Tafsir of Surah Yusuf - Verse 94

Ya`qub finds the Scent of Yusuf in his Shirt!

Yusuf said, `Take this shirt of mine,

فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَى وَجْهِ أَبِى يَأْتِ بَصِيرًا

(and cast it over the face of my father, his vision will return),' because Ya`qub had lost his sight from excessive crying,

وَأْتُونِى بِأَهْلِكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ

(and bring to me all your family.) all the children of Ya`qub.

وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ الْعِيرُ

(And when the caravan departed) from Egypt,

قَالَ أَبُوهُمْ

(their father said...), Ya`qub, peace be upon him, said to the children who remained with him,

إِنِّى لأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ

`(I do indeed feel the smell of Yusuf, if only you think me not senile.), except that you might think me senile because of old age.' `Abdur-Razzaq narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "When the caravan departed from Egypt, a wind started blowing and brought the scent of Yusuf's shirt to Ya`qub. He said,

إِنِّى لأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ

(I do indeed feel the smell of Yusuf , if only you think me not senile.) He found his scent from a distance of eight days away!" Similar was also reported through Sufyan Ath-Thawri and Shu`bah and others reported it from Abu Sinan. Ya`qub said to them,

لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ

(if only you think me not senile.) Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ata, Qatadah and Sa'id bin Jubayr commented, "If only you think me not a fool!" Mujahid and Al-Hasan said that it means, "If only you think me not old." Their answer to him was,

إِنَّكَ لَفِى ضَلَـلِكَ الْقَدِيمِ

(Certainly, you are in your old Dalal.) meaning, `in your old error,' according to Ibn `Abbas. Qatadah commented, "They meant that, `because of your love for Yusuf you will never forget him.' So they uttered a harsh word to their father that they should never have uttered to him, nor to a Prophet of Allah." Similar was said by As-Suddi and others.

Verse 94 opens with the words: وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ الْعِيرُ‌ ` And when the caravan set out' (and had reached barely outside the limits of the city), then, Sayyidna Yaqub said (to those around him): ` I sense the scent of Yusuf if you do not take me to be senile.' According to a narration of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ there was a travel distance of eight days from the city of Egypt to Canaan, and according to Sayyidna Hasan (رح) the distance was eighty farsakh, that is, nearly two hundred and fifty miles. Unique is the power of Allah Ta` ala who, from such a distance, carried all the way to Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) ، the scent of his son Yusuf (علیہ السلام) through the shirt of his son Yusuf. And something of wonder it certainly is that this scent, when Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) was sitting confined into a well of his own homeland, caused no reaction into the smell buds of his father! Right from here, we learn that no miracle is in the control of a prophet. In fact, a miracle is not even the personal act and action of the prophet. This is directly the act of Allah. When Allah Ta` ala wills, He makes a miracle manifest itself. And when the Divine will is not there, the nearest of the near recedes into the farthest.

After the separation from his father, Joseph lived in the neighbouring country of Egypt for more than 20 years, but Jacob remained unaware of it. But during his last days, when Joseph’s garment was being brought back from Egypt, Jacob started smelling the garment’s fragrance before it reached him. This shows that a prophet’s knowledge is not his own personal affair but a gift from God. Had it been a question of his personal knowledge, Jacob would have come to know much earlier that his son was in Egypt, but this did not happen. He came to know about Joseph’s whereabouts only when God made him aware of them. The conversation between Jacob’s family members as recorded in this chapter at various places gives an indication that, in the eyes of his family members, Jacob did not inspire the awe befitting a prophet. Those who adore their ancestors, holding them holy, are not ready to admit the greatness of the living guide. The reason for this is that a halo of exaggerated stories and anecdotes of magical charms is woven round the venerated leaders of the past; an artificial image of the holy person is thus impressed on the minds of the people. As the living guide does not measure up to this artificial image, he does not appear to be a great man to his contemporaries.