Tafsir of Surah Yusuf - Verse 14

Ya`qub's Answer to Their Request

Allah narrates to us that His Prophet Ya`qub said to his children, in response to their request that he send Yusuf with them to the desert to tend their cattle,

إِنِّى لَيَحْزُنُنِى أَن تَذْهَبُواْ بِهِ

(Truly, it saddens me that you should take him away.) He said that it was hard on him that he be separated from Yusuf for the duration of their trip, until they came back. This demonstrates the deep love that Ya`qub had for his son, because he saw in Yusuf great goodness and exalted qualities with regards to conduct and physical attractiveness associated with the rank of prophethood. May Allah's peace and blessings be on him. Prophet Ya`qub's statement next,

وَأَخَافُ أَن يَأْكُلَهُ الذِّئْبُ وَأَنْتُمْ عَنْهُ غَـفِلُونَ

(I fear lest a wolf should devour him, while you are careless of him.) He said to them, `I fear that you might be careless with him while you are tending the cattle and shooting, then a wolf might come and eat him while you are unaware.' They heard these words from his mouth and used them in their response for what they did afterwards. They also gave a spontaneous reply for their father's statement, saying,

لَئِنْ أَكَلَهُ الذِّئْبُ وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّآ إِذَا لَّخَـسِرُونَ

(If a wolf devours him, while we are an `Usbah, then surely, we are the losers.) They said, `If a wolf should attack and devour him while we are all around him in a strong group, then indeed we are the losers and weak.'

After hearing what Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) said, those brothers countered it by saying that his apprehension was strange in view of the presence of a strong group of the ten of them to protect Yusuf. If a wolf could be expected to eat up Yusuf despite their being there to guard him, it would render their very presence around him totally senseless. If so, they could not be taken as good for anything.

Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) acting with the elegance of a great prophet he was, did not say it plainly before his children that it was they about whom he feared a foul play because, firstly it would have been a painful statement to make against all of them and, secondly, there was the danger that such a statement from the father would have increased the en-mity of the brothers to higher proportions - that is, if they somehow abandoned their idea of killing him now, they might have done so at some later occasion under some other excuse. For this reason, he allowed them to go. But, he did make sure that the brothers give him a solemn pledge that they would see that no harm comes to Yusuf. As added pre-caution, he entrusted him with his elder brother Ruebel (Rueben) or Yahuda (Judah) so that they specially take care of his needs there and see that he returns soon and safe. The brothers lifted Yusuf up on their shoulders, and kept doing so one by one. Sayyidna Yaqui followed them upto a certain distance to bid them farewell.

When these people, as described by Al-Qurtubi following historical narrations, disappeared from the sight of Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) ، the brother on whose shoulders Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was perched threw him down on the ground. He started walking by himself. But, being too small, he could not keep pace with them and tried to seek help from another brother. He remained cold. So did every brother he went to for help. They told him that he better call for help those eleven stars, the Sun and the Moon he had seen prostrating to him - they should help him.

From here, Al-Qurtubi concludes that the brothers had somehow found out about the dream of Sayyidna Yusuf ill. That dream became the cause of their extreme hostility.

Finally, Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) appealed to Yahuda as his elder brother telling him about his plight. He was weak and small and needed protection, at least for the sake of their old father to whom they had given the pledge to help him. Yahuda was moved and he told him that until he was alive, he would not let these brothers hurt him.

Thus, when Allah Ta` ala put mercy in the heart of Yahuda and the ability to do what was right, he told the other brothers of his that killing someone sinless was an extremely grave sin, therefore, they should fear Allah and take the innocent child back to his father. However, to make things easy on them, they could take a pledge from him that he would not complain to him in any way about their behaviour.

The brothers told Yahuda: We know what you mean. You wish to rise higher than us in the sight of our father. So, you better listen to us. If you do anything to resist our intention, we shall kill you too. When Yahuda realized that he alone could do nothing against his nine brothers, he told them: Well, if you have decided to get rid of this child, then, listen to me carefully. There is an old well nearby with a lot of wild growth in it and now a home for many lethal crawlers. Put him in that well. If a snake or scorpion bites and kills him there, you shall have what you are looking for. Thus, you shall remain free of the blame of shedding his blood by your own hands. And, in case, he still remains alive, then, may be there comes a caravan this way, lowers its bucket to draw water from it and finds him instead. It is likely that they would take him away with them to some other country in which case too you would have achieved your objective.

The reply given by Jacob to his sons shows that he had already guessed that it was not a question of Joseph playing and enjoying himself in some meadow, but that Joseph’s brothers had hatched a conspiracy against him. But a man who fears God is one who trusts in God. He had sensed what was going to happen, but he considered the power of God to be above everything else. With full faith in his Lord’s omnipotence, and in spite of sensing clear dangers, he consigned Joseph to the care of his brothers. This was the picture of a God-fearing person. By contrast, Joseph’s brothers presented a picture of people whose hearts are completely devoid of the fear of God. In making their plans to destroy a servant of God quite unjustifiably, they had forgotten that this was a world in which nobody had any power except God. They tried to present themselves as well-wishers simply on the basis of beautiful words, but before God, a person is treated as a well-wisher solely on the basis of his deeds.