In 12:43-57 Yusuf predicted a period of hardship and hunger that would eventually come to an end and which the nation would overcome should it prepare itself following his advise. The end of that difficult period is described as
12:49"a year in which the people YUGHATH and in which they shall press".
YUGHATH has 2 potential roots gh-y-th and gh-w-th. It primarily implies a sense of help or deliverance, that could be defined and ascertained from the context. For example in 18:29 it says, speaking of the desperation of the hell dwellers
"if YASTAGHITHU/they ask for relief, YUGHATHU/they will be relieved bimain/with water, like melted brass".
YUGHATH is here used twice and shows that the effect of someone being "yughath" or relieved may include through water but not necessarily. In 8:9 the effect of when the believers tastaghithuna/asked for relief was that God answered by sending thousands of angels. Similar usage is found in 28:15,46:17.
So how did the people yughath in that year of relief? It could have been through water from direct rain, in ancient Egypt rainfall was not very rare and in fact the rulers took measures to protect their archaeological structures from damage due to the occasional heavy downpours. It could have also been through the water of the Nile. Egypt's agriculture up to this day and more so in ancient times, is and was heavily dependent on the Nile's swelling, flooding and fertilizing of farming areas. Obviously without rain upstream and in the high plateaux there would be no swelling of rivers downstream and ultimately of the Nile to allow the inundation of farming areas, their fertilization and irrigation. So the relief could also be referring to water from indirect rainfall.
The period of relief and abundance will be such that, according to Yusuf's interpretation of the king's dream, they will eventually be able to press. This suggests that the conditions would be favorable to allow enough time for planting, growing and harvesting crops, then finally press them. This particular detail and its mention to the king is very much in line with the historical importance of pressing wine and oil particularly to the royalty and for religious purposes in ancient Egypt.
That remarkable detail offered in the Quran is absent from the Biblical account, showing how as usual the subtle differences between the 2 scriptures are loaded with meaning and are certainly not insignificant. As a side note, one presses grapes to get wine. When 12:36 says "pressing wine" there is no misunderstanding that it is speaking of the end result of a process, just as one would speak of "building a house" while raising one of the walls.
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