وَمَا تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۚ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
Wa maa tas'aluhum 'alaihi min ajr; in huwa illaa zikrul lil'aalameen
You ask no reward from them for this: it is a reminder for all people
You ask no reward from them for it. It is nothing but a reminder to all the worlds.
The story of Yusuf has finished, and this line sets the terms on which it was handed over. Surah al-Shuʿarāʾ gives the same formula to five prophets in their own voices, each asking no wage and placing his wage with the Lord of al-ʿālamīn; here God says it of the Prophet, and the same word, al-ʿālamīn, names the audience of the reminder. A history of one family, told free of charge, is claimed for every kind of being.