Surah 12. Yusuf, Ayah 43

This king seems to have been one of the six Hyksos rulers who dominated Egypt from about 1700 to 1580 B.C., after having invaded the country from the east by way of the Sinai Peninsula. The name of this dynasty, which was undoubtedly of foreign origin, is derived from the Egyptian hiq shasu or heku shoswet, meaning "rulers of nomad lands", or - according to the late Egyptian historian Manetho - "shepherd kings": all of which points to their having been Arabs who, despite the fact that before their invasion of Egypt they were already well-established in Syria, had to a large extent preserved their bedouin mode of life. This would explain the confidence which the king mentioned in this story was later to place in Joseph, the Hebrew, and the subsequent settlement of the latter's family (and, thus, of what in due course became the Israelite nation) in Egypt: for it must be borne in mind that the Hebrews, too, descended from one of the many bedouin tribes who some centuries earlier had migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to Mesopotamia and later to Syria (cf. surah {7}, note [48]); and that the language of the Hyksos must have been very akin to Hebrew, which, after all, is but an ancient Arabian dialect.

 In the Bible (the Book of Genesis), this ruler is referred to as a pharaoh, while in the Quran he is referred to as a king. Typically, Egypt was ruled by pharaohs, but there existed a brief period in Egyptian history in which Egypt was ruled by the Hyksos invaders (1700-1550 B.C.E.). Hyksos rulers were called kings, not pharaohs. Joseph entered Egypt during the reign of the Hyksos, who used to appoint some foreigners to prominent positions in Egypt. According to The Jewish Encyclopedia, “Those who regard the Joseph stories as historical generally hold that the Pharaoh by whom Joseph was made the practical ruler of Egypt was one of the Hyksos kings.” "Joseph," The Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume VII (London: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1916), p. 252.

The Pharaoh is holding a Council. His confidential adviser the cup-bearer is present. The Pharaoh relates his double dream,-of seven fat kine being devoured by seven lean ones, and of seven fine full green ears of corn (presumably being devoured) by seven dry withered ears.