The Iron in the Soul

by Kenneth Cragg

It does not take a detective to see that J-o-S-e-PH and Y-u-S-u-F are the same word and in the Bible (Genesis 37-46) and the Qur'an (Surah 12) the same person. Yusuf is unique in having a whole chapter to himself and bearing his name. It has features absent from Genesis, notably about Zulaika and her court women who found such fascinating beauty in him, which Islamic art and poetry have long celebrated. The deep significance, however, of Joseph/Yusuf is surely in the sequence from suffering victim to viceroy and provider in Egypt. The 'dreamer' came to mastery but only through a long story of adversity-the well, exile, prison and languishing forgotten there under a false charge. Through all, he held to a pattern of brave forbearance and magnanimity. There is no evidence of a will in him to resent, retaliate, revenge or resist his brothers, his ill-users or accusers. At every point we find him a paragon of the non-vindictive.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009