Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (1/309)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

Whoever claims that the recitation should pause at the words, “No reproach shall be upon you,” and then begin anew with, “Today Allah will forgive you,” is espousing a weak opinion; the sound reading is the first.

Joseph then instructed them to take his shirt—the garment that had touched his own body—place it over their father’s eyes, and, by Allah’s permission, his sight would return after having been lost. This is a breach of the natural order, a proof of prophethood, and one of the greatest miracles.

He next ordered them to move with their entire family to the land of Egypt—toward well-being, ease, and the reunion of a household long scattered—in the finest and most complete manner.

“When the caravan departed, their father said, ‘Indeed, I sense the scent of Joseph—if only you do not think me senile.’ They replied, ‘By Allah, you are still lost in your old delusion.’ But when the bearer of good news arrived and cast it over his face, he regained his sight. He said, ‘Did I not tell you that I know from Allah what you do not know?’ They pleaded, ‘Our father, seek forgiveness for our sins; indeed we were in the wrong.’ He answered, ‘I shall surely ask my Lord to forgive you; truly He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’” (Yūsuf 94–98)

ʿAbd al-Razzaq narrated: Israel informed us, from Abū Sinān, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī al-Hadhayl, who said: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās remark on the verse, “When the caravan departed”: once the caravan left, a wind stirred and carried to Jacob the fragrance of Joseph’s shirt, and he perceived it from a distance of eight days’ travel.

Al-Thawrī, Shuʿbah, and others transmitted the same report from Abū Sinān.

Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Ibn Jurayj of Mecca said: the distance between them was eighty parasangs, and eighty years had passed since Jacob had parted from Joseph.

Concerning the phrase, “if only you do not think me senile,” it means: you may say that I have spoken this out of dotage, feebleness, and old age. Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAṭāʾ, Mujāhid, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, and Qatādah said that tufannidūn means “you deem me foolish.” Mujāhid and al-Ḥasan also said: “you claim I have grown senile.”

“They said, ‘By Allah, you are still lost in your old delusion’” — Qatādah and al-Suddi noted that they addressed him with a harsh word.

Allah, exalted is He, then states: “But when the bearer of good news arrived and cast it over his face, he regained his sight,” meaning that the moment he arrived he threw the shirt over Jacob’s face, and at once the blind man saw again.

He then said to his sons, “Did I not tell you that I know from Allah what you do not know?”—that is, I knew that Allah would reunite me with Joseph, console my eyes through him, and show me from him what would delight me.

At that point they implored, “Our father, seek forgiveness for our sins; indeed we were sinners.” They asked him to petition Allah to pardon them for what they had done to him and to his son, and for what they had intended. Because their resolve to repent preceded the act, Allah enabled them to ask forgiveness when—

(1) Reported by ‘Abd al-Razzāq, al-Firyābī, Ahmad in al-Zuhd, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Abū al-Shaykh, and Ibn Mardūwayh, as in al-Dur al-Manthūr (vol. 4, p. 581). (2) Reported by Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim, as in al-Dur al-Manthūr (vol. 4, p. 581).

ومن زعم أن الوقفَ على قوله لا تثريبَ عليكم، وابتدأ بقوله ﴿الْيَوْمَ يَغْفِرُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ﴾ فقوله ضعيف، والصحيح الأول. ثم أمرهم بأن يذهبوا بقميصه، وهو الذي يلي جسدَه، فيضعوه على عينيْ أبيه، فإنه يرجع إليه بصره بعدما كان ذهبَ بإذن الله، وهذا من خوارق العادات ودلائل النبوات وأكبر المعجزات. ثم أمرَهم أن يتحمَّلوا بأهلهم أجمعينَ إلى ديار مصرَ، إلى الخير والدَّعة وجمع الشمل بعد الفرقة، على أكمل الوجوه وأعلى الأمور. ﴿وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ الْعِيرُ قَالَ أَبُوهُمْ إِنِّي لَأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلَا أَنْ تُفَنِّدُونِ (٩٤) قَالُوا تَاللَّهِ إِنَّكَ لَفِي ضَلَالِكَ الْقَدِيمِ (٩٥) فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاءَ الْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَاهُ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ فَارْتَدَّ بَصِيرًا قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ (٩٦) قَالُوا يَاأَبَانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا خَاطِئِينَ (٩٧) قَالَ سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّي إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ﴾ [يوسف: ٩٤ - ٩٨] . قال عبدُ الرزاق: أنبأنا إسرائيل، عن أبي سنان، عن عبد الله بن أبي الهذيل، سمعت ابنَ عبَّاس يقول: ﴿وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ الْعِيرُ﴾ قال: لما خرجتِ العيرُ، هاجتْ ريحٌ فجاءتْ يعقوبَ بريحِ قميص يوسف ﴿قَالَ أَبُوهُمْ إِنِّي لَأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلَا أَنْ تُفَنِّدُونِ﴾ قال: فوجد ريحَه من مسيرة ثمانية أيام (١) . وكذا رواه الثوري وشعبة وغيرهم: عن أبي سنان، به. وقال الحسنُ البصري وابن جُريج المكي: كان بينهما مسيرة ثمانين فرسخًا، وكان له منذ فارقه ثمانون سنة. وقوله ﴿لَوْلَا أَنْ تُفَنِّدُونِ﴾ أي: تقولون إنما قلتَ هذا من الفند، وهو الخَرف وكبر السن. قال ابن عباس وعطاء ومجاهد وسعيد بن جُبير وقتادة: تفندون: تسفهون. وقال مجاهد أيضًا والحسن تهرمون (٢) . ﴿قَالُوا تَاللَّهِ إِنَّكَ لَفِي ضَلَالِكَ الْقَدِيمِ﴾ قال قتادة والسُّدي: قالوا له كلمة غليظة. قال الله تعالى: ﴿فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاءَ الْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَاهُ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ فَارْتَدَّ بَصِيرًا﴾ أي: بمجرد ما جاءَ ألقى القميصَ على وجه يعقوبَ، فرجعَ من فوره بصيرًا بعدما كان ضريرًا، وقال لبنيه عند ذلك ﴿قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ﴾ أي: أعلمُ أنَّ الله سيجمعُ شَمْلي بيوسفَ، وستقرُّ عيني به، وسيُريني فيه ومنه ما يسرُّني، فعند ذلك ﴿قَالُوا يَاأَبَانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا خَاطِئِينَ﴾. طلبوا إليه أن يستغفرَ لهم الله – Exalté soit-Il – عما كانوا فعلوا ونالوا منه ومن ابنه، وما كانوا عزموا عليه. ولما كان من نيِّتهم التوبةُ قبلَ الفعل قيَّضهُم الله للاستغفار عند

(١) أخرجه عبد الرزاق والفريابي وأحمد في الزهد وابن المنذر وابن أبي حاتم وأبو الشيخ وابن مردويه، كما في الدر المنثور (٤/ ٥٨١). (٢) أخرجه ابن جرير وابن أبي حاتم كما في الدر المنثور (٤/ ٥٨١).