Yūsuf 12:43-44

"The king said: 'I see in a dream seven fat cows being eaten by seven lean ones; and seven green ears of grain and seven others dry. You notables! Give me a ruling on my dream, if you can interpret dreams.' They said: 'Confused dreams; and we are not versed in the interpretation of such dreams.'"

And the strongest verbal datum of the sūra begins here. Taʿburūn — root ع-ب-ر.

The root was analysed in detail at al-Ḥashr 59/2 (fa'ʿtabirū yā ūli'l-abṣār), and this very verse was cited there:

Root: ع-ب-ر. The concrete sense of the root is to pass from one side of a thing to the other. | Word | Meaning | What it crosses | |---|---|---| | عَبَرَ ٱلنَّهْرَ | He crossed the river | The water — from one bank to the other | | مَعْبَر (maʿbar) | Crossing, landing-place, bridge | The place where the crossing is made | | عَابِر سَبِيل | Traveller, passer-by | One who passes a place and goes on | | عَبْرَة (ʿabra) | A tear | The water that passes from the eye to the cheek | | تَعْبِير ٱلرُّءْيَا | Dream interpretation | To pass from the image to the meaning | | عِبَارَة (ʿibāra) | Expression, speech | What passes a meaning from mind to mind | | عِبْرَة (ʿibra) | Lesson | To pass from an event to oneself | "If you can interpret (تَعْبُرُونَ) dreams" (Yūsuf 12/43). The king relates the dream he saw and asks for an interpretation — that is, for a crossing from the image to the meaning.

I rely on that treatment. The root was also treated at al-Nāziʿāt 79/25-26 and al-Muʾminūn 23/21-22.

And in verse 111 the same root will come back in the form ʿibra; the sūra as a whole lies there. I shall complete this link at that point.

ضِغْث — the word was analysed at Ṣād 38/41-44:

ضِغْث — root ض-غ-ث. The lexicographers describe the word thus: a mixed bundle of grass, twigs or stalks, as much as one hand can grasp. A handful. In the root of the word there is a confusion and a being held together; from the same root comes aḍghāthu aḥlām — confused dreams (Yūsuf 12/44).

I rely on that treatment.

And the fit of the image to the scene is worth recording; I give it as my own reading: the word means a bundle of grass — and what is seen in the dream is ears of grain. The refusal itself is made with a word drawn from the same image as the material of the dream. I give this as an observation about the language; the verse does not make this connection.

And there is a change of word in the verse; it must be recorded:

The lexicographers record a difference between ruʾyā and ḥulm: ruʾyā is generally used of a meaningful vision, ḥulm of a confused and meaningless dream. The difference is not absolute, but in this verse the two are set against each other.

I record this as an observation: the king says "I saw"; the counsellors change the word in their answer. That is, the answer renames the subject of the question as well — something that cannot be known is declared meaningless.

وَمَا نَحْنُ بِتَأْوِيلِ ٱلْأَحْلَٰمِ بِعَٰلِمِين — and the admission is plain: they do not know.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the order of the two clauses: first "confused dreams" (a verdict), then "we do not know" (an admission). Had the order been reversed the sentence would have been a mere declaration of incapacity; in this order, the incapacity is covered over with a verdict.