Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:96
And when the bearer of good tidings arrived, he cast it over his face, and he returned [once again] seeing. He said, "Did I not tell you that I know from Allah that which you do not know?"
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 interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاءَ الْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَاهُ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ فَارْتَدَّ بَصِيرًا قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَ (And when the bearer of good tidings arrived, he laid it upon his face, and he became seeing again. He said: Did I not say to you that I know from Allah what you do not know?) (96)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says: When the bearer of good tidings from his son Yūsuf arrived to Yaʿqūb — he was the messenger who brought the message of Yūsuf; he was, according to what has been reported, a courier whom Yūsuf had sent to him.
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The courier and the bearer of good tidings was, according to what has been reported, Yahūdhā (Judah) ibn Yaʿqūb, the brother of Yūsuf on the father's side.
Mention of who said that:
19857 - 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 his saying: (And when the bearer of good tidings arrived, he laid it upon his face) — he says: "al-bashīr" is the courier.
19858 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: (And when the bearer of good tidings arrived) — he said: the courier.
19859 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Wāsiṭī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: (And when the bearer of good tidings arrived) — he said: the courier.
19860 - [incomplete isnād] — he said: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: (And when the bearer of good tidings arrived) — he said: Yahūdhā ibn Yaʿqūb.
19861 - 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 bearer of good tidings) — he said: Yahūdhā ibn Yaʿqūb.
19862-19865 - [similar narrations through various chains on the authority of Mujāhid] — he is Yahūdhā ibn Yaʿqūb.
Sufyān said: And Ibn Masʿūd recited: "wa-jāʾa al-bashīru min bayni yadayi al-ʿīr" (and the bearer of good tidings had come from before the caravan).
19866 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: (And when the bearer of good tidings arrived) — he said: the courier; he was Yahūdhā ibn Yaʿqūb.
19867 - [isnād of the previous] — he said: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: Yūsuf said: اذْهَبُوا بِقَمِيصِي هَذَا فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَى وَجْهِ أَبِي يَأْتِ بَصِيرًا وَأْتُونِي بِأَهْلِكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ (Go with this shirt of mine and lay it upon the face of my father — he will regain his sight; and bring me all your household). Yahūdhā said: I was the one who went to Yaʿqūb with the blood-stained shirt and informed him that the wolf had devoured Yūsuf. Today I shall go with the shirt and inform him that he is alive, and thus gladden him as I had grieved him. So he was the bearer of good tidings.
19868 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: (And when the bearer of good tidings arrived) — he said: the courier.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: One of the grammarians of Kūfa said: "an" in his saying (And when (fa-lammā an) the bearer of good tidings arrived) and its omission have the same meaning. He said this specifically regarding "lammā" and "ḥattā," and mentioned that the Arabs sometimes include it and sometimes omit it. As Allah the Exalted said: وَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاءَتْ رُسُلُنَا (And when Our messengers came) [Sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt: 33], and in another place said: وَلَمَّا جَاءَتْ رُسُلُنَا (And when Our messengers came) [Sūrat Hūd: 77]. He said: It is an addition without independent grammatical position in these two places. One says: "ḥattā kāna kadhā wa-kadhā" or "ḥattā an kāna kadhā wa-kadhā."
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His saying: (he laid it upon his face) — he says: the bearer of good tidings laid the shirt of Yūsuf upon the face of Yaʿqūb. As:
19869 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: When the bearer of good tidings arrived, he laid the shirt upon his face.
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His saying: (and he became seeing again (fa-rtadda baṣīran)) — he says: he returned and became seeing again with his eyes, after he had gone blind. (He said: Did I not say to you that I know from Allah what you do not know?) — Allah the Exalted says: Yaʿqūb said to those of his sons who were present with him at that moment: Did I not say to you, O my sons, that I knew from Allah that He would return Yūsuf to me and bring us together? And you did not know of that which I knew, because the dream of Yūsuf was true, and Allah had decreed that I and you would prostrate before him; and I was certain that He would carry out His decree.
