:30)

And when she heard of their scheming, she sent to them, and prepared for them a feasting couch, and gave to each one of them a knife, and said: “Come thou out before them.” And when they saw him, they exalted him, and cut their hands, and said: “God forbid! This is no mortal; this is only a noble angel!”

(12:31)

She said: “This is he for whom you blamed me. And I indeed sought to lure him away from his soul, but he proved patient; but if he do not what I command him, he will be imprisoned and be of those brought low.”

(12:32)

He said: “My Lord: prison is preferable to me than that to which they invite me; and save Thou divert their plan from me, I will incline to them and be of the ignorant.”

(12:33)

And his Lord responded to him, and diverted their plan from him; He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

(12:34)

Then was it clear to them, after they had seen the proofs, that they should imprison him for a time.

(12:35)

39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

39:22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

39:23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

Genesis 40

40:1 And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.

40:2 And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.

40:3 And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

40:4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

40:5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

40:6 And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.

40:7 And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?

40:8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

40:9 And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;

40:10 And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:

40:11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

And two young men entered the prison with him. One of them said: “I dreamed that I was pressing wine.” And the other said: “I dreamed that I was bearing upon my head bread whereof the birds were eating — inform thou us of the interpretation; we see thou art among the doers of good.”

(12:36)

Said he: “There will not come to you food wherewith you are provided save that I will have informed you of its interpretation before it comes to you. That is from what my Lord has taught me. I have left the creed of people who believe not in God; and they, of the Hereafter, are deniers.

(12:37)

“And I have followed the creed of my fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; it is not for us to ascribe a partnership to God with anything. That is of the bounty of God upon us, and upon mankind; but most men are not grateful.

(12:38)

“O my two prison companions: are different lords better or God, the One, the Vanquishing?

(12:39)

“You serve, besides Him, only names which you have named, you and your fathers; God sent not down for them any authority. Judgment is but for God. He commanded that you serve not save Him. That is the right doctrine; but most men know not.

(12:40)

40:12 And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:

40:13 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

40:14 But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

40:15 For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.

40:16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:

40:17 And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.

40:18 And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:

40:19 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

40:20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

40:21 And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:

40:22 But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

“O my two prison companions: as for one of you: he will pour for his lord wine; and as for the other: he will be crucified, and the birds will eat from his head. Decided is the matter about which you sought opinion.”

(12:41)

40:23 Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

And he said to him he knew would be delivered of the two: “Remember thou me before thy lord.” But the satan caused him to forget the mention to his lord; so he stayed in prison some years.

(12:42)

Genesis 41

41:1 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

41:2 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.

41:3 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

41:4 And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.

41:5 And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

41:6 And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.

41:7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.

41:8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

And the King said: “I dreamed of seven fat cows, which seven lean were eating; and seven green ears of corn and others withered. O eminent ones: advise me concerning my dream, if you can interpret visions.”

(12:43)

They said: “Confused, false dreams! And we are not learned in the interpretation of dreams.”

(12:44)

41:9 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:

41:10 Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker:

41:11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

41:12 And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.

41:13 And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.

And said he who was delivered of the two, and remembered after a time: “I will inform you of the interpretation; so send me.”

(12:45)

41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

“Joseph, O man of truth: advise thou us concerning the seven fat cows which seven lean were eating, and the seven green ears of corn and others withered, that I might return to the people, that they might know.”

(12:46)

He said: “You will sow seven years as usual; what you have reaped, leave in the ear save a little whereof you will eat.

(12:47)

“Then will come after that seven hard; they will consume what you sent ahead for them save a little whereof you will keep in store.

(12:48)

“Then after that will come a year wherein men will be given abundant rain and wherein they will press.”

(12:49)

And the King said: “Bring him to me!” But when the messenger came to him, he said: “Return thou to thy lord, and ask him what is the state of the women who cut their hands; my Lord knows of their plan.”

(12:50)

Said he: “What was the case of you women when you sought to lure Joseph away from his soul?” They said: “God forbid! We know no evil against him.” Said the wife of the Governor: “Now the truth is manifest: I sought to lure him away from his soul, and he speaks the truth.

(12:51)

“That is so he might know that I betrayed him not unseen, and that God guides not the plan of the treacherous.

(12:52)

“And I absolve not myself; the soul commands to evil, save that my Lord has mercy; my Lord is forgiving and merciful.”

(12:53)

41:15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.

41:16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

41:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

41:18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

41:19 And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

41:20 And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:

41:21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

41:22 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

41:23 And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

41:24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.

41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

41:26 The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

41:27 And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

41:28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

41:30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

41:31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

41:32 And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

41:33 Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

41:34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

41:35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

41:36 And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.

41:37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.

41:38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:

41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

41:41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

41:42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

41:43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

41:44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

41:46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

41:47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.

41:48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.

41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

41:50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

41:51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.

41:52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

41:53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.

41:54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

41:55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.

41:56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

41:57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

And the King said: “Bring him to me! I will attach him to my person.” Then when he had spoken with him, he said: “Thou art this day with us established and trusted.”

(12:54)

Said he: “Appoint thou me over the storehouses of the land; I am a knowledgeable custodian.”

(12:55)

And thus We established Joseph in the land, to settle therein wheresoever he willed. We visit with Our mercy whom We will, and We cause not to be lost the reward of the doers of good.

(12:56)

And the reward of the Hereafter is better for those who heed warning and are in prudent fear.

(12:57)

Genesis 42

42:1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

42:2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

42:3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

42:4 But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

42:5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

42:8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

And the brothers of Joseph came, and entered upon him; and he knew them, but he was to them unknown.

(12:58)

42:9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

42:10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

42:11 We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

42:12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

42:13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

42:14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:

42:15 Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

42:16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

42:17 And he put them all together into ward three days.

42:18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:

42:19 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:

42:20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

And when he had furnished them with their provisions, he said: “Bring me a brother of yours from your father; see you not that I give full measure, and that I am the best of hosts?

(12:59)

“But if you bring him not to me, then no measure will there be for you with me, nor will you approach me.”

(12:60)

They said: “We will seek to lure him away from his father — and that will we do.”

(12:61)

42:21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

42:22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

42:23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

42:24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

42:25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

42:26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

42:27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.

42:28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?

42:29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,

42:30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

42:31 And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:

42:32 We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

And he said to his servants: “Put their merchandise in their saddlebags, that they might recognise it when they return to their people, that they might return.”

(12:62)

And when they returned to their father, they said: “O our father: forbidden us was the measure, so send thou with us our brother; we will obtain the measure; and we will keep him safe.”

(12:63)

42:33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:

42:34 And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.

42:35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

42:36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

42:37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.

42:38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

He said: “Am I to trust him to you save as I trusted his brother to you before? And God is the best custodian, and He is the most merciful of those who show mercy.”

(12:64)

And when they opened their possessions, they found their merchandise returned to them. They said: “O our father: what more can we ask! This is our merchandise returned to us. And we will get provision for our people and guard our brother, and will have increase of a camel’s measure — that is an easy measure.”

(12:65)

He said: “I will not send him with you until you give me a solemn oath before God that you will bring him to me save that you be surrounded.” And when they had brought him their solemn oath, he said: “God is guardian over what we say.”

(12:66)

And he said: “O my sons: enter not by one gate, but enter by different gates. But I cannot avail you anything against God. Judgment is but for God; in Him have I placed my trust. And in Him let trust those who would place their trust aright.”

(12:67)

Genesis 43

43:1 And the famine was sore in the land.

43:2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

43:3 And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

43:4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

43:5 But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

43:6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

43:7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

43:8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

43:9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

43:10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

43:11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

43:12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:

43:13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:

43:14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

43:15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

And when they entered in what manner their father had commanded them, it availed them nothing against God; it was but a need in the soul of Jacob which he satisfied. And he was a man of knowledge due to what We had taught him; but most men know not.

(12:68)

43:16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.

43:17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

43:18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

43:19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,

43:20 And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:

43:21 And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.

43:22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.

43:23 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

43:24 And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

43:25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

43:26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

43:27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?

43:28 And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.

43:29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.

43:30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

And when they entered upon Joseph, he took his brother to himself; he said: “I am thy brother, so despair thou not at what they did.”

(12:69)

43:31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

43:32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

43:33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.

43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Genesis 44

44:1 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.

44:2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

And when he had furnished them with their provisions, he put the drinking-cup into the saddlebag of his brother. Then a crier cried: “O you of the caravan: you are thieves!”

(12:70)

44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

44:4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?

44:5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

44:6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.

Said they, approaching them: “What is it you are missing?”

(12:71)

They said: “We do miss the King’s goblet; and for him who brings it is a camel-load; and I guarantee it.”

(12:72)

44:7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:

44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?

44:9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.

44:10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.

Said they: “By God, you know we came not to work corruption in the land! And we are not thieves.”

(12:73)

They said: “And what is the recompense for it, if you are liars?”

(12:74)

Said they: “The recompense for it is that he in whose saddlebag it is found, he is the recompense for it. Thus requite we the wrongdoers.”

(12:75)

44:11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.

44:12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

So he began with their bags before the bag of his brother; then he brought it forth from the bag of his brother. (Thus did We plan for Joseph; he could not have taken his brother within the doctrine of the King save that God had so willed. We raise in degree whom We will; and over every possessor of knowledge is One knowing.)

(12:76)

44:13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

44:14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

44:15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?

44:16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.

Said they: “If he steals, then there stole a brother of his before.” (But Joseph concealed it within his soul, and did not reveal it to them, saying: “You are in worse position; and God best knows what you describe.”)

(12:77)

44:17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.

He said: “God forbid that we take save him with whom we found our goods! Then should we be the wrongdoers.”

(12:79)

44:18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.

44:19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

44:20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.

44:21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.

44:22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.

44:23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

44:24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

44:25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.

44:26 And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us.

44:27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:

44:28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:

44:29 And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

44:30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;

44:31 It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

44:32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.

44:33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.

44:34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

Said they: “O Governor: he has a father, old and great, so take thou one of us in his place; we see thou art among the doers of good.”

(12:78)

And when they had despaired of him, they separated themselves for private conference. The eldest of them said: “Know you not that your father took a solemn oath from you before God — and you failed concerning Joseph before? And I will not leave the land until my father gives me leave, or God judges in my favour; and He is the best of judges.

(12:80)

“Return to your father, and say: ‘O our father: thy son stole; and we bear not witness save to what we know; and we are not custodians of the Unseen.

(12:81)

“‘And ask thou of the city in which we were, and the caravan in which we approached; and we are truthful.’”

(12:82)

He said: “Nay, your souls have enticed you into a matter. Then: comely patience — it may be that God will bring them to me all together; He is the Knowing, the Wise.”

(12:83)

And he turned away from them and said: “O my grief for Joseph!” And his eyes became white from the sorrow he was suppressing.

(12:84)

They said: “By God, thou wilt never cease remembering Joseph until thou art decrepit, or art of those who perish!”

(12:85)

He said: “I but complain of my distress and grief to God; but I know from God what you know not.

(12:86)

“O my sons: go and ask about Joseph and his brother, and despair not of the comfort of God; none despairs of the comfort of God save the unbelieving people.”

(12:87)

And when they entered upon him, they said: “O Governor: affliction has touched us and our people, and we have come with paltry merchandise. Fulfil thou for us the measure, and be thou charitable to us; God rewards the charitable.”

(12:88)

Genesis 45

45:1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

45:2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

45:9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

45:10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:

45:11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

45:12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.

45:13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.

45:14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

45:15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.

He said: “Know you what you did to Joseph and his brother, when you were ignorant?”

(12:89)

They said: “Is it indeed thou, Joseph?” He said: “I am Joseph, and this is my brother. God has favoured us. Whoso is in prudent fear and is patient — God causes not to be lost the reward of the doers of good.”

(12:90)

They said: “By God, indeed God has preferred thee over us and we were of the offenders!”

(12:91)

He said: “No blame is upon you this day. God will forgive you; and He is the most merciful of those who show mercy.

(12:92)

“Go with this my shirt, and cast it upon the face of my father — he will come to see — and come to me with your household all together.”

(12:93)

45:16 And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

45:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;

45:18 And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.

45:19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

45:20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.

45:21 And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

45:23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.

45:24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.

45:25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,

45:26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.

45:27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:

45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

And when the caravan departed, their father said: “I perceive the scent of Joseph–– had you not thought me weak in mind.”

(12:94)

They said: “By God, thou art in thine old error!”

(12:95)

Then when the bearer of glad tidings came he cast it upon his face, and he could see again. He said: “Said I not to you that I know from God what you know not?”

(12:96)

They said: “O our father: ask thou forgiveness for us for our transgressions; we were of the offenders.”

(12:97)

He said: “I will ask forgiveness for you of my Lord; He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”

(12:98)

46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

46:5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

46:6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

46:7 His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

46:8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

46:9 And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

46:10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.

46:11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

46:12 And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.

46:13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.

46:14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.

46:15 These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.

46:16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

46:17 And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.

46:18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.

46:19 The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.

46:20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

46:21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

46:22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

46:23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim.

46:24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

46:25 These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.

46:26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

46:27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

46:28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

46:30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

And when they entered upon Joseph, he took his parents to himself, and said: “Enter Egypt, if God wills, in safety.”

(12:99)

And he raised his parents upon the throne. And they fell down to him in submission, and he said: “O my father: this is the fulfilment of my dream before. My Lord has made it true. And He did good to me when He took me out of the prison, and brought you from the desert after the satan had provoked to evil between me and my brothers. My Lord is subtle in what He wills; He is the Knowing, the Wise.”

(12:100)

“My Lord: Thou hast given me some dominion, and hast taught me some of the interpretation of events; Creator of the Heavens and the Earth: Thou art my ally in the World and the Hereafter. Take Thou me as one submitting, and join Thou me with the righteous.”

(12:101)

46:31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;

46:32 And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.

46:33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?

46:34 That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

47:1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

47:2 And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

47:3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.

47:4 They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

47:5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:

47:6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

47:7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

47:8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?

47:9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

47:12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.

47:13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

47:14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

47:15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.

47:16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.

47:17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

47:18 When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

47:19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

47:20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.

47:21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

47:22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

47:23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

47:24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.

47:25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.

47:26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.

47:27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:

47:30 But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

47:31 And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

48:1 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

48:2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

48:3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,

48:4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

48:6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

48:7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.

48:8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?

48:9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see.

And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

48:11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

48:13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.

48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

48:16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

48:17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.

48:18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

48:21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.

48:22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

49:3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

49:4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

49:5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

49:6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.

49:9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

49:11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

49:12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

49:13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

49:14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

49:15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

49:16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

49:18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

49:19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

49:20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

49:21 Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

49:23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:

49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

49:29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

49:31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.

49:32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.

49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.

50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

50:4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

50:5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.

50:6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.

50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.

50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

50:11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.

50:12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:

50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

50:14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

50:15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

50:16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,

50:17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones.

And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

50:22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

50:23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.

50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

50:26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

That is of the reports of the Unseen which We reveal to thee; and thou wast not with them when they resolved upon their affair, when they were scheming.

(12:102)

And most men — though thou be desirous — are not believers.

(12:103)

And thou askest not of them for it any reward; it is only a reminder to all mankind.

(12:104)

And how many a proof is there in the heavens and the earth which they pass by, and from which they turn away!

(12:105)

And most of them believe not in God save as idolaters.

(12:106)

Do they then feel secure against an enveloping of the punishment of God coming upon them, or the Hour coming upon them unexpectedly when they perceive not?

(12:107)

Say thou: “This is my path. I invite to God with insight — I and whoso follows me. And glory be to God! And I am not of the idolaters.”

(12:108)

And We sent before thee only men to whom We revealed from among the people of the cities. (So have they not travelled in the earth and seen how was the final outcome of those who were before them? And the abode of the Hereafter is best for those who are in prudent fear; will you then not use reason!)

(12:109)

When the messengers had despaired and thought that they had been denied, there came to them Our help and who We willed was delivered. And repulsed not is Our wrath from the lawbreaking people.

(12:110)

There is in their story a lesson for men of understanding; it is not an invented narrative but a confirmation of what is before it, and an exposition of every thing, and guidance, and a mercy for people who believe.

(12:111)

1. See my three main works: https://quranite.com.

2. I outlined my intentions in an abstract titled The Qur'an & Earlier Writings: Abstract for research project treating of the Qur'an vis-à-vis earlier writings which I posted on my Substack in mid-January, 2024. I have since removed both this and the stock of previous scriptures I had amassed and placed in a subdomain of quranite.com as in consequence of reassessing the assumptions with which I went into this subject.

3. See the note above. Since the conclusions which this study led to require a broader, more ‘transcendent’ appreciation than I anticipated, the need for endless analysis and textual comparison has fallen away.

4. I appreciate that data is the plural of datum, but since modern usage is what it is, I prefer to treat data as a singular noun.

5. Moreover, I have reached the limits of what I wish to expend myself on in such terms. Having demonstrated the points which The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation, The God Protocol, and The Mysterious Letters of the Qur’an: A Complete Solution comprise, my sense is that I have reached the limit of what analysis of this kind may usefully contribute. More generally, my own path and interests lead me in the direction of what might be termed Intellection, and this is not something one can demonstrate in terms which mean much to Moderns, and can mean nothing to democratised mass man. As I move past that phase of my work which produced the three books listed above, my view increasingly is that faith, in order to be lived, must be experiential. And while this is my focus as a believer, it is not something I am able to communicate or to transmit. There have been men in the past who were qualified to do so and, I must allow, a very few may remain with us today. But I am not one of them. I have always regarded myself primarily as a student. I have been a teacher to the extent of my ability to demonstrate how I learn; I have made public my own processes of due diligence upon the Qur’an, my publications and researches to date being the direct function of those. I do not consider myself qualified to impart to others either the methods or insights connected with any voyage on the ‘non-analytical’ seas to which my analytical work has ultimately brought me. I would also argue (the reasons for which should become clear as this essay progresses) that transcendent insights are of diminishing accessibility a priori as a function of that point in cosmological time in which we are living. They are certainly not something I would wish to place in further jeopardy by casting pearls of this order, in whatever measure they respond to my entreaties, before a general audience — especially at this time. I can, however, direct those with a capacity for appreciation on the plane about which I speak to the works of those I mention later in this essay.

6. This is not a wholesale endorsement of any of these men. I do, however, ask that if the reader finds the shift in my emphasis and mode of explication unfamiliar or unsettling, that he not place the blame for those I critique. Their writings enabled me to maintain the course of my pilgrimage in an increasingly sterile and delusional world, and I am profoundly grateful to have encountered their writings.

7. Both in the abstract on the basis of which I began this project, and in one or two videos on YouTube.

8. What I have to say here is no substitute for reading their works first-hand, and perhaps some biographies and assessments by others. On a more ‘profane’ plane I would add Oswald Spengler, Francis P. Yockey, Theodore John Kaczynski. I would place the two principal works of Jacques Ellul at a mid-point between these two categories.

9. See The Crisis of the Modern World and The Reign of Quantity & Signs of the Times by René Guénon, Revolt Against the Modern World, Ride the Tiger: A Survival Manual for the Aristocrats of the Soul, and Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist by Julius Evola as well as The Technological Society and Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes by Jacques Ellul. Ellul writes on page 39 of Propaganda ‘It seems to us that there are four great collective sociological presuppositions in the modern world. By this we mean not only the Western world, but all the world that shares a modern technology and is structured into nations[…]. These common presuppositions of bourgeois and proletarian are that man’s aim in life is happiness, that man is naturally good, that history develops in endless progress, and that everything is matter.’ (Ellul’s Propaganda was first published in 1965.) I would argue that the ‘bourgeois and proletarian’ (although vaishya and sudra — or even infra-vaishya and infra-sudra — better express it) are, in essence, all that remains among human stocks, the elites themselves being indistinct from those they rule in terms of essential qualities, but only by virtue of being the most rapacious, relentless and demonic instances of those they dominate.

10. While Moderns are conditioned to regard Capitalism on the one hand and Socialism on the other, or so-called Liberal Democracies of the West on the one hand and Putin’s Russia on the other as dichotomies, they are not. While they exhibit some minor differences they are agreed upon all essentials. All modern societies function on the basis of the solipsism, materialism, assumed ‘progress’, and humanism which comprise the pillars of Ellul’s Technique; they have no alternative. Those countries which do not actively and successfully embrace Technique (i.e. modernise) are inevitably absorbed and destroyed by those which do (the American Indians provide but one example). Meanwhile, those which actively and successfully embrace Technique will eventually be destroyed by Technique itself (I recommend Ted Kaczynski in this latter regard). A genuine dichotomy, however, exists between Technique on the one hand and tradition on the other; but, as I have said, tradition cannot survive — and has not survived in any meaningful way, a few smatterings of local colour notwithstanding — Technique.

11. The reader should understand that Guénon, Evola and Schuon abjured the democratic impetus, being aristocrats of the soul, men whose inclination in all things was towards quality, not quantity. The typical Modern is so demoralised that he requires a fundamental rewiring even to grasp either what such distinctions are or how far he has fallen by being separated from objective measures of quality.

12. Again, see Jacques Ellul’s The Technological Society and Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes.

13. I also highly recommend his The Crisis of the Modern World in this regard.

14. A manvantara, in Hindu cosmology, is a cyclic period of time.

15. Or perennial wisdom.

16. I would argue that had Guénon lived long enough to read Ellul’s main works in this regard, The Technological Society and Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes, he would have seen more practically why such hope was misplaced from the outset.

17. Namely, by means of the coalescence of an active and influential spiritual elite around those transcendent truths which underpin and provide the ‘sap’ to the trees of all valid exoteric forms (i.e. what the communality or laity think of as religions)

18. Works by Julius Evola which I recommend in this regard include: Revolt Against the Modern World, Ride the Tiger: A Survival Manual for the Aristocrats of the Soul, Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist, and Metaphysics of War.

19. First published in 1957. T.S. Elliot wrote of it: “I have met with no more impressive work in the comparative study of Oriental and Occidental religions.”

20. I am referring primarily to the West’s spectacular embrace of its own cultural and genetic demise; its normalisation of sexual deviancy; its cult of solipsism; its rash of delusion and detachment from even obvious norms and practical realities. All of this has been, to some degree, a correlate of the roll-out of Internet technologies (which, themselves, are expressive of the same telluric processes I am describing more generally here). While those countries outside the so-called Collective West look on in horror and bemusement at what the West is doing to itself, the fact is that they are also part of ‘the West’ and, therefore, necessarily on the same trajectory. Delusion, mediocrity and ignorance are where the Technique conveyer belt goes; the fact that the more ‘backwards’ a country is in terms of Technique, the less delusional it is does nothing to mitigate that fact.

21. In short, the ‘thesis of hope’ as postulated by Guénon and attempted by Schuon by which an elite might infuse the blinking, unthinking masses with something of the ‘sap’ which nourished the tress of the ancients should now be disregarded, our elites are themselves too blind, too ignorant, and too delusional. All that remains, then, is further intensification of those processes of involution, delusion and ignorance about which Guénon wrote, and which have been expedited since the 1960s (and which are entirely unrelated to what the ancients understood as the Real). See note above also.

22. I accept the potential existence of certain men of insight and possessed of access to the transcendent plane (as per Evola’s expectations), but I deny any possibility that such an upward movement is possible beyond individual cases. The societies themselves are in full collapse: they have either fallen over the cliff entirely and are hurtling towards the rocks (as in the case of the Collective West), or must eventually do (as in the case of the so-called Global South) as the engine of Technique draws them inexorably onwards and downwards.

23. The Technological Society and Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes, Jacques Ellul. I suggest reading both books and in this order to benefit from Ellul’s seminal analysis.

24. These comments, I hope, go some way to explaining why a catalogue of analysis comparing various snippets of text from this or that scripture with the Qur’an would not have served — no matter in what quantity and with what level of scrupulosity — to solve the actual question which informs this investigation, namely, how to understand the Qur’an with respect to earlier writings.

25. See my three works available at quranite.com, most particularly The God Protocol. All books are available free in pdf.

26. The translation of the Qur’an I use here is my own, available at https://quranite.com free as a pdf and for sale as in hardback, and as a free, searchable online utility at https://reader.quranite.com. That fact is not material to my analysis, and the reader is welcome to use any translation more to his liking). I am using the King James Version of the Bible.

27. Minor features notwithstanding (e.g. that the term Pharaoh occurs nowhere in the Qur’anic presentation of the story of Joseph or that in Genesis Pharaoh has two dreams while in the Qur’an he has one).

28. With the influx of cultural Muslims into a debauched and declining West, conflicts between deteriorating and degenerative forms of both Islam and Christianity are predictable and, one may assume, useful to the West’s debauched and declining elites. I am not much interested in the supposed ‘debates’ which result, seeing them as characteristic only of a world civilisation in an unstoppable and accelerating process of involution and decline.

29. Since he is dealing in the West with people for whom the concept of sola scriptura is current and accessible, in the heat of battle he tends to paint his entire stock of writings with a large brush of the same colour — or, at least, that is the effect.

30. See also 4:60, 4:136, 4:162, 5:59.

31. I accept that people of the book or people of the writ is what this term says; however, in terms of its usage on a pan-textual basis it is clear that the Qur’an is referencing those who read and claim to understand the book (i.e. a literate elite), not the scripturally illiterate masses pertaining to those peoples.

32. It is clear that this pertains in terms of archetype more broadly to any literate elite which practices such things. My argument against what I call brand Islam (i.e. a cherry-picked and cartoonish parody of a once-extant Islamic civilisation imported into the West where it is promoted by interests entirely antagonistic to Western civilisation in order to detonate what fragile supports are left to European peoples), exhibits precisely the same archetype in the persons of those who conflate for the uncritical and unwary scripture (i.e. the Qur’an) with their Talmud-like libraries of later accretions.

33. Potentially including those of earlier civilisations (for example, the Vedic), as well those to which we no longer have access.

34. See also 53:36-37.

35. And while one might have assumed an active curiosity in the sketches the Qur’an provides on the part of those who hold to other scriptures, such is rarely the case. This may, in part, be due to the fact that Muslims typically do not recognise the descriptions the Qur’an contains for what they are: outlines of previous scriptures.

36. The sum of what precedes contextualises the Islamic world’s default and rather hazy acceptance of what I will term, for want of a better word, the Bible. This has been leveraged to kettle Muslims into ideological traps to which, if they approached things from a greater height, they could simply deny validity or relevance. And while Christianity is now a parody and inversion of its root doctrines and, in its current condition, would be unrecognisable to Church Fathers, the putative Islamic religion — what I call brand Islam — is, for reasons I will touch on in due course is, likewise, essentially a dry husk. It is not a matter of taking sides; both conditions are features of the more fundamental and general collapse which is Kali-Yuga.

37. My experience, however, is that the strongest vitriol originates with Muslims who feel I am challenging long-held views. To them I would say that, while what follows in this segment may seem uncompromising or categorical, its central claims are plain enough and, once recognised, obvious.

38. See the final section of this essay.

39. I am oversimplifying, of course. To unpick the Gordian Knot of the totality of factions among those religions which claim the Bible as their own would require a separate study.

40. I am, naturally, presenting an extreme position. But this position is not only the only rational one given a plain reading of the text, it is expressed in the actions of powerful Jews over millennia.

41. To argue the same case from an alternative approach: if one were to show Genesis 37-50 to a selection of Chinese people with no cultural preparation or explanation, and ask them what they make of the total narrative, I am confident that they would understand the moral payload in terms closer to that which I ascribe to Jews than that which I ascribe to Christians.

42. To say ‘to have objective reality’ is, strictly speaking, incorrect. As understood in the terms I have in view, the esoteric is the Real. But to trouble oneself over these types of distinctions is beyond the remit of this essay.

43. I use the word usurper since the idea that Jews on the one hand and Hebrews or Israelites on the other have much, if anything, in common is — while a highly effective and persistent contemporary myth — difficult to sustain on an objective basis. The Jews of today are a ‘mixed multitude’ (to use the Biblical nomenclature), mainly of Edomite and Turkic-Khazarian origins with some European, Arab and Judahite elements. However, my view is that those who — to use modern parlance — ‘identify’ as Jews (by which is meant descendants of Abraham via Moses), are addressed in the Qur’an by those terms to which they lay claim (see my article The Children of Israel in the Qur'an).

44. While it may be going too far to claim that Joseph’s ‘moral victory’ anticipates the rise to dominance of Jewish banking families over the ruling houses of Europe and America, the unerring regularity with which those who today claim the Hebrew Bible and its version of Joseph’s story as their foundational scripture have exhibited comparable characteristics is a fact of history. I do not deny, in principle, the possibility, at least historically, of the existence of prisms of exaltedness via which the story of Joseph in the Bible has been read by Jews as a means of accessing transcendent values. That much granted, the fact remains that such perceptions must strictly be esoteric and, if they can be accessed at all, then only by scholars and those initiated into rarified strata of learning. Moreover, even if one is to allow that Genesis 37-50 may be read by learned men of the tradition now termed Judaism in terms which by virtue of their erudition and access to subtle, rarified materials and perceptions may result in virtuous outcomes, I categorically reject the notion that such readings are available to the rank and file, or that they emerge naturally from the text. In this regard, I note that it is to the dominant modern vaishya (merchant) caste which the materially- and worldly-minded Jew pertains, a caste to which higher knowledge and esoteric access are closed. Therefore, while the text may admit of esoteric readings, that is not how it is, in fact, read and understood by those who act most visibly upon its teachings.

45. I do not use this word to shock; rather, I assume an audience possessed of at least a nodding acquaintance with ideas available beyond the confines of today’s mercantile, pusillanimous journalism or the factory of uselessness and debt which is academia.

46. I am referring, of course, to Revelation 13:4. The full verse is as follows: And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? (Revelation 13:4, KJV).

47. It is a feature of a Satanic system that its demands never cease. It is never satisfied; today it is a pound of flesh, but tomorrow it will be more.

48. I recommend Julius Evola’s work in this regard, particularly his Men Among the Ruins: Post-War Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist and Ride the Tiger: A Survival Manual for the Aristocrats of the Soul. Evola was, in my view, of the three men I introduce at some length in this essay, the most practical and realistic in this area: essentially, a rear-guard action of individual effort is all that remains to a traditional man at this time.

49. In my broader work I decry what I call brand Islam. What I mean by this term is an imitation, or parody, of a once-valid religion as brought into the West as part of that Marxist agenda which promotes Leftism, LGBTQ+, women’s ‘rights’, the destruction of the family, the destruction of distinctions between races and castes, etc. Largely brand Islam is funded by the same organisations as fund the other movements listed, and it tends to attract well-meaning but insipid thinkers as its foot soldiers, the more intelligent among whom abandon it once they grasp its actual — as opposed to claimed — orientation. One may correctly regard the various currents of modern Christianity in the same way, with exceptions possible in some aspects of Catholicism (lamentably, as of the time of writing, one must exclude the Pope as a genuine Catholic), and non-mainstream aspects of the Orthodox Church.

50. And that of Guénon, Evola, and Schuon, among others.

51. The Hebrew Bible identifies the same epoch as the feet of the great image in the King’s dream: Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay (Daniel 2:31-33, KJV).

52. Again, I highly recommend The Reign of Quantity & the Signs of the Times by René Guénon.

53. We remember the analogous case in which Moderns’ grip on subtext is weakening and can be expected eventually to be lost entirely.

54. As we saw above, the ‘thesis of hope’ expressed by Guénon and acted upon by Schuon has crashed on the rocks of the facts of time. It could, it is reasonable to conclude, have done nothing else given the principles of the Kali-Yuga which Guénon himself fully recognised.

55. Again, I accept individual instances of Intellection, but this does nothing to infuse a society, rather is an example of why I think Evola was more realistic then Guénon in this regard.

56. Again, more than in individual instances of Intellection. It would be impossible to impart or ‘prove’ such instances and thereby to infuse a society. That rôle attaches to an elite, and we have seen what is their condition already.