Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:88
So when they entered upon Joseph, they said, "O 'Azeez, adversity has touched us and our family, and we have come with goods poor in quality, but give us full measure and be charitable to us. Indeed, Allah rewards the charitable."
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 discourse on the explanation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: فَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا عَلَيْهِ قَالُوا يَا أَيُّهَا الْعَزِيزُ مَسَّنَا وَأَهْلَنَا الضُّرُّ وَجِئْنَا بِبِضَاعَةٍ مُزْجَاةٍ فَأَوْفِ لَنَا الْكَيْلَ وَتَصَدَّقْ عَلَيْنَا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَجْزِي الْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ (So when they entered upon him, they said: O mighty one — affliction has touched us and our family, and we have come with paltry merchandise; so give us full measure and be charitable to us; indeed, Allah rewards the charitable) (88)
Abū Jaʿfar said: In the text something has been omitted whose mention is superfluous because what is stated suffices; namely: they departed and returned to Egypt until they arrived there, and they entered upon Yūsuf. When they entered upon him, they said: O mighty one — affliction has touched us and our family — that is: the hardship of drought and famine — and we have come with paltry merchandise. As in:
19740 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: they departed for Egypt and returned. With paltry merchandise: that is: little, not enough to buy with it what they used to buy from him before, unless he shows them favor. They had seen what calamities had befallen their father, and how the trials had piled up one upon another concerning his sons and his eyesight. When they entered upon Yūsuf, they said: O mighty one — hoping that he would be merciful to them regarding their brother — affliction has touched us and our family.
By his saying: and we have come with paltry merchandise (muzjāh), he means: with coins or goods that are not accepted as payment for food except by one who overlooks their deficiency.
The root meaning of al-izjāʾ is: driving forward by pushing, as al-Nābigha al-Dhubyānī said: "And the wind blew from the direction of Dhū Urul, and with the night drove along the fragments of its cold clouds." — he means: it drives and pushes. To this belongs the saying of Aʿshā Banū Thaʿlaba: "The giver of a hundred white she-camels with their attendant slave-girl, suckling she-camels that drive their young along behind them." And the saying of Ḥātim: "I called you on account of a guest at Milḥān who is pushed along, and a widow who with the night drives along her orphan." — he means that she drives him before her because of his weakness and inability to walk. Thus it was said: with paltry merchandise, because that merchandise is not in currency; it is disposed of only at a certain loss to those who receive it.
The commentators differed in clarifying the explanation of this, although the gist of their statements is close to one another.
Mention of the statements of the commentators on this:
19741 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us; and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: with paltry merchandise — bad, debased coins that are not in currency except at a loss.
19742 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: the bad merchandise that is not in currency except at a loss.
19743 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn Abī Sulaymān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: a worn-out sack, a rope, and the like.
19744 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn Abī Sulaymān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās, after he was asked: paltry goods: a rope, a sack, and the like.
19745-19746 - [similar narrations on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās] — al-biḍāʿa are the coins, and al-muzjāh means: of little value.
19747 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Ziyād, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: of poor quality, of little value.
19748 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, saying: Abū Ḥaṣīn related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and ʿIkrima. Saʿīd said: insufficient. And ʿIkrima said: debased coins.
19749-19750 - [similar narrations] — one said: insufficient. And the other said: poor in quality.
19751 - [isnād incomplete] — on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith: it was butter and wool.
19752 - Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād: a man asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith while I was with him: he said: little, the goods of the bedouins: wool and butter.
19753 - Isḥāq ibn Ziyād al-Qaṭṭān Abū Yaʿqūb al-Baṣrī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Balkhī related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya al-Fazārī related to us, on the authority of Marwān ibn ʿAmr al-ʿUdhrī, on the authority of Abū Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: pine nuts and green seeds.
19754 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Yazīd ibn al-Walīd, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: little.
19755-19756 - [similar narrations on the authority of Ibrāhīm] — "al-muzjāh" means little; in the codex of ʿAbd Allāh it reads: "and load our mounts full."
19757 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and al-Ḥasan. Saʿīd said: the bad. And al-Ḥasan said: the little.
19758-19759 - [similar narrations] — the goods of the bedouins: butter and wool; or: coins of little value.
19760 - 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: (muzjāh) — little.
19761-19762 - [similar narrations on the authority of Mujāhid] — little.
19763 - [isnād incomplete] — on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith: some wool and some butter.
19764 - [isnād incomplete] — on the authority of al-Ḥasan: little.
19765-19766 - [similar narrations on the authority of Mujāhid] — little.
19767-19768 - [narrations on the authority of ʿIkrima and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr] — insufficient / poor in quality.
19769-19772 - [narrations on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk] — of poor quality, not in currency.
19773-19775 - [narrations on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, ʿIkrima, Ibn ʿAbbās, and Mujāhid] — the insufficient; the bad coins that are accepted only at a loss.
19776 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: coins that have some room for acceptance.
19777-19779 - [narrations on the authority of Qatāda and Ibn Zayd] — little.
19780 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: too little to buy from you what we used to buy, unless you show us favor in that.
His saying: give us full measure — and give us for it what you used to give us before in return for good, current coins of full value that were not returned.
19781 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: give us what you used to give us before, for our merchandise is paltry.
19782 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: as you used to give us before in return for good coins.
His saying: and be charitable to us — Allah the Exalted says: they said: do us a favor by bridging the difference between the price for good and that for bad coins; do not diminish our portion of your food because of the paltriness of our merchandise. Indeed, Allah rewards those who are generous with their possessions toward the needy.
In accordance with what we have said on this, the commentators spoke.
19783 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: and be charitable to us — be generous by bridging the difference between the good and the bad coins.
19784 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: do not diminish us in the price because of the bad quality of our coins.
The commentators differed concerning charity (ṣadaqa): was it permissible for the prophets before our Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, or was it forbidden?
Some said: it was not permissible for any prophet, peace be upon them.
19785 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: Never did a prophet ask for charity; but they said: we have come with paltry merchandise; give us full measure and be charitable to us — that is: do not diminish us in the price.
It has been related from Ibn ʿUyayna:
19786 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: Al-Qāsim related to us: It is related from Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna that he was asked: Was charity declared forbidden for any prophet before the Prophet ﷺ? He said: Have you not heard his saying: give us full measure and be charitable to us; indeed, Allah rewards the charitable? Al-Ḥārith said: Al-Qāsim said: Ibn ʿUyayna held the view that they would not have said this unless charity was permissible for them, and they were prophets; for charity is forbidden only to Muḥammad ﷺ — and Allah's blessings be upon them.
Others said: by his saying and be charitable to us is meant: be charitable to us by returning our brother to us.
19787 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: and be charitable to us — send our brother back to us.
Abū Jaʿfar said: This statement which we have mentioned from Ibn Jurayj, although it has a meaningful aspect, is not the preferred interpretation; for al-ṣadaqa (charity) in the customary usage of the Arabs means: that a man gives something of his possessions to one in need, hoping for the reward of Allah for it. And although every good deed is a charity, it is more fitting and more correct to direct the interpretation of the words of Allah toward the most common meaning in the usage of those in whose language the Qurʾān was sent down. In accordance with what we have said on this, Mujāhid spoke.
19788 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn al-Aswad: I heard Mujāhid — after he was asked: Is it reprehensible when a man says in his supplication: O Allah, be charitable to me? — say: Yes; for charity is for the one who seeks reward.
