ABSTRACT
Yūsuf (2) (Ar.) The title of the 12th sura of the Qur'ān; Yūsuf is a proper name, the Arabic for Joseph. The sura belongs mainly to the late Meccan period and contains 111 verses. It takes its title from the entire sura which, as the longest piece of extended narrative in the whole Qur'ān, gives the story of Yūsuf. The latter, who bears the title of al-Siddīq (q.v.), ranks as one of the prophets of the Qur'ān. The sura named after him (in which many of the leading characters apart from Yūsuf, incidentally, are unnamed) tells how Yūsuf relates his dream of eleven stars, the sun and the moon to his father, incurs the jealousy and wrath of his brothers and is eventually sold into Egypt. Here the wife of Qitfīr (q.v.), called Zulaykhā (q.v.), attempts to seduce him. Having been cast into prison, Yūsuf interprets the dreams of his fellow prisoners, and is eventually summoned by Pharaoh to interpret the latter's dreams. Pharaoh appoints Yūsuf to a position of power in Egypt and he deals, at first incognito, with his brothers who visit Egypt for food, eventually revealing himself to them. The sura moves towards its conclusion with Yūsuf taking his father and his mother in his arms, and placing them on the throne, and finally ends with a panegyric on God, thus tying up the didactic threads of the whole story. Noteworthy, from the literary point of view, in this sura are the function of the dream as
Zāb, Battle of the Greater
one of the motors which moves the story along, the motif of the garment, and the special knowledge possessed by Yūsuf which leads him to final power and freedom. For an excellent, and very readable, introduction to the Joseph story, see the article by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem entitled 'The Story of Joseph in the Qur'ān and the Old Testament' (See back of the Dictionary for full bibliographical details). (See also Fir'awn; al-Sā'a; Ya'qūb.)
Zāb, Battle of the Greater Major battle fought on the banks of the Greater Zāb River (a tributary of the Tigris) between the army of the last Umayyad caliph Marwān II (reg. 127/744-132/750) and 'Abbāsid rebels in 132/750. The 'Abbāsid army was commanded by 'Abd Allāh b. 'Ah, uncle of the first 'Abbāsid caliph al-Saffāh (q.v.). The Umayyad forces were defeated and Marwān fled to Syria; this defeat heralded the end of the Umayyads (q.v.) as a dynasty in the Middle East (though a branch survived to rule in Spain) and the rise of the ' Abbāsids as a major imperial power based on Baghdad (q.v.).
