Part 84

of the land! Veril y, he has an old fat her (who will gri eve fb I'

hi m); so tak e ail e o f us in hi s place. Ind eed we th in k that you

are one of th e Mullsinooll (those w ho do good)." I-Ie sa id.

"A llah fb rb id that we should ta ke a nyon e but him with whom

we fbund ollr prope rt y. Ind eed (if we did so), we shoul d be

ZolilllOOIl (wrongdoers):' ) (SoO/'oll )'oosl!f' 12:78). That is, if

we let the acc used go free and took an innocenl person. Thi s is

somethin g lilal we would not do and we woul d not penni! it to

be done. We will only take the perso n in whose possess ion we

He, Most Hi gh, says, ( So, when th ey des paircd o f him , th ey

held a con fe rence in priva te. The eldest among them said.

" Know you not that you r fath er did ta ke an oath fro l11 you in

Alla h 's Name, and before thi s you did fa il in your duty with

Yoos ur? There fb re I will not lea ve thi s b nd until my fat her

permits me, or Allah dec ides Illy case and He is the 8 est o f

the judges. Return 10 your fath er and say, "0, our father!

Ve ril y, yo ur son (8in ymncc n) has stole n, and we tes ti fy 110t

except according to whal we know, and we cou ld nO! know

, Melllioll oflhe ProgellY of Ibraheem 371

the unseen! A nd ask (the peopl e of) the town whe re we have

been, and the cara V<l 11 in whi ch we returned. and indeed we arc

tell ing the trut h." I-I e (Va 'qoob) sa id , " Nay, b ut yo ur oW llsc lves

ha ve beg uil ed you into so mething. So patience is most fitt ing

(for me). May be Allah wi ll b: ing the m all (back) 10 111e. Truly.

, He, only J-Ie is A llKnowin g, Most Wise." A nd he turned away

from them a nd sai d , " A las, my gri e f for Yoosur l !" A nd he lost

his sight because or th e sorrow he was supp ressing. Th ey sa id.

" By A ll ah! You wi ll never cease remembering Ycosuf until you

become weak w ith o ld age, or until yo u be of the dead ." He

sai d, "1 onl y co mpl ain of my grief and sorrow to Allah , and I

know from A ll ah th aI whi ch YOLI know no t. "0, my so ns ! Go

you and inquire a boul Yoosuf and hi s brolhe r, a nd neve r give

up hope o r A ll ah's Mercy, Certai nly no one despai rs o f A ll ah's

Mercy, except the people who di sbeli eve." ) (Som"all Yoosllf

A llah, Mosl High, infonn s us about them, saying that whe n

they despaired of taking Bi ll yameell from Yoosuf ~ , they

bega n to wh isper to one anot her in pri va te. ( Th e e ldest among

them said , ) - that was Roobeel ( "K now you no t that your

fath er di d ta ke an oalh from you in A lla h's Na me " ," ) . T hat is,

you have broken your oath to him a nd you have been negli gent

with him (i.e. Binymnee n) as you were fo nnerly negligent with

hi s brother, Yoosuf. Now I C11 nnot face him . ("There fore I w ill

not leave thi s land .,, " ) . Th at is, ) wi ll contin ue to stay here

( " until my fa th er permits l11e . , .. · ) , That is, to come 10 him

( "or A llah dec ides my case ., ," ) . That is, )-Ie e nables me to

sec ure my brother's relUrn to my father. ( A nd He is th e Bes t

of the j udges. Return to your father and say. " 0 , our fa ther!

Verily, your son (Bcnj am in) has stole n.,. T hat is, infonll

him of what you ha ve seen orlhe matter with your own cyes. (

"A nd we testify no t except acco rd ing 10 what we know, and we

could not know the ull seen! And as k (the peo ple of) th e tow n

where wc have bee n, and the ca ravan in whic h we returned." ) .

That is, what we have told you about them sc izing our brother

because he had cOlllmitted an act of th eft is a matter which has

become wide ly known in Egyp t and the peopl e of the ca ravan

in which we returned know about it, because they we re th ere.

( "A nd indeed we arc tell ing the truth. " !-I e (Ya' qoob) said ,

"Nay, but yo ur oWllselvcs have begu ilcd you into so mcth ing.

So pa tience is most fi lling." ) . That is, the matte r is not as you

have described; he did not stea l, because it is IlOt in hi s nature

to do so. It is onl y your own se lves th at ha ve sed uced you into

believ in g so mething (that is not true) , so pat ienee is the most

Then he said , ( "May be All ah wi ll bring them all (back)

to me." ) . ThaI is, Yoosuf :'Ml, Bin yameen and Roobee!. (

''Tru ly, l Ie, only l Ie is All-know ing." ) . That is, rega rding my

situation and the separa ti on that I am endur ing from my loved

ones. ( " Most Wise." ) . That is, in all lh at He ordains and all

that He does; and I-li s is th e most far-reaching Wi sdom and

the irrefutable evidence. ( And he turned away from them ) . 1

That is, Ya ' qoob ~ turned away from hi s sons. ( And said,

"Alas, my grief fo r Yoosuf1" ) This new grief reminded him of

hi s fonner grief and resurfaced that wh ich had been lat.ent, as

Let YOllr heart rOLlI. 1 wherever YOlt wish j ar the sake oj love,

But (true) love is only jar the first love.

And someone else sa id,

My companion censured me Jar weeping at tile graves,

For the tears tho/welled lip Qnd spilt/orlll,

MellfirJII tile Progel/y (~r Ihl'alleell/ 373

And he said, "Do YOII weep for evel), gra ve Ihal YO II see?

For a grave which consists of layers afsand?"

I said fa him. "flerily. grief evokes grief so leave me,

For al/ of rhis is fh e grave of Malik. ,.

He, Most High, says, ( And hi s eyes became whi te because

of the so rrow. ) That is, he beca me bl ind due to excess ive

weeping ( that he was suppressing. ) That is, the extreme grief,

sorrow and long ing that he was feelin g for Yoo s uf ~ . Whe n

his sons observed the e motiona l upset and the pain of be ing

paned (from Yoosuf and Binya mccn) th at he was sufferin g, (

they sa id ) 10 hi m in tones o f compass ion, pi ty and cOllcem for

hi m, ( "By All ah! YOll will never ce<lse rl.!!11embcring Yoosuf

until YOll becom e weak w ith old age. or unti l YOll be o f the

dead." ) T hat is, YO ll wi ll cont inu c 10 re me mber him until your

body bccomes wenk and your strength de parts, so if you take

care o r yourse lf, il will be beller for you. ( He sa id. " I on ly

complain of my grief and sorrow 10 Alla h. and I know frol11

Allah that which you know not.·· ) (SOOl'"'' Yoos uf I2:86). Th at

is, I do not complai n to you or to an yon e among the peop le

about my s ituation ; I only co mpl ain 10 Allah, the A lmi ghty, the

A ll-Powe rful , and I know th at He w ill make a release and an

escape fo r me fro m the situati on that I am in. I also know that

Yoosuf's vision Illu st be fulfill cd and th at yo u and I wi ll find no

a lternat ive to prostrating to him , as he saw. Thi s is why he said ,

( "and I know from A llah that which you know not." Then he

sa id to th em, in order to inci te them 10 find Yoos uf ~ and his

brother, th at they should go and inquire about th e matte r: ( "0.

my sons! Go you and inquire about Yoos ufand his brother. and

never give lip hope of Allah's Mercy. Certainly no one despairs

of Allah '5 Mercy, except th e people who disbel ieve:' ) (Soorab

I Yoosuj' 12:87 ). That is, do not dcs pair o f attai ning re li ef after

hard ship, beca usc no one despairs o f A ll ah's Mercy rand Relief

374 ,\ felllioll of fhe Pro~eJl.l' of fhmheem ....c=.

and the release frol11 adversit y th at I-Ie ca n ordain, excep t the

disbel iev ing peopl e_

I-Ie, Mo st High, says, ( Then, when they entered unto him

(Yoosuf), thcy s<li d. "0. ru ler ofl he land! A hard ti me has hit li S

and our fam ily. nnd we have brought bu t poor capi tal. so pay li S

ful l mcasure and bc charitable to us. Trul y, Allah docs reward

the charitable." l ie sa id, " Do YOll know what YO li did with

Yoos uf and his brother, when YOli were ignora nt?" T hey sa id,

"Are you indeed Yoosur?" li e said, ';\ am Yoosuf, and thi s is

my brother (Binyall1ccn). A ll ah has indced bee n Grac iolls to us.