﴿ وَٱتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّةَ ءَابَآءِىٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَإِسْحَٰقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ ۚ مَا كَانَ لَنَآ أَن نُّشْرِكَ بِٱللَّهِ مِن شَىْءٍۢ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مِن فَضْلِ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ ﴾

“and I follow the creed of my forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is not conceivable that we should [be allowed to] ascribe divinity to aught beside God: this is [an outcome] of God's bounty unto us and unto all mankind -but most people are ungrateful.”

The young prisoners approached Joseph in order to know the interpretation of their dreams. The manner in which they put their questions to Joseph was a clear indication that they were impressed by his personality and relied on his opinion. This approach was natural in the case of a righteous and principled person like Joseph. Joseph, with his missionary spirit, immediately realised that this was the best opportunity to convey the message of truth to these youths. But, after hearing the interpretation of their dreams, their attention might have been diverted from Joseph. So he adopted a wise approach and delayed the interpretation for some time. Thereafter he talked to them briefly about the unity of God and, in view of the mentality of the addressees, he used superior reasoning to convey his message to them.