Note 1: Surat Yusuf
Much excellent Sufi milage has been had from this surah and we won’t repeat it all. For example, it has been pointed out to us that
- According to ibn Arabi, the “false blood” placed on the garment of Yusuf by his brothers to deceive his father is the same “false” menstrual blood of the verses concerning the forbidding of the husband’s approach to the wife during her menses — and this distance being the “adha” (hurt) that is often mentioned in relation to disbelief. We make a further inference then that Yusuf’s journey is one of a cycle of reading (the Qur’an itself) that, during his time in slavery, is a distancing, but when he gains regency, one of marriage or approach. And that his journey proceeds through two such cycles (regency over the smaller house and then over all of Egypt) before reaching absolute regency. Continue reading »
