Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 12:83–87

Translation

(83) Jacob said, ‘No, but you have yourselves contrived a story. But it is best to be patient. God may well bring them all back to me [in the end]. For He is indeed full of knowledge and wisdom.’ (84) And he turned away from them, crying, ‘Alas for Joseph!’ His eyes went white with grief, and he was filled with sorrow. (85) They said, ‘By God, will you keep on remembering Joseph until your health is ruined, and you die?’ (86) He said ‘I only complain of my anguish and my sorrow to God. God has made known to me things that you do not know. (87) Go, my sons, and seek news of Joseph and his brother. Do not despair of God’s mercy; none but those who deny the truth despair of God’s mercy.’

Commentary

a) By saying this Jacob exposed the evil in the hearts of Joseph’s brothers. When they left their father, they had taken Benjamin with them, promising his complete safety; and when a cup was discovered among Benjamin’s belongings, they could not even say in his defence that just the finding of the cup did not prove him to be a thief. Perhaps somebody had put it in his baggage; or it might have been packed up in his baggage by mistake. Instead, they confirmed the Egyptians’ suspicion about Benjamin’s alleged guilt by their referring to a theft formerly committed by his brother.

(b) Jacob was heartbroken on losing his two very dear sons. But at the same time he pinned his hopes on the Grace of God. He was certain that Joseph’s dream predicted the future and that it would definitely come true. That is why he asked his sons to go and search for Joseph and also to try to have Benjamin released.