Was Hz. Yaqub’s love toward Hz. Yusuf real love?

The Details of the Question

- In what texts and books of his does Imam Rabbani states that Hz. Yaqub’s love toward Hz. Yusuf is real love? Will you mention them?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

- Imam Rabbani, who explains Hz. Yaqub’s (Jacob’s) love toward Hz. Yusuf (Joseph) narrates the difference between worldly beauty and otherworldly beauty in about 13 pages. (see Mektubat (Turkish), 512. Mektup, Mektubat (Arabic), 3/383/ 100. Mektup)

The subject of the letter is the summary of it: Discovering the secret of the love of the Prophet Yaqub toward the Prophet Yusuf

He explains the difference between worldly beauty and otherworldly beauty in the letter and emphasizes that Hz. Yusuf’s beauty was of an otherworldly kind.

- Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states that he does not regard that interpretation appropriate as follows:

“My master, Imam Rabbani, did not consider worldly love to be altogether fitting for the rank of prophethood and therefore said: ‘Joseph’s virtues pertained to the hereafter, so love for him was not of a worldly kind that it should have been defective.

But I say: ‘Master! That is an artificial interpretation, the truth of the matter must be this: Jacob’s was not love but a degree of compassion a hundred times more brilliant, more extensive, and more elevated than love.’ Yes, in all its varieties, compassion is subtle and pure, while many sorts of love and passion may not be condescended to.” (Nursi, Mektubat, 31)

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