71
قَالُوا۟ وَأَقْبَلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِم مَّاذَا تَفْقِدُونَ
They said while approaching them, "What is it you are missing?"
They said, after, coming towards them, ‘What is it that you are missing?’
Yusuf 12:71Listen in Qur'an →
سُورَةُ يُوسُفَ
Reading Tafsir al-Jalalayn (second English edition) by Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli & Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti
Ayahs 71–80 of 111
72
قَالُوا۟ نَفْقِدُ صُوَاعَ ٱلْمَلِكِ وَلِمَن جَآءَ بِهِۦ حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍۢ وَأَنَا۠ بِهِۦ زَعِيمٌۭ
They said, "We are missing the measure of the king. And for he who produces it is [the reward of] a camel's load, and I am responsible for it."
They said, ‘We are missing the king’s goblet, [his] cup. And he who brings it shall have a camel’s load, of food [supplies], and I will guarantee that’, the [camel’s] load.
Yusuf 12:72Listen in Qur'an →
73
قَالُوا۟ تَٱللَّهِ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتُم مَّا جِئْنَا لِنُفْسِدَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا كُنَّا سَٰرِقِينَ
They said, "By Allah, you have certainly known that we did not come to cause corruption in the land, and we have not been thieves."
They said, ‘By God,’ (ta’Llāhi is an oath, entailing astonishment) ‘You know very well that we did not come to work corruption in the land, and we are certainly not thieves’, that is, we have never stolen [anything].
Yusuf 12:73Listen in Qur'an →
74
قَالُوا۟ فَمَا جَزَٰٓؤُهُۥٓ إِن كُنتُمْ كَٰذِبِينَ
The accusers said, "Then what would be its recompense if you should be liars?"
They, the crier and his men, said, ‘So, what shall be his requital, that is, the thief’s, if you prove to have been liars?’, when you said, ‘we are certainly not thieves’, and [if] it is found among your belongings?
Yusuf 12:74Listen in Qur'an →
75
قَالُوا۟ جَزَٰٓؤُهُۥ مَن وُجِدَ فِى رَحْلِهِۦ فَهُوَ جَزَٰٓؤُهُۥ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
[The brothers] said, "Its recompense is that he in whose bag it is found - he [himself] will be its recompense. Thus do we recompense the wrongdoers."
They said, ‘His requital (qālū jazā’uhu: the subject, the predicate of which is [the following, man wujida fī rahlihi) shall be [the requital of] him in whose saddlebag it is found, that he be enslaved — this is then reiterated by His words: He, the thief, shall be the requital for it, that is, [for] the stolen item, and nothing else: this was the customary practice of the family of Jacob. Thus, [with such] a requital, do we requite those who do evil’, through theft. They thus permitted Joseph to have their saddlebags searched.
Yusuf 12:75Listen in Qur'an →
76
فَبَدَأَ بِأَوْعِيَتِهِمْ قَبْلَ وِعَآءِ أَخِيهِ ثُمَّ ٱسْتَخْرَجَهَا مِن وِعَآءِ أَخِيهِ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ كِدْنَا لِيُوسُفَ ۖ مَا كَانَ لِيَأْخُذَ أَخَاهُ فِى دِينِ ٱلْمَلِكِ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَٰتٍۢ مَّن نَّشَآءُ ۗ وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِى عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌۭ
So he began [the search] with their bags before the bag of his brother; then he extracted it from the bag of his brother. Thus did We plan for Joseph. He could not have taken his brother within the religion of the king except that Allah willed. We raise in degrees whom We will, but over every possessor of knowledge is one [more] knowing.
And so he began with their sacks, and searched them, before his brother’s sack, lest he be accused [of the theft]; then he pulled it, the drinking-cup, out of his brother’s sack. God, exalted be He, says: Thus, [through such] contrivance, did We contrive for Joseph, [thus] We taught him how to devise a plot to take his brother; he, Joseph, could not have taken his brother, as a slave, on account of theft, according to the king’s law, [according] to the laws of the king of Egypt — since his [a thief’s] requital according to his law would have been a beating and a penalty of twice [the value of] the stolen item, but not enslavement — unless God willed, for him to be taken according to the law of his father [Jacob]; in other words, he was only able to take him with God’s will, by God’s inspiring him to ask his brothers [about the nature of requital] and their responding according to [what is decreed by] their customary practice. We raise by degrees whom We will (read with a genitive annexation, darajāti man nashā’, or [simply] with nunation, darajātin man nashā’), in terms of knowledge, as [We did] with Joseph; and above every man of knowledge, from among creatures, is one who knows better, better than him [and so on] until it ends with God, exalted be He.
Yusuf 12:76Listen in Qur'an →
77
۞ قَالُوٓا۟ إِن يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌۭ لَّهُۥ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِى نَفْسِهِۦ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ ۚ قَالَ أَنتُمْ شَرٌّۭ مَّكَانًۭا ۖ وَٱللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ
They said, "If he steals - a brother of his has stolen before." But Joseph kept it within himself and did not reveal it to them. He said, "You are worse in position, and Allah is most knowing of what you describe."
They said, ‘If he is stealing, a brother of his stole before’, that is, Joseph — he had stolen a golden idol from his maternal grandfather and smashed it, lest he worship it. But Joseph kept it secret in his soul and did not disclose it, manifest it, to them (the [suffixed] pronoun [in yubdi-hā, ‘disclose it’] refers to the word[s] in his [following] saying); he said, within himself: ‘You are a worse case, than Joseph and his brother, because of your stealing a brother of yours from your father, and your wronging him. And God knows very well what you are describing’, [what] you are mentioning with regard to him.
Yusuf 12:77Listen in Qur'an →
78
قَالُوا۟ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْعَزِيزُ إِنَّ لَهُۥٓ أَبًۭا شَيْخًۭا كَبِيرًۭا فَخُذْ أَحَدَنَا مَكَانَهُۥٓ ۖ إِنَّا نَرَىٰكَ مِنَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
They said, "O 'Azeez, indeed he has a father [who is] an old man, so take one of us in place of him. Indeed, we see you as a doer of good."
They said, ‘O Court officer, lo! he has a father, an aged man, who loves him more than we do, and who finds solace in him from [the anguish he feels for] his dead son; and it will grieve him to part with him, so take one of us, enslave him, in his place, instead of him: indeed we see that you are among the virtuous’, in [terms of] your actions.
Yusuf 12:78Listen in Qur'an →
79
قَالَ مَعَاذَ ٱللَّهِ أَن نَّأْخُذَ إِلَّا مَن وَجَدْنَا مَتَٰعَنَا عِندَهُۥٓ إِنَّآ إِذًۭا لَّظَٰلِمُونَ
He said, "[I seek] the refuge of Allah [to prevent] that we take except him with whom we found our possession. Indeed, we would then be unjust."
He said, ‘God forbid (ma‘ādha’Llāhi, [lit.] ‘refuge is with God’, is in the accusative because it is a verbal noun, the verb having been omitted and placed in a genitive annexation with its direct object, in other words, [understand it as] na‘ūdhu bi’Llāhi, ‘we seek refuge with God’) that we should take anyone save him with whom we found our property — he did not say ‘[save] him who stole [our property]’, being careful not to lie; for then truly — if we were to take anyone other than him — we would be evildoers’.
Yusuf 12:79Listen in Qur'an →
80
فَلَمَّا ٱسْتَيْـَٔسُوا۟ مِنْهُ خَلَصُوا۟ نَجِيًّۭا ۖ قَالَ كَبِيرُهُمْ أَلَمْ تَعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ أَبَاكُمْ قَدْ أَخَذَ عَلَيْكُم مَّوْثِقًۭا مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَمِن قَبْلُ مَا فَرَّطتُمْ فِى يُوسُفَ ۖ فَلَنْ أَبْرَحَ ٱلْأَرْضَ حَتَّىٰ يَأْذَنَ لِىٓ أَبِىٓ أَوْ يَحْكُمَ ٱللَّهُ لِى ۖ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ ٱلْحَٰكِمِينَ
So when they had despaired of him, they secluded themselves in private consultation. The eldest of them said, "Do you not know that your father has taken upon you an oath by Allah and [that] before you failed in [your duty to] Joseph? So I will never leave [this] land until my father permits me or Allah decides for me, and He is the best of judges.
So when they despaired of [moving] him, they withdrew to confer privately [together] (najiyyan is a verbal noun that can be used to refer to one person or more, in other words [understand it as meaning] yunājī ba‘duhum ba‘dan, ‘one conferring with the other’). The most senior of them, in years — Reuben — or, [the most senior of them] in opinion — Judah, said: ‘Are you not aware that your father has taken a solemn pledge, a covenant, from you by God, concerning your brother, and formerly (wa-min qablu mā: the mā is extra) you failed regarding Joseph? (but it [the mā] is also said to be relating to the verbal action, [in other words it is] a subject, the predicate of which is min qabl, ‘formerly’). So I will never leave, part with, this land, the land of Egypt, until my father permits me, to return to him, or God judges for me, through the deliverance of my brother; and He is the best, the fairest, of judges.
Yusuf 12:80Listen in Qur'an →
Commentary: Tafsir al-Jalalayn (second English edition) by Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli & Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti. Qur'an text and translation via AlQuran Cloud.