The Quranic scene shifted to the king’s palace:

( وَقَالَ الْمَلِكُ...) ( And [subsequently] the king said…): As we know, this story of Yusuf (PBUH) took place is Egypt. This is deduced from Allah’s saying:

    وَقَالَ الَّذِي اشْتَرَاهُ مِن مِّصْرَ 

( And the one from Egypt who bought him said) (Yusuf: 21)

So, there was a king and a governor, who is the prime minister. But we know that the ancient rulers of Egypt were called Pharaohs. However, the Quran mentions here: (the king), because during the period when the Hyksos – who were herdsmen – ruled Egypt, there was no Pharaoh; instead, there was a king. This period, as confirmed by hieroglyphic inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone, corresponds to the time of Yusuf (PBUH). This is one of the great miracles of the Book of Allah (swt).

(… إِنِّي أَرَىٰ سَبْعَ بَقَرَاتٍ سِمَانٍ يَأْكُلُهُنَّ سَبْعٌ عِجَافٌ…) (…Indeed, I have seen [in a dream] seven fat cows being eaten by seven [that were] lean…): The king dreamt of seven plump cows being eaten by seven weak cows.

(… يَا أَيُّهَا الْمَلَأُ أَفْتُونِي فِي رُؤْيَايَ…) (…O eminent ones, explain to me my vision…): The events began with this dream. In reality, the king’s dream occurred during a time when dreams and their interpretations were frequent. Therefore, the king gathered the high-ranking officials and priests in an attempt to understand his dream.

(... إِن كُنتُمْ لِلرُّؤْيَا تَعْبُرُونَ ) (…  if you should interpret visions.):

The Arabic word of (interpret) literally means to cross a river from one bank to another. In this context, this word means to cross the symbols from imagination to reality.