“-the one with which we travelled.” That is to say: what we have told you—that our brother was taken because he allegedly stole—is a matter now publicly known in Egypt, and the whole caravan that was there with us is aware of it. “And we are indeed telling the truth.” (12:82)

But Jacob said, “No indeed; it is you who have contrived something within your souls. So comely patience! ” (12:83) In other words, the affair is not as you have described. He did not steal; that is neither his nature nor his character. Rather, you have invented this matter, so I shall meet it with beautiful patience.

Ibn Isḥāq and others relate that, because their negligence toward Benjamin sprang from the very thing they had done to Joseph, Jacob spoke to them as he did. One of the early scholars remarked: “Part of the requital for a sin is yet another sin that follows it.”

He then said, “Perhaps Allah will bring them all back to me”—meaning Joseph, Benjamin, and Reuben—“for He alone is the All-Knowing” of my state and of the anguish I feel at being separated from those I love, “the All-Wise” in whatever He decrees and whatever He does; His wisdom is perfect and His proof decisive.

“And he turned away from them,” that is, he turned aside from his sons, “and said, ‘Alas for Joseph!’ ” The fresh sorrow reminded him of the former sorrow and roused what had lain dormant, just as someone once said:

Move your heart where you may in love’s domain—
love ever belongs to the very first one. (1)

Another poet said:

My companion reproached me at the graves for my weeping,
At the tears that streamed down unrestrained. (2)
He said, “Do you weep at every grave you behold—
for the tomb of one who lies between al-Liwa and the hillocks?” (3)
I answered, “Grief awakens grief; so leave me—
for every grave before me is the grave of Mālik.” (4)

Concerning the verse, “His eyes turned white with grief,” this was from the abundance of his weeping; “and he was suppressing his sorrow,” meaning he swallowed his pain, overwhelmed by anguish, regret, and yearning for Joseph. When his sons saw the torment he endured—the heart-ache and the agony of separation—they said to him compassionately and with concern, “By God, you will go on remembering Joseph until you waste away or perish.” That is, you will not cease recalling him until your body decays and your strength falters; it would be kinder to show some mercy to yourself.

He replied, “I only complain of my anguish and my grief to Allah, and I know from Allah what you do not know.” He was telling them: I do not complain to you, nor to any human being, of what I suffer; I complain only to Allah, and I am certain that He will grant me relief and a way out of what I am in. I also know that Joseph’s vision must come to pass, and that I and you will prostrate to him exactly as he saw. Hence his words, “and I know from Allah what you do not know.”

He then urged them to seek out Joseph and his brother and to enquire about their affair:

“My sons, go forth and search for Joseph and his brother, and do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Truly none despairs of Allah’s mercy except an unbelieving people…”