Joseph (Yusuf)
Verses 15-18 GROUP_450 12.15-18
15
فَلَمَّا ذَهَبُواْ بِهِ وَأَجْمَعُواْ أَن يَجْعَلُوهُ فِي غَيَابَةِ الْجُبِّ وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْهِ لَتُنَبِّئَنَّهُم بِأَمْرِهِمْ هَـذَا وَهُمْ لاَ يَشْعُرُونَ
And so, when they went away with him, they decided to cast him into the dark depths of a well. Then We revealed to him Our will, ‘You shall [one day] tell them of this deed of theirs, when they do not realize who you are.’
16
وَجَاؤُواْ أَبَاهُمْ عِشَاء يَبْكُونَ
And at nightfall they came to their father, weeping.
17
قَالُواْ يَا أَبَانَا إِنَّا ذَهَبْنَا نَسْتَبِقُ وَتَرَكْنَا يُوسُفَ عِندَ مَتَاعِنَا فَأَكَلَهُ الذِّئْبُ وَمَا أَنتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍ لِّنَا وَلَوْ كُنَّا صَادِقِينَ
They said, ‘Father, we went off racing and left Joseph with our belongings, and the wolf devoured him. But you will not believe us, even though we are telling the truth.’
18
وَجَآؤُوا عَلَى قَمِيصِهِ بِدَمٍ كَذِبٍ قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ وَاللّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا تَصِفُونَ
And they showed him their brother’s shirt, stained with false blood. ‘No!’ he cried. ‘Your souls have tempted you to do something evil! But it is best to be patient: God alone can help me bear the loss you speak of.’
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Commentary
(a) The story of Joseph is definitely more detailed than what has been described in the Quran. But the real purpose of the Quran is to convey moral advice and not to engage in story telling. So, it deals with only those aspects that are useful for the purpose of giving moral lessons and omits other parts, leaving them for the historians to compile. According to traditions, Joseph was in the dry well for three days. During these three days, he was probably shown his future through dreams. In one of them, he saw himself coming out of the well and reaching a high position of honour and glory. Ultimately, such a wide gap develops between his position and the position of his brothers that they are unable to recognize him when they see him. All this was revealed by his dream. What Joseph’s brothers did was an act of extreme provocation. Unlike them, Joseph entrusted his fate to God and, sitting quietly in the dry well at a deserted place, waited for God’s help to arrive. Joseph’s father, Jacob, for his part, took the course of noble patience. According to some commentaries he is reported to have told his sons that had a wolf devoured Joseph, it would certainly have torn his shirt. He meant, what a noble wolf it was who took away Joseph and removed his blood- stained shirt to hand it over to them undamaged.