Joseph (Yusuf)
Verses 62-64 GROUP_465 12.62-64
62
وَقَالَ لِفِتْيَانِهِ اجْعَلُواْ بِضَاعَتَهُمْ فِي رِحَالِهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَعْرِفُونَهَا إِذَا انقَلَبُواْ إِلَى أَهْلِهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ
Joseph said to his servants, ‘Put their money back into their saddlebags, so that they will recognize it when they return home to their family; thus they may come back.’
63
فَلَمَّا رَجِعُوا إِلَى أَبِيهِمْ قَالُواْ يَا أَبَانَا مُنِعَ مِنَّا الْكَيْلُ فَأَرْسِلْ مَعَنَا أَخَانَا نَكْتَلْ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
When they returned to their father, they said, ‘Our father, any [further] measure of grain has been denied us, so send our brother [Benjamin] along with us, so that we may obtain our measure [of grain]; and, we shall guard him well.’
64
قَالَ هَلْ آمَنُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ إِلاَّ كَمَا أَمِنتُكُمْ عَلَى أَخِيهِ مِن قَبْلُ فَاللّهُ خَيْرٌ حَافِظًا وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ
He replied, ‘Am I to trust you with him as I once trusted you with his brother? But God is the best of guardians, the Most Merciful of all.’
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Commentary
(a) Joseph probably felt that it was discourteous to take the price of the corn from his brothers, or he perhaps thought that a lack of money might prevent them from coming back again. Therefore, he instructed his men that whatever amount his brothers had paid towards the corn should be quietly put among their belongings, so that when they went home and opened their bundles, they would find it and come again with their brother, Benjamin. Jacob, on the one hand, expressed his lack of trust in his sons where Benjamin was concerned. On the other hand, he also said that neither they nor anybody else had any power. Whatever God wished was bound to happen. But this happening is caused by human hands, so that an evil person, by performing evil deeds, may lay bare the truth about himself, while the good person, by performing righteous deeds, may have his name listed among the righteous.