ការបកប្រែអត្ថន័យគួរអាន - ការបកប្រែជាភាសាអង់គ្លេស - បណ្ឌិត វ៉ាលីទព្លីហាស្ហ អូម៉ើរី - កំពុងដំណើរការលើវា
فَلَمَّا ذَهَبُواْ بِهِۦ وَأَجۡمَعُوٓاْ أَن يَجۡعَلُوهُ فِي غَيَٰبَتِ ٱلۡجُبِّۚ وَأَوۡحَيۡنَآ إِلَيۡهِ لَتُنَبِّئَنَّهُم بِأَمۡرِهِمۡ هَٰذَا وَهُمۡ لَا يَشۡعُرُونَ
[2680] This interpolation is implied in the Qur’anic structure which begins with the time adverb lamma (when) (cf. Abū Ḥayyān, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2681] God in His infinite Mercy and Compassion assuaged this distraught child who had been betrayed and consigned to this desolate place by his own brothers with this uplifting inspiration; that he would come out the better for it and he would have the upper hand in times to come (cf. al-Saʿdī, Fawā’id Mustanbaṭah min Qiṣṣati Yūsuf ʿAlayhi al-Salām, p. 52). It is heartening to know that one will emerge victorious from a difficult circumstance and that the person who was conduit to it will be tipped off balance and whereby one will witness this with one’s own eyes.
[2682] They would be none the wiser as to who the person would be that would, in the future, tell them about their grievous action (Aya 89 below). They would not realize that he was their brother because they had very long ago thrown him in the well, out of which they never thought he would emerge; they could not see the unimaginably very high position he would come to hold (cf. al-Shawkānī).
وَجَآءُوٓ أَبَاهُمۡ عِشَآءٗ يَبۡكُونَ
[2683] That they came late in the evening could have been in perfection of their plan and to cloak their awkwardness in the darkness of the night (cf. Abū Ḥayyān).
قَالُواْ يَٰٓأَبَانَآ إِنَّا ذَهَبۡنَا نَسۡتَبِقُ وَتَرَكۡنَا يُوسُفَ عِندَ مَتَٰعِنَا فَأَكَلَهُ ٱلذِّئۡبُۖ وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُؤۡمِنٖ لَّنَا وَلَوۡ كُنَّا صَٰدِقِينَ
وَجَآءُو عَلَىٰ قَمِيصِهِۦ بِدَمٖ كَذِبٖۚ قَالَ بَلۡ سَوَّلَتۡ لَكُمۡ أَنفُسُكُمۡ أَمۡرٗاۖ فَصَبۡرٞ جَمِيلٞۖ وَٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمُسۡتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ
[2684] He saw that the bloodied tunic was intact; a sure sign of their lying (cf. al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[2685] Ṣabrun jamīl (comely/handsome patience) is a patience that knows no complaining or panic (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Zajjāj, Maʿānī al-Qur’ān, al-Saʿdī).
Although he knew for sure that their story was false, Jacob (عليه السلام) received the news so quietly because he was too old to go out and search for Joseph on his own and furthermore his helpers would only be the culprits behind his disappearance (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2686] Waṣf (description) is often used in the Qur’an to denote lying (cf. al-Samīn al-Ḥalabī, ʿUmdat al-Ḥuffāẓ, 4:317).
وَجَآءَتۡ سَيَّارَةٞ فَأَرۡسَلُواْ وَارِدَهُمۡ فَأَدۡلَىٰ دَلۡوَهُۥۖ قَالَ يَٰبُشۡرَىٰ هَٰذَا غُلَٰمٞۚ وَأَسَرُّوهُ بِضَٰعَةٗۚ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمُۢ بِمَا يَعۡمَلُونَ
[2687] These were regular wayfarers who frequented this trading route between Egypt and the Levant. This is why his brothers deliberately placed him in that particular well and any wayfarers would know of its whereabouts (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2688] That Yūsuf (عليه السلام) was at a very tender age, about 6 or 7, is evident from his father’s fear that he could not ward off harm from himself, the water boy’s saying that he found a ‘boy’ (ghulām), the wayfarers taking him for merchandise, and the Chief Minister’s saying to his wife that they would find him of use or adopt him as a son (cf. Abū Ḥayyān).
[2689] That is, they did not, even at least, declare him to those living in the vicinity of the well or search for his family to return him to them and saw him only as merchandise because, given his handsome appearance, they thought him of some value (cf. Abū Ḥayyān, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2690] That God Almighty knew about this affair is all-evident, but it is highlighted here to indicate that He (ﷺ) did not intercede to alter this course of action, full of deceit, lies, pain and sorrow as it was, because, in His Infinite Wisdom, He wanted His decree to come to pass (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, al-Wajīz, Ibn Kathīr). In other words, this was the event that lead to subsequent events (cf. al-Qinnawjī).
وَشَرَوۡهُ بِثَمَنِۭ بَخۡسٖ دَرَٰهِمَ مَعۡدُودَةٖ وَكَانُواْ فِيهِ مِنَ ٱلزَّٰهِدِينَ
[2691] Exegetes are of two different opinions as to who the sellers were. al-Ṭabarī, al-Samʿānī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr and al-Saʿdī are of the opinion that these were his brothers who caught up with the caravan and told them that Yūsuf was an eloping slave boy whom they then sold to the wayfarers for a pittance. On the other hand, Ibn Juzayy, Abū Ḥayyān, al-Biqāʿī, Riḍā and Ibn ʿĀshūr, given the context and the flow of events, see that these were the wayfarers themselves. They wanted to rid themselves of their felony, a veritable hot potato, as soon as possible (cf. Riḍā, al-Tafsīr al-Mukhtaṣar) or they were just unaware of his true worth (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِي ٱشۡتَرَىٰهُ مِن مِّصۡرَ لِٱمۡرَأَتِهِۦٓ أَكۡرِمِي مَثۡوَىٰهُ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَنفَعَنَآ أَوۡ نَتَّخِذَهُۥ وَلَدٗاۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُۥ مِن تَأۡوِيلِ ٱلۡأَحَادِيثِۚ وَٱللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَىٰٓ أَمۡرِهِۦ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكۡثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ
[2692] A new chapter in his life begins here.
[2693] He obviously saw in him something that made him expect good things from him (cf. al-Ṭabarānī: 8829).
[2694] This was the first transitional station in Yūsuf’s journey to greatness. His coming into the caring folds of one of Egypt’s mightiest houses at the time, second to none but the King himself, was by way of preparing him for the great stately affairs he was to assume in the future (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2695] Despite the artifice designed by his brothers to gain the upper hand and alter the inevitable course of events, God was there to have this vision realized (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2696] God ran Yūsuf’s affairs and cared for him so that he would not be harmed by anyone’s ruse (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn al-Jawzī), of which his life knew no shortage.
[2697] Evident as it is, most people are, to their own detriment, unaware of the fact that God rules Supreme over all affairs (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
The expression “but most people do not know/thank/Believe” (wa lākinna akthara l-nāsi lā yaʿlamūn/yashkurūn/yu’minūn) is to be found 19 times throughout the Qur’an. No less than 4 of these, by far the highest concentration in any single sura, are to be found in this sura; Ayas: 21, 38, 40 and 68. Given the circumstances in which this sura came down, it constitutes a message loaded with meaning giving the Prophet (ﷺ) a wise look at how humans are in order to make him take heart from this fact and not be saddened by the denial with which those around him received the Message. This could also be a hidden message to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) to strengthen his position, strengthen his forbearance knowing that God is in charge of the events that were taking place at that time and that He would make him emerge victorious and make the land ‘becoming’ for him as much as He made it so for Joseph, despite all that he was going through (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr).
وَلَمَّا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥٓ ءَاتَيۡنَٰهُ حُكۡمٗا وَعِلۡمٗاۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نَجۡزِي ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ
[2698] In this passage and the following, we get to the third episode of Yūsuf’s (عليه السلام) story: the wiles of the Chief Minister’s wife; his second predicament.
[2699] This is a literal translation of al-ḥukm. Exegetes hold different opinions as to what exactly this means. Whereas al-Ṭabarī opines that it means sound judgement, al-Baghawī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī and Ibn ʿĀshūr observe that it means Prophethood.
[2700] al-Ṭabarī sees a hint in this to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ); an assuring note that he would be delivered and given the advantage over his tormentors: “Indeed Allah’s Mercy is ever close to the well-doers” (7: 56).
