Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:9
Kill Joseph or cast him out to [another] land; the countenance of your father will [then] be only for you, and you will be after that a righteous people."
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 statement concerning the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ أَوِ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضًا يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ قَوْمًا صَالِحِينَ (Kill Yūsuf, or cast him away into some land, so that your father's face may be free for you, and after that you will be a righteous people) (9)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says: The brothers of Yūsuf said to one another: kill Yūsuf, or cast him into some land of the earth — they meant: a place on the earth — (then your father's face will be free for you), that is to say: your father's face will be free of his preoccupation with Yūsuf, for he has diverted him away from us and turned his attention from us to him. (and after that you will be a righteous people), they meant that they would show repentance for killing Yūsuf and for the sin they would commit against him, and that through their repentance over his death, after the destruction of Yūsuf, they would become a righteous people.
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In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of those who said that:
18798 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: (Kill Yūsuf, or cast him away into some land, so that your father's face may be free for you, and after that you will be a righteous people) — he said: you will show repentance for what you have done, or: for your deed.
