Sūra 12 is the best-known – and longest – sūra that tells a single story. Those who are familiar with the Joseph story from the Bible know its power to capture the imagination. Readers will naturally compare the biblical story with the details and the narrative style of Sūra 12. They may notice that the quranic version leaves out some of the important details from Genesis 37–50 and at the same time adds some details not found in the biblical account. For example, the sūra includes descriptions of Joseph’s desires and his awareness of the state of his soul. Before and after the story, the Quran makes a series of claims about the significance of its telling of the story. The beauty of the story and its recitation in Arabic are claimed as signs of divine origin, and the sūra seems to state that its author must be inspired, because he did not know the story before reciting it. Scholars have written extensively about the quranic story of Joseph and frequently observed the “elliptical,” “allusive,” and “referential” style of the story. That is, the story leaves out names and plot details that one might expect normally. The story offers many pronouns whose antecedents are not clearly identified. John Wansbrough went so far as to suggest that for readers who are not familiar with the biblical story, the quranic story would be unintelligible without commentary to fill in the gaps. Wansbrough further asked what this observation might mean for questions about the origins of the Quran. If the story only alludes or refers to the basic framework of the biblical story, this suggests that the listeners were already familiar with the story. If they were already familiar with the story, were the first listeners idolatrous Arabs in central Arabia?