Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:75
[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."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
قَالُوا جَزَاؤُهُ مَنْ وُجِدَ فِي رَحْلِهِ فَهُوَ جَزَاؤُهُ — Allah the Exalted says: the brothers of Yūsuf said: the recompense for the theft (al-saraq) that is found with the one in whose saddlebag it is found — فَهُوَ جَزَاؤُهُ — that is to say: the one with whom that is found in his saddlebag, his recompense is that he is handed over with his theft to the one from whom he stole, until that one takes him as a slave (riqq). كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الظَّالِمِينَ — that is to say: thus do we deal with whoever commits wrong and does what does not belong to him, namely the taking of another's property through theft.
In accordance with what we have said, the people of interpretation also said.
Mention of who said that:
19556 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: فَهُوَ جَزَاؤُهُ — that is to say: he is handed over with it. كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الظَّالِمِينَ — that is to say: thus do we deal with whoever steals from us.
19557 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, who said: it has reached us concerning the words قَالُوا فَمَا جَزَاؤُهُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ كَاذِبِينَ : they informed Yūsuf of what counted as the ruling in their land — namely that whoever steals is taken as a slave. They then said: جَزَاؤُهُ مَنْ وُجِدَ فِي رَحْلِهِ فَهُوَ جَزَاؤُهُ .
19558 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: قَالُوا فَمَا جَزَاؤُهُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ كَاذِبِينَ قَالُوا جَزَاؤُهُ مَنْ وُجِدَ فِي رَحْلِهِ فَهُوَ جَزَاؤُهُ — you take him and he belongs to you.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of the expression is: they said: the recompense for the theft found with him — as if it had been said: "his recompense is the taking as a slave of the one with whom the theft was found" — then "the taking as a slave" was omitted because its meaning was known; thereafter a new sentence was begun: هُوَ جَزَاؤُهُ كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الظَّالِمِينَ .
There is also another possible reading: the meaning could be: they said: the recompense for the theft — with whom the theft is found in his saddlebag — the thief is his recompense; then "jazāʾuhu" (first usage) would be in the nominative through the complete combined sentence that follows it, and in the nominative through the referring pronoun in "huwa"; and "huwa" is the subject that carries "jazāʾuhu" (second usage) as predicate.
There is also a third possible reading: "man" is then a conditional particle and stands in the nominative through the referring pronoun in "raḥlihi"; "al-jazāʾ" (first usage) stands in the nominative through the referring pronoun in "wujida"; the answer to the condition is the "fāʾ" in "fahuwa"; and "al-jazāʾ" (second usage) stands in the nominative through "huwa" — then the meaning of the expression would be: they said: the recompense for the theft — with whom the theft is found in his saddlebag, he is the compensation for it — he is taken as a slave and enslaved.
Notes: "Al-saraq" (with two fatḥas) is the verbal noun of the action. Later the stolen object is also called "saraq," which is correct in proper Arabic. Thus the early jurists also used to say it. — In the printed edition it reads "rāfiʿ," but the manuscript has what we have adopted. This second view is written down twice in the manuscript. — In the printed edition it reads "jazāʾiyya," which is a corrupt emendation. — Compare the views on this verse in al-Farrāʾ in his Maʿānī al-Qurʾān at the explanation of this verse; he discusses those views with other wordings.
