12:99-100 So, when they entered in upon Joseph, he embraced his parents.... And he lifted his parents to the throne, and they fell prostrate before him.... "He acted beautifully toward me when He brought me out of prison and brought you from the desert after Satan had sowed dissension between me and my brothers. Surely my Lord is gentle toward what He will."
In going to Egypt, all were the same. But at the time of proximity and caresses, they were different, for he put his father and maternal aunt on the throne of generosity and singled them out for the companionship, nearness, and embrace, as the Exalted Lord says: "And he lifted his parents to the throne." But he brought his brothers down to the place of service: "And they fell prostrate before him." This is an allusion that tomorrow at the resurrection, all the faithful will be brought into paradise, both the disobedient who have been forgiven and the obedient who have been approved. Then those who were the folk of disobedience, the ones received by the Real's forgiveness, will be set down in paradise, and the folk of recognition will be singled out for the special favor of proximity and nearness. They will be brought to the Presence of At-ness: at an Omnipotent King [54:55].
The Pir of the Tariqah said, "The folk of service are one thing, the folk of companionship something else. The folk of service are prisoners of paradise, the folk of companionship commanders of paradise. The prisoners are in joy and bliss, and the commanders dwell in secret whispering with the Beneficent."
He acted beautifully toward me when He brought me out of prison. The beautiful-doer is not he who acts beautifully at the beginning. The beautiful-doer is he who acts beautifully after your disloyalty. Joseph saw the disloyalty of his own soul at first, when he sought refuge with the cup-bearer in prison and said, "Remember me to your lord" [12:42]. Then he saw that his deliverance from the prison was through the Real's bounty and generosity, and he counted that as beautiful-doing. He said, "He acted beautifully toward me when He brought me out of prison." Even though he had seen the trial of the well, he did not speak of it again, for he saw this trial as a blessing for him. In the well he had received the revelation of the Real, heard the message of the King, and seen Gabriel, the messenger of the Presence. God says, "We revealed to him, 'Thou shalt inform them'" [12:15]. So he counted the tribulation as a blessing and saw that the trial was bestowal itself. This is why he did not mention the trial of the well, but he did talk about the prison. He said, "God acted beautifully toward me, for I was worthy of blame, but He showed generosity toward me. He saw bad from me and had mercy through His own bounty, delivering me from the prison and, after separation, bringing me together with the honored ones. He did all that out of His own gentleness, servant-caressing, and loving kindness. Surely my Lord is gentle toward what He will. He is a Lord who through His own gentleness comes back to loyalty toward the hopeful and through His own generosity passes over the hidden things of the servants and sets their work aright in the two worlds."