Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:98
He said, "I will ask forgiveness for you from my Lord. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."
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: قَالَ سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّي إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ (He said: I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you; truly He is the Forgiving, the Merciful) (98)
(He said: I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you) — Allah the Exalted says: Yaʿqūb said: I shall ask my Lord to forgive you for the sins you have committed against me and against Yūsuf.
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The scholars then differed concerning the time to which Yaʿqūb deferred the prayer for forgiveness for his sons.
Some said: he deferred it until the hour of the dawn-glimmer before sunrise (al-saḥar).
Mention of those who said that:
19870 - Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq mention, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, who said: An uncle of mine visited the mosque and heard a man say: O Allah, You called me and I answered, You commanded me and I obeyed, and this is the hour of the dawn-glimmer — forgive me. He listened to the voice and it turned out to come from the house of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd. He asked ʿAbd Allāh about this. He said: Yaʿqūb deferred his sons until the hour of the dawn-glimmer by his saying: (I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you).
19871 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd: (I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you) — he said: he deferred them until the hour of the dawn-glimmer.
19872 - [isnād incomplete] — he said: Abū Sufyān al-Ḥumayrī related to us, on the authority of al-ʿAwwām, on the authority of Ibrāhīm al-Taymī concerning the saying of Yaʿqūb to his sons: (I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you) — he said: he deferred them until the hour of the dawn-glimmer.
19873 - [isnād incomplete] — he said: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Khallād al-Ṣaffār, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Qays: (I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you) — he said: in the night prayer.
19874 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: (I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you) — he said: he deferred it until the hour of the dawn-glimmer.
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Others said: he deferred it until the night of Friday.
Mention of those who said that:
19875 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Abū Ayyūb al-Dimashqī related to us, saying: Al-Walīd related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ and ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: (I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you) — he says: until the night of Friday comes. And this is the saying of my brother Yaʿqūb to his sons.
19876 - Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Tirmidhī related to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dimashqī related to us, saying: Al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ and ʿIkrima, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: My brother Yaʿqūb indeed said: (I shall soon ask my Lord for forgiveness for you) — he says: until the night of Friday comes.
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His saying: (Truly He is the Forgiving, the Merciful) — he says: my Lord is the One who covers the sins of those who repent and return to Him from their sins. "The Merciful" — towards them, in that He does not punish them after their repentance from it.
