Long, long ago in a far away place in Canaan, near Nablus, some thirty miles north of Jerusalem, lived a pious old man. His name was Yaqub. Yaqub was the grandson of the great prophet Ibrahim. He had twelve sons. Yusuf was the second youngest of them. From the very beginning his father was much impressed by this young, noble and gentle soul, for whom he saw a great and promising future. One day Yusuf who was a boy of keen intelligence and a kind nature, had an unusual dream, in which eleven stars and the sun and the moon, all bowed down to him.