12:63 Yusuf (Joseph)

{ فَلَمَّا رَجَعُوا إِلَى أَبِيهِمْ قَالُوا يَا أَبَانَا مُنِعَ مِنَّا الْكَيْلُ } أي: إن لم ترسل معنا أخانا، { فَأَرْسِلْ مَعَنَا أَخَانَا نَكْتَلْ } أي: ليكون ذلك سببا لكيلنا، ثم التزموا له بحفظه، فقالوا: { وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ } من أن يعرض له ما يكره.

يقول تعالى عنهم إنهم رجعوا إلى أبيهم " قالوا يا أبانا منع منا الكيل " يعنون بعد هذه المرة إن لم ترسل معنا أخانا بنيامين فأرسله معنا نكتل وإنا له لحافظون قرأ بعضهم بالياء أي يكتل هو " وإنا له لحافظون " أي لا تخف عليه فإنه سيرجع إليك وهذا كما قالوا له في يوسف " أرسله معنا غدا يرتع ويلعب وإنا له لحافظون".

Yusuf's Brothers ask Ya`qub's Permission to send Their Brother Binyamin with Them to Egypt

Allah says that when they went back to their father,

قَالُواْ يأَبَانَا مُنِعَ مِنَّا الْكَيْلُ

(they said: "O our father! No more measure of grain shall we get...") `after this time, unless you send our brother Binyamin with us. So send him with us, and we shall get our measure and we shall certainly guard him.' Some scholars read this Ayah in a way that means, `and he shall get his ration.' They said,

وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَـفِظُونَ

(and truly, we will guard him.), `do not fear for his safety, for he will be returned back to you.' This is what they said to Ya`qub about their brother Yusuf,

أَرْسِلْهُ مَعَنَا غَداً يَرْتَعْ وَيَلْعَبْ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَـفِظُونَ

("Send him with us tomorrow to enjoy himself and play, and verily, we will take care of him.") 12:12 This is why Prophet Ya`qub said to them,

هَلْ آمَنُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ إِلاَّ كَمَآ أَمِنتُكُمْ عَلَى أَخِيهِ مِن قَبْلُ

(Can I entrust him to you except as I entrusted his brother Yusuf to you aforetime) He asked them, `Will you do to him except what you did to his brother Yusuf before, when you took him away from me and separated me from him'

فَاللَّهُ خَيْرٌ حَـفِظًا

وَهُوَ أَرْحَمُ الرَحِمِينَ

(But Allah is the Best to guard, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.) Ya`qub said, `Allah has the most mercy with me among all those who show mercy, He is compassionate with me for my old age, feebleness and eagerness for my son. I invoke Allah to return him to me, and to allow him and I to be together; for surely, He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.'

So when they went back to their father they said ‘O father the measure will be denied us unless you send forth our brother to him to the Court officer; so send forth our brother with us that we may obtain the measure read naktal or yaktal ‘that he may obtain the measure for us’. Surely we will guard him well’.

Commentary

The verses appearing above carry the remaining segment of the event, that is, when the brothers of Yusuf (علیہ السلام) returned home with food-grains from Egypt, they told their father about what had happened there, specially about the condition imposed by the ` Aziz of Misr that they would receive food grains in the future only if they would bring their younger brother with them. So they requested their father to let Benyamin also accompany them in order that they may receive food grains in the future as well. Then, they would be there to protect this brother of theirs at its best with assurance that they would see to it that he faces no inconvenience during the trip.

Their father asked them if they wanted him to trust them with Benyamin as he had done before with their brother, Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . The drive of his remark makes it obvious that he did not trust their word. He had trusted them once, and suffered - for they had promised in the same words spoken earlier that they would guard him.

This much was an answer to what they had said. But, he had the need of the family in sight, and because he was blessed with the quality of trust in the Divine dispension of matters, he talked about the reality as he knew it saying, in effect, that man has no control over his gain or loss unless Allah Ta ala Himself so wills. And when He wills it, it cannot be diverted or averted by anyone. Therefore, it is incorrect to place one's trust in the created beings of Allah in this matter and equally inappropriate is the dependence on their complaints to settle it.