1. The Arabic word Quran “to read” is originally the infinitive form of the verb qara. When the infinitive form of a verb in Arabic is used as a name, it implies that that thing or person possesses the characteristics in their perfection. This Book has been named Quran to indicate that it is meant to be read by all and sundry and is to be read often and over and over again.
2. This does not mean that this Book has been sent down exclusively for the Arabs. What it means is only this: Of all the people, O Arabs, you should understand the excellence of the Quran, which is a sure proof of its being divine revelation, for it is in your own language and you have no excuse to put forward that it is in a foreign language which you do not understand.
Some people wrongly infer from this verse that this Book had been sent down for the Arabs and not for the non- Arabs; therefore, they assert, it cannot be claimed that it is the guidance for the whole mankind. But obviously this is a frivolous objection raised by those who do not understand its real significance. It is obvious that a book, though meant for universal guidance, will necessarily have to be put in words in some language so that the people speaking that language should understand its teachings and then become the means of conveying its guidance to other peoples. This is the only natural way of spreading the message of a movement on a universal scale.
3. This was to impress indirectly on the unbelievers of Makkah the fact that the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not know anything about the story of the settlement of the Israelites in Egypt, but was being informed of this by revelation from Allah. This introduction was necessary because, as has been stated in the preface to this Surah, the disbelievers had put an abrupt question concerning this matter in order to expose the Prophet (peace be upon him) by this test. The answer is to this effect: Tell them, O Muhammad (peace be upon him), that, though you did not know anything about the settlement of the Israelites in Egypt before this, you have now received a revelation about this from Us.
4. As the meanings of the dream were quite obvious, Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) had a genuine fear that Joseph’s ten step brothers would become all the more envious of him when they would hear this. So he warned his righteous son not to mention his dream to his brothers, for he knew that those sons of his did not bear the moral character worthy of the sons of a Prophet, and, therefore they were up to any evil design against him out of mere envy. As regards to the dream, the sun in it was Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him), the moon his wife, Prophet Joseph’s step mother, and the eleven stars were his eleven brothers.
5. That is, “Bless him with Prophethood.”
6. The Arabic words of the text do not mean merely “the interpretation of dreams”, as has been generally understood. They are comprehensive and imply also this: Allah will bless you with the full understanding of the problems of life and their solutions and will give you the insight to reach at the reality of every matter.
7. Here it should be noted that the response of Prophet Jacob to the dream of Prophet Joseph (peace be upon them), according to the Bible and the Talmud, was quite different from this: “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?” (Gen. 37: 10). Even a little thinking will help one to arrive at the conclusion that his reaction as narrated in the Quran is worthy of the high character of Prophet Jacob and not the one found in the Bible and the Talmud. For Prophet Joseph had not expressed any personal ambition of his but merely narrated his dream. If the dream was a true one, and it is obvious that Prophet Jacob interpreted it, believing it to be true, there was no reason why he should rebuke his own son, for it meant that it was the will of God and no his own ambition that he should one day rise to a high rank. Can then one expect from any reasonable person, not to mention a Prophet, that he would take it ill and rebuke the one who dreamed such a dream? And can there ever be such a noble father who would say bitter and stinging things to his own son for the sin of telling him a true dream, prophesying his future greatness?