Surah Yusuf 12:7-20 - Quran Translation Commentary

8. When they (Yusuf’s step brethren) said: “Verily Yusuf and his full brother¹⁴ (Benjamin ) are dearer to our father than we, although we are a group,¹⁵ truly our father is plainly mistaken,”

9. (One of them said): “Kill Yusuf or throw him away in some far off land, so that your father’s favour may be all for you, and you may become after that righteous people.”¹⁶

10. One among them said: “Do not kill Yusuf, but if you must do something, cast him into the depth of a dark well, some passing caravan will pick him out.”

11. They said: “O our father! Why do you not trust us concerning Yusuf when truly we are his well-wishers.”

12. Send him with us tomorrow that he may refresh himself and play¹⁷. And verily we will be his protectors”¹⁸.

13. He said: “Verily it saddens me that you should take him with you, and I fear lest the wolf devour him and you are heedless of him¹⁹.”

14. They said: “If the wolf should devour him when we are in a group, then indeed we are losers!”

15. So, when they took him with them,²⁰ and decided to throw him to the bottom of the dark well, and We revealed to him that (there would come a time when) you would inform them of this deed of theirs when they would not have the least idea about it²¹.

16. And they came to their father at nightfall, weeping²².

17. They said: “O our father! We went racing with one another, and left Yusuf with our things, and the wolf devoured him²³. But you will not believe us, though we speak the truth²⁴.”

18. And they came with false blood on his shirt, He said: “Nay, but your minds have concocted a tale²⁵. So (For me now is) comely patience²⁶. And it is Allah, whose help is to be sought in what you describe²⁷.”

19. And there came a caravan, and they sent their water drawer. He let down his bucket (into the well); he cried: Good News! Here is a youth²⁸. And they hid him as a merchandise²⁹, and Allah was aware of what they did.

20. And they sold him for a paltry price³⁰, a few dirhams, and in this affair they had least interest³¹.

Commentary

13. It shows that Surah Yusuf was revealed in reply to the inquiries of the infidels of Makkah. It is possible that the query might have been raised by jewish prompting so that the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) might be tested to see how he narrates the chronicle of Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) when he had not read the Torah.

In reply to their query Allah has narrated the chronicle of Prophet Yusuf in a splendidly edifying way and invited the inquirers to contemplate over what passed between Yusuf and his brethren, in which can be found great signs of Allah’s greatness and wisdom as to how His planning ultimately succeeds and His will is finally done.

Yusuf had the divine support on account of his honest and righteous character, therefore, neither his brethren could inflict any harm on him nor those ladies of Egypt who schemed against him and were instrumental in sending him to prison. In the Arabian Prophet’s time what the Quraish of Makkah were doing with him was not different from what his brethren did with Yusuf. Thus they are rushing towards an end which has nothing for them except regrets and remorse.

14. Refers to Bin Yamin (Benjamin) who was Yusuf’s full brother.

15. Yusuf and Bin Yamin were the youngest, and it is natural that they were dearer to Prophet Yaqub, their father. Moreover, Yusuf, on account of his honesty, wisdom and capabilities, was the apple of the father’s eye, but he had not done any injustice to his other children, else they would have surely complained about their father on this occasion.

In the Bible it is narrated:

“But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more then all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.” (Genesis 37:4)

By “ Although we are a group “they meant that from the view-point of protection of the family the real importance was of the whole group and not of anyone individual, for in those days in Canaan people used to live in a free tribal system and there was no organized government. They felt’ that they as ten brethren as a group were more beneficial for their father and were therefore more deserving of his love compared to Yusuf and Bin Yamin. But in the eyes of Prophet Yaqub real importance was that of character and conduct and therefore he loved Yusuf more.

16. Although the motive for this conspiracy was their desire that their father’s love may be exclusively reserved for them, their conscience was reminding them that by this act they would be committing a sin. But Satan had taught them that if it is inevitable to commit a sin to remove a thorn in their flesh, there was nothing wrong in that, because after that when their father’s love and attention would be exclusively directed towards them, they would concentrate on being righteous and it would then be easier for them to be good and virtuous.

It gives an idea how easily Satan deceives man and prompts him to commit sin.

17. By play here means games like running and archery, which were the necessary games of the time from the viewpoint of providing protection to the tribal system of living.

18. They agreed with the suggestion of throwing him into a dry well. They played this trick that they obtained the permission of their father to take Yusuf with them for play and enjoyment and reassured him that they would take full care of his safety. It shows that when man makes falsehood his policy, he does not hesitate to give false assurances nor in hatching dangerous plots.

19. The thing that saddened the heart of Prophet Yaqub was the danger for Yusuf from his step brethren that they might harass him. Moreover, he was also afraid that their carelessness might endanger his safety. It seems that in those days there were many wolves in the forests of Canaan and keeping safe from them was a difficult task. Therefore, Prophet Yaqub mentioned the existing danger of the time.

20. That is: They insisted in their demand to take Yusuf with them, and Prophet Yaqub relented.

21. That is: God sent revelation to reassure Yusuf that whatever his step brothers were doing would not hurt or harm him, but that a time will come when they would be sorry for all this, and he would survive this ordeal and would remind them of what they did with him when they would be least mindful about the fact that the person who is reminding is their own brother, Yusuf. Further on, the manner in which this event took place is narrated in ayat Nos. 89 and 90.

It should be noted ‘that this revelation came to Yusuf before his becoming prophet. At that time, according to the narrative in the Bible, his age was only 17 years.

22. That is: Throwing Yusuf in the well and leaving him there, they returned home in the night, which means that they had gone to a spot near their residence, otherwise it would not have been possible for them to return by the nightfall. They returned home shedding crocodile tears so that they might appear to be sympathetic and their father might believe in their story.

23. What Prophet Yaqub had stated was in view of the lurking danger, but Yusuf’s step brothers took a cue from that and concocted a tale of Yusuf’s death from that.

24. They fabricated a story but were not sure that their father would accept it.

25. Their falsehood was obvious from the tact that Yusuf’s shirt was not torn-how is it possible that a wolf may attack and the shirt may not get torn. How could Prophet Yaqub accept this open lie ? He at once said that this is a concocted tale.

It discloses a principle that when a news is not confirmed by the attending circumstances or signs and if the carrier of the news is unreliable, then such a news will be unacceptable.

26. ‘Sabr-i-jameel (comely patience) means to bear sufferings with forbearance and to prove to be broad-minded in the face of adversity. Crying and breast-beating is the very antithesis of patience.

Quran presents the character of Prophet Yaqub in a manner which befits a prophet, but the manner of its presentation by the Bible is quite different. Accordingly, it is narrated in the Bible that on hearing the news about Yusuf, Yaqub tore his clothes and was mourning his loss for many days. -(Genesis 37:34). And there are a number of places where the compilers or editors of the Bible have presented the characters of the prophets in a mutilated form.

27. This is an expression of trust in God.

28. From the narration in the Bible it appears that this was the caravan of the Ismailis which was wending its way with its articles of trade towards Egypt. It shows that the well in which Yusuf was thrown was situated on the highway which ran from Egypt to Canaan. His step brothers did not take Yusuf to the jungle but took him to a well on the highway which had no surrounding wall of stones (such a well in Arabic is known as’ Jubb’), and threw him therein.

When the caravan stopped near it, a man was sent to fetch water from the well. When he threw the pail in the well, Yusuf came out with the help of the pail, and the water carrier was pleased to see a young boy being rescued. His joy was greater when he realized that they would take him as a slave and would get a price for him.

29. In those days whenever anybody found a lost child on the road, etc., he used to take it as a slave, which in their terminology was called ‘laqeet.’ If he wanted he could sell it to others. The people of the caravan did the same thing with Yusuf. First they hid him as an article of trade so that no claimant might demand him back from them. Afterwards they, took him to Egypt and sold him, as will be narrated further.

30. The sellers were the people of the caravan. They sold him in Egypt. They had no idea what a valuable personality they had acquired. Therefore, they sold him in exchange for a few silver coins.

Bible’s narrative is confused. It state that the people of the caravan took Yusuf out of the well,but at that time Yusuf’s step brothers were present who received twenty dirhams as his price. But this narrative is neither in accordance with its account given in the Qur’an nor does it appear feasible or credible.

31. That is: The people of the caravan were least interested in getting the right price for this slave, because they had acquired him free.