Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:77
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."
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.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: قَالُوا إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ قَالَ أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ (77)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says: قَالُوا إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ — they meant his brother on the father's and mother's side, that is, Yūsuf. Thus:
19596 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ : namely Yūsuf.
19597 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
19598 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ : he said: Yūsuf is meant.
19599 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ — he said: Yūsuf.
The people of exegesis differed concerning the nature of the theft which they ascribed to Yūsuf.
Some said: he had stolen an idol belonging to his maternal grandfather, broken it, and thrown it onto the road.
Mention of who said that:
19600 — Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr al-Baṣrī related to us, saying: al-Fayḍ ibn al-Faḍl related to us, saying: Musʿar related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ — he said: Yūsuf had stolen an idol from his maternal grandfather, broken it, and thrown it onto the road; his brothers therefore reproached him for it.
19601 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ — it is mentioned that he had stolen an idol of his maternal grandfather; his brothers reproached him for it.
19602 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the words إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ : by this they intended to damage the honor and reputation of the prophet of Allah, Yūsuf. The theft they reproached him with was an idol of his maternal grandfather — he had removed it, for the prophet of Allah intended thereby only what was good; but they reproached him for it.
19603 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning the words إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ : the mother of Yūsuf had commanded Yūsuf to steal an idol belonging to his uncle who venerated it; and she was a Muslim.
Others said it as follows:
19604 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard my father say: the sons of Yaʿqūb were eating when Yūsuf saw a bone with meat on it and hid it; his brothers reproached him for this — إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ .
Still others said it as follows:
19605 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid Abū al-Ḥajjāj, who said: The first of the trials that befell Yūsuf — as far as it has reached me — was that his paternal aunt, the daughter of Isḥāq, the eldest of the children of Isḥāq, had the belt (minṭaqa) of Isḥāq come into her possession; they inherited it on the basis of the eldest rank; whoever had stolen it and had it under his control became a voluntary servant (salam) belonging to that person without dispute, with whom one could do as one wished. Yaʿqūb, when Yūsuf was born to him, had given Yūsuf to his aunt to raise; Yūsuf was therefore with her and under her care; no one loved anything as much as she loved him. When he grew up and reached some years of age and Yaʿqūb's heart longed for him, Yaʿqūb went to her and said: "Sister, give me Yūsuf — by Allah, I cannot bear that he be away from me even for an hour!" She said: "By Allah, I will not let him go — by Allah, I cannot bear that he be away from me even for an hour!" He said: "By Allah, I too will not let him go!" She said: "Then leave him with me for some days so that I may look at him and quiet my heart over him — perhaps that will console me concerning him" — or words to that effect. When Yaʿqūb had departed from her, she took the belt of Isḥāq and bound it around Yūsuf beneath his garments; then she said: "I have lost the belt of Isḥāq; find out who has taken it and who has seized it!" A search was made; then she said: "Search the household members!" They were searched and the belt was found on Yūsuf. She said: "By Allah, he is a voluntary servant belonging to me — I will do with him as I wish." Yaʿqūb came to her and she told him of the affair; he said to her: "That is your matter if he has done this; he is your property — I can do nothing else." So she kept him with her and he was not in his power until she died. This is what the brothers of Yūsuf spoke of when he did with his brother what he did at the seizure: إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ .
Ibn Ḥumayd said: Ibn Isḥāq said: When the sons of Yaʿqūb saw what had happened and did not doubt that he had stolen, they said — grieved at what had penetrated into themselves — reproachfully: إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ . When Yūsuf heard this he said: أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا — within himself — وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ — وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ .
His words فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ قَالَ أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ — فَأَسَرَّهَا means: he concealed it within himself. He said فَأَسَرَّهَا in the feminine, because by it he meant "the word" (al-kalima), namely: أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ . But the masculine would also have been permissible, as has been said: تِلْكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ (11:49) and ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْقُرَى (11:100).
He referred with a pronoun to "the word" without it having been mentioned beforehand. The Arabs do this frequently when the intended meaning is clear to the hearers of the expression. This is comparable to the verse of Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī:
"O Māwiyya, wealth does not benefit the youth once it groans and the breast thereby becomes narrower."
He means: and the breast becomes narrower by reason of the soul — he referred to it without having mentioned it, because in his words "once it groans" there lay for his listener sufficient indication of what he intended by "thereby." And in support of this is also the word of Allah: ثُمَّ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لِلَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا فُتِنُوا ثُمَّ جَاهَدُوا وَصَبَرُوا إِنَّ رَبَّكَ مِنْ بَعْدِهَا لَغَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (16:110) — He said "thereafter" although no feminine noun had been mentioned beforehand.
In accordance with what we have said, the people of exegesis also said.
Mention of who said that:
19606 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ — what he concealed within himself was his words: أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ .
19607 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ قَالَ أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ — he said this word.
19608 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ : he said: he concealed within himself his words: أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ .
His words وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ — that is to say: Allah knows best how you lie in what you ascribe to his brother Binyāmīn.
In accordance with what we have said, the people of exegesis also said.
Mention of who said that:
19609 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ : they say: it is Yūsuf who said this.
19610 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
19611 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq informed us, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
19612 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ — that is to say: by how you lie.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of the expression is thus: Yūsuf concealed it within himself and did not reveal it to them; he said: you are, before Allah, worse in rank than the one whom you describe as having stolen, and you are more withered in standing because of your former deeds; Allah knows your lie, even though many of the people present are ignorant of it.
It is mentioned that the people reproached one another when the drinking-cup (al-ṣuwāʿ) was found in the saddlebag of the brother of Yūsuf:
19613 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: When the stolen thing was brought out of the boy's saddlebag, their backbone broke and they said: "O sons of Rāḥīl, you are forever bringing trials upon us! When did you take this drinking-cup?" Binyāmīn said: "It is rather the sons of Rāḥīl from whom you forever suffer trials! You went off with my brother and killed him in the wilderness! The one who placed the drinking-cup in my saddlebag is the same one who placed the silver pieces in your saddlebags!" They said: "Do not mention the silver pieces — lest we be held to account for it!" When they entered upon Yūsuf, he called for the drinking-cup and tapped it; then he held it to his ear and said: "This drinking-cup of mine tells me that you were twelve men and that you went off with a brother of yours and sold him." When Binyāmīn heard this, he stood up and threw himself down before Yūsuf; then he said: "O king, ask your drinking-cup about my brother — is he still alive?" Yūsuf tapped it and said: "He is alive and you shall yet see him." Binyāmīn said: "Then do with me as you wish — if he knows of me he will rescue me." Yūsuf went inside and wept; then he performed his ritual ablution and came out. Binyāmīn said: "O king, I want you to strike your drinking-cup so that it may tell you the truth — ask it who stole it and placed it in my saddlebag." Yūsuf tapped it and said: "This drinking-cup of mine is angry and says: how can you ask me who my owner is, when you have seen with whom I have been?" The sons of Yaʿqūb, when they became angry, were invincible; Rūbīl grew furious and said: "O king, by Allah, let us go or I shall utter such a cry that in all of Egypt no pregnant woman will remain without losing her child!" And every hair on Rūbīl's body stood on end and pierced through his garments. Yūsuf said to his son: "Go and stand beside Rūbīl and touch him." When one of the sons of Yaʿqūb became furious and another touched him, his anger would vanish; the boy walked over to him and touched him, and his anger vanished. Rūbīl said: "Who is this? There must surely be in this land seed from the seed of Yaʿqūb!" Yūsuf said: "Who is Yaʿqūb?" Rūbīl grew furious and said: "O king, do not mention Yaʿqūb — he is the chosen one of Allah (sariyy Allāh), the son of the one destined for Allah (dhabīḥ Allāh), the son of the friend of Allah (khalīl Allāh)." Yūsuf said: "Then you have spoken truly."
Notes: Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr al-Baṣrī, the teacher of al-Ṭabarī, has been mentioned earlier (nos. 9875, 13928). Al-Fayḍ ibn al-Faḍl al-Bajalī al-Kūfī is described in al-Kabīr (4/1/140) and Ibn Abī Ḥātim (3/2/88) without mention of any deficiencies. In the printed edition it reads "al-ʿĪṣ," which is incorrect, for the manuscript is clear there. This report has been transmitted by Abū Jaʿfar in his History (1:182). — "Al-ʿaraq" (with fatḥa and sukūn) is the bone with meat on it; once it has no more meat, it is "urāq" (with ḍamma). — This report (no. 19604) has been transmitted by Abū Jaʿfar in his History (1:182), more fully. — The addition in brackets is taken from the History of al-Ṭabarī. — "Akhṭānahā" (he stole it) is from the manuscript and the History; the printed edition has "ikhtaṣṣa bihā," which corrupts the sense. — "Al-salam" (with two fatḥas) is the surrender of one who is wholly subjugated, like a captive who does not resist the one who has captured him and lets himself be led submissively. — The verse of Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī is in his dīwān (p. 39); "malḥūda" (a hewn-out grave-pit); "zalakh" (slippery, so that whoever descends into it slides away). — See the explanation of "al-waṣf" earlier (15:586, note 1).
