وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يَتَبَوَّأُ مِنْهَا حَيْثُ يَشَآءُ نُصِيبُ بِرَحْمَتِنَا مَن نَّشَآءُ وَلَا نُضِيعُ أَجْرَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ · وَلَأَجْرُ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَكَانُوا۟ يَتَّقُونَ
"Thus did We establish Joseph in that land; he settled in it wherever he wished. We cause Our mercy to reach whom We will, and We do not let the reward of those who do good go to waste. And the reward of the hereafter is better for those who believe and who guard themselves."
The sentence (wa-kadhālika makkannā li-Yūsufa fi'l-arḍ) is word for word the same as in verse 21, and I tabulated it there. The difference between the two verses lies in what follows:
| Verse | What follows | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Wa-li-nuʿallimahu min taʾwīli'l-aḥādīth | Teaching — bought as a slave |
| 56 | Yatabawwaʾu minhā ḥaythu yashāʾ | Freedom — he settles wherever he wishes |
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the wording of the two verses: the same verb (makkannā) is used twice; in the first the man has no room to move, in the second he is wherever he wishes. The text names both ends of "establishing" with the same word.
يَتَبَوَّأُ — root ب-و-أ, Form V: to take a place as one's own dwelling, to settle. Mubawwaʾ — a place of settlement.
And this sentence will be repeated word for word in verse 90 from Joseph's own mouth: fa-inna'llāha lā yuḍīʿu ajra'l-muḥsinīn.
وَلَأَجْرُ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ خَيْرٌ — and the block closes with a sentence that measures the position attained.
I record this as an observation about the structure: at this point in the sūra the worldly ascent is complete — and immediately a comparison is set beside it. The prayer in verse 101 will do the same work: with dominion in hand, what is asked for will be something else.