Surah Yusuf (12): Read Online and Download - English Translation

The response of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) appears in verse 79 قَالَ مَعَاذَ اللَّـهِ أَن نَّأْخُذَ إِلَّا مَن وَجَدْنَا مَتَاعَنَا عِندَهُ إِنَّا إِذًا لَّظَالِمُونَ that is, he gave his reply to their request according to the regulations followed in his country by telling them that they were not authorized to detain anyone they wished. In fact, if they were to arrest someone other than the person from whose possession the lost property has been recovered, then, according to their own fatwa and ruling, they would be accused of being unjust.

The reason he gave was that they had themselves said that ` he, in whose baggage the stolen property is found, shall himself be the punishment.'

In verse 80, it was said: فَلَمَّا اسْتَيْأَسُوا مِنْهُ خَلَصُوا نَجِيًّا (So when they lost hope in him, they went aside for consultation).

After that, the primary statement of the oldest brother which begins with the words: قَالَ كَبِيرُ‌هُمْ (The oldest of them said) is continued till the end of verse 80. The statement was: "Do you not know that your father had taken pledge from you in the name of Allah, while you had defaulted earlier in the case of Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . So, I shall never leave this land unless my father permits me (to return) or Allah decides about me. And He is the best of all judges."

This is the statement of the oldest brother. Some commentators identify him as being Yahuda (Judah) - and he was, though not the oldest in age, but was certainly the eldest in knowledge and merit. Other commentators say that he is Ruebel (Rueben) who is the oldest in age and he was the one who had suggested that Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) should not be killed. Still others have said that this oldest brother was Sham un who was known to be the eldest in power and rank.

Then, in verse 81, it was said: ارْ‌جِعُوا إِلَىٰ أَبِيكُمْ , that is, the oldest brother said: I am going to stay here. You all go back to your father and tell him that his son has committed a theft, and that whatever we are saying is what we have seen with our own eyes, and that the stolen property was recovered from his baggage before us.

As for the last sentence of verse 81: وَمَا كُنَّا لِلْغَيْبِ حَافِظِينَ (and we could not guard against the unseen), it means that ` the pledge we had given to you to bring back Benyamin definitely was given in terms of outwardly visible circumstances. We did not know what we did not see and control - thus how could we know that he would steal and be arrested for it leaving us helpless in this matter.' The sentence could also mean that ` we did our best to keep Benyamin protected seeing that he does nothing which would put him in trouble. But, this effort of ours could be within the limits of our outwardly visible circumstances. That this thing would happen to him, in absence of our vigilance and knowledge, was something we did not know about.'

Since the brothers of Yusuf (علیہ السلام) had deceived their father earlier, and knew that their father would never be satisfied with their statement mentioned above, and he would never believe in what they would tell him, therefore, for additional emphasis, they said: `(and if you do not believe us), you can check with the people of the town in which we have been (that is, the city in Egypt). And you can also check with the caravan which has come from Egypt to Canaan with us. And we are true in what we are saying.'

At this point, the question - why would Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) bear by such a heartless treatment with his father - reappears in Tafsir Mazhari. This question has also been taken up earlier in our comments on this Surah where it has been said that it was surprising that Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) did not tell his father about himself, then detained his brother too, then his brothers made repeated visits to Egypt and he never told them about himself nor sent some message to his father. Tafsir Mazhari answers all these doubts by saying:

اِنَّہُ عَمِلَ ذٰلِکَ بِامرِ اللہِ تَعَالٰی لِیَزِیدَ فِی بِلآءِ یَعقُوبَ

That is, Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) did that with the command of Allah Ta` ala so that (the cycle of) the test and trial of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) reaches its completion.

Rules and Principles

1. The statement: وَمَا شَهِدْنَا إِلَّا بِمَا عَلِمْنَا (and we do not testify except what we know) appearing in verse 82 proves that human transactions and contracts are based on apparently known circumstances. They do not cover things which no one knows. The pledge to protect Benyamin which the brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) had given to their father was relat-ed to things which were in their control. As for the incident that he was accused of theft and arrested for it, it was a different matter which does not affect the pledge as such.

2. Deduced from the same verse, there is another ruling which appears in Tafsir al-Qurtubi. It says: This sentence proves that testimony depends on knowledge. No matter how this knowledge is acquired, testimony can be given in accordance with it. Therefore, the way an event can be testified by having seen it with one's own eyes, similarly, it can be testified by having heard it from someone reliable and worthy of trust - subject to the condition that he does not conceal the truth of the matter, instead, states plainly that he has not seen it personally but has heard it from such and such reliable person. It is on the basis of this principle that Maliki jurists have ruled the testimony of a blind person as permissible.

3. The present verses also prove that should a person be true, right and proper, but the situation is such that others may suspect him to be otherwise, then, he must remove that shadow of doubt so that those who see him do not fall into the sin of (unwarranted) suspicion - as in this event relating to Benyamin, there came up an occasion of accusation and doubt because of a past event in the life of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . Therefore, in order to make things clear, the testimony of the people of the city, and the caravan, was presented in support.

The Holy Prophets ﷺ has, by his personal conduct, affirmed it positively. On his way back from his Masjid, when he was going through an alley with Ummul-Mu'minin, Sayyidah Safiyyah ؓ he noticed two persons appearing at the head of the alley. They were still at some distance, but the Holy Prophet told them that he was with Safiyyah hint Huyayy. They said: Ya Rasul Allah, can anyone have any suspicion about you? Then, he said: Yes, the shaitan keeps seeping through the human body, may be it drops a doubt in somebody's heart. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) [ Qurtubi ]

Commentary

After the detention of young Benyamin in Egypt, his brothers returned home and told Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) about what had happened there. They tried to assure him that they were telling the truth which can be confirmed from the people in Egypt, as well as, from the caravan they came with from Egypt to Canaan. From the later, he could also ascertain that Benyamin's theft was apprehended and he was arrested for it. Since Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) knew that they had lied to him earlier in the case of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ، therefore, he could not believe them this time too - though, in fact, this time they had told him no lie. And therefore, on this occasion as well, he said the same thing he had said at the time of the disappearance of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) : بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرً‌ا ۖ فَصَبْرٌ‌ جَمِيلٌ. ("Rather, your inner desires have seduced you to something. So, patience is best), that is, this statement of yours is not correct. You have made it up yourself. But, even now, it is patience I choose to observe. Only that would be the best for me.'

From this Al-Qurtubi has deduced: In whatever a Mujtahid says with his Ijtihad, there can be an error as well, so much so that it is possible that a prophet too, when he says something on the basis of his own Ijtihad, could make an error - though, only initially. This is what happened in this case when he declared the truth of his sons to be a lie. But, prophets have a special status and a personal exclusivity on the basis of which they are alerted over the mistake by the will of Allah, and removed away from it, and finally they find truth.

Here, it is also possible that by his comment about 'maneuvering something' mentioned above Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) intended to refer to what was made up in Egypt whereby Benyamin was arrested under a false charge of theft only to achieve a particular purpose, and the ultimate result of which was to unfold later in a better form. There may, as well, be a hint toward it in the next sentence of this verse where it is said: عَسَى اللَّـهُ أَن يَأْتِيَنِي بِهِمْ جَمِيعًا (Hopefully, Allah may bring them all together).

In short, the outcome of the refusal of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) to accept the statement of his sons this time was that there was no theft really, nor was Benyamin arrested, and the truth of the matter was to be found elsewhere. This was true in its place. But, whatever was said by his sons, as they knew it, was not wrong either.

Said in verse 84 was: وَتَوَلَّىٰ عَنْهُمْ وَقَالَ يَا أَسَفَىٰ عَلَىٰ يُوسُفَ وَابْيَضَّتْ عَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْحُزْنِ فَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ :` And he turned away from them and said, "How sad I am about Yusuf' and his eyes turned white with sorrow and he was suppressing (his anger and grief).' It means that, after this second shock, Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) closed this chapter of talking to his sons about this matter, and turned to his Lord with his plaint before Him as to how sad he was about Yusuf. at happened was that this constant crying at his separation from Yusuf (علیہ السلام) caused his eyes to turn white from sorrow. The sense is that he lost his eyesight, or it became very weak. Tafsir authority, Muqatil has said that this state of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) continued for six years when his eyesight had nearly gone. In the last sentence of the verse, it was said: فَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ which can be explained by saying that he became silent, speechless, unable to share his pain with anyone else. The word: كَظِيمٌ (kazim) has been derived from: کَظم (kazm) which means to be choked up or filled. Thus, the sense would be that his heart was all filled up with sorrow and his tongue was tied for he would not talk about his grief to anyone.

Therefore, the word: کَظم (kazm) is also taken in the sense of sup-pressing anger - in a way that anger, despite having one's heart filled with it, does not become the motivating factor of doing something, by word of mouth or movement of hand, as demanded by one's anger. It appears in Hadith:

وَ مَن یَّکظِمِ الغَیظَ یَاجُرہُ اللہُ

That is, ` whoever suppresses his anger (and does not act as it demands despite having the ability to do so), Allah will reward him.'

It is said in another Hadith that, on the day of Resurrection (Al-Hashr), Allah Ta` ala will bring such people before the whole multitude of people and would give them the option to take whichever of the blessings of Jannah (Paradise) they liked.

At this point, Imam Ibn Jarir has reported a Hadith according to which, at a time of distress, reciting or prompting to recite: إِنَّا لِلَّـهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَ‌اجِعُونَ (Inna lil-lahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun : To Allah we belong and to Him we are to return) is one of the distinguishing characteristics of this Ummah, and this Kalimah is highly effective in delivering one from the suffering of sorrow. We can understand why it has been called the distinguishing characteristic of the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ since Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) ، when choked with deadly sorrow and shock, did not say this Kalimah, instead, he said: (How sad I am about Yusuf). In his Shu` abul-'Iman, Al-Baihaqi has also reported this Hadith as based on a narration of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ .

Why Was Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) So Deeply Attached To

Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ?

At this stage, we notice that Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) had extraordinary love for Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . He was so affected by his disappearance that, during this whole period of his separation from him which has been reported to be forty years in some narrations while eighty in some others, he kept weeping continuously, so much so that he lost his eyesight. Apparently, this does not measure upto his spiritual majesty as a prophet that he would love his children so much and that much. On the other hand, the Holy Qur an says: إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ:` Your wealth and your children are a fitnah (trial) - 64:15.' And, as for the spiritual majesty of the noble prophets, may peace be upon them all, the Holy Qur’ an has this to say: إِنَّا أَخْلَصْنَاهُم بِخَالِصَةٍ ذِكْرَ‌ى الدَّارِ‌: that is, We have made them special to specialize in the remembrance of the Home (of 'Akhirah) - 38:46.' Malik ibn Dinar (رح) explains its meaning by saying that: We have taken out the love of dunya from their hearts and, in its place, We have filled their hearts with nothing but the love of Akhirah. Their only criterion, in taking or leaving something, is Akhirah.

From the sum-total of what has been said here, there rises a difficulty before us as to how could Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) allow himself to be so consumed with his love for Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) and how could that be explained as correct.

In his Tafsir (Mazhari), Qadi Thana'ullah Panipati (رح) has, with reference to this difficulty, reported a special research of Hadrat Mujaddid Alf Thani, the gist of which is that, no doubt, the love of dunya and its enjoyment is blameworthy. Categorical statements of the Qur’ an and Hadith prove that. But, the love of things of dunya which relate to 'Akhi-rah is, in reality, included under the love of 'Akhirah. The excellences of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) were not limited to his physical beauty alone. Also to be taken into account are his prophetic chastity and high morals. So, given an overall view, love for him was not the love of what wordly life has to offer. In fact and in reality, this was nothing but the love for rah itself.

In the comment quoted above, it is worth noticing that this love, though not the love of dunya really, yet it did have a certain worldly touch. For this reason, this love became the source of the trial and test of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) ، for which he had to undergo the unbearable shock of a forty-year separation from him. Then, the chains of this event, from the beginning to the end, show that things kept taking shape as determined by Allah Ta’ ala which made this shock stretch longer and longer. Otherwise, at the very start of the event, it would have not been possible for a father who loved his son so intensely that he would simply listen to what his other sons told him and elect to keep sitting home and not do anything about it. In fact, if he had immediately visited the site of the incident and made necessary inquiries and investigations, he would have known the truth of the matter on the spot. But, things happened in a way as Allah would have them, so it just did not occur to him. After that, Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was stopped, through revelation, from sending to his father any news about himself - to the limit that he took no initiative in this direction even after his ascension to power in Egypt. Then, more trying were events which happened concerning the repeated visits of his brothers to Egypt. Even at that time, he said nothing to his brothers about himself, nor did he try to send some note of information to his father. Instead of doing all that, he detained yet another brother through a secret plan, thus inflicting yet another shock on his father. All these actions cannot possibly issue forth from a great prophet such as Sayyidna Yusuf unless and until he had not been prohibited from doing so through the medium of Wahy (revelation). Therefore, al-Qurtubi and other commentators have declared this entire range of actions taken by Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) as directly prompted by Divine revelation. The Qur’ anic statement: كَذَٰلِكَ كِدْنَا لِيُوسُفَ (This is how We planned for Yusuf -76) also indicates in this directon. Allah knows best.

When the sons of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) saw the extreme suffering and patience of their father, they said: قَالُوا تَاللَّـهِ تَفْتَأُ تَذْكُرُ‌ يُوسُفَ (By God, you will not stop remembering Yusuf ...), meaning thereby that every shock ends, after all, and so does every sorrow. The passage of days in life makes one forget them. But, he continues to be where he was, even after the passage of such a long time with his sorrow being as fresh as when it came.

After hearing the concern of his sons, Sayyidna Ya'qub (علیہ السلام) said: إِنَّمَا أَشْكُو بَثِّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللَّـهِ that is, ` I complain of my anguish and sorrow, not to you, or to anyone else, but to Allah jalla thana'uh Himself. Therefore, leave me alone as I am.' And, along with what he said, he also indicated that ` this remembrance of his will not go to waste for he knew from Allah Ta` ala what they did not know - that he has been promised by Him that He would bring them all together with him.'