“So when he had furnished them with their supplies, he placed the drinking cup in his brother’s saddlebag. Then an announcer proclaimed, ‘O caravan, you are surely thieves!’ They turned towards them and said, ‘What is it that you are missing?’ They said, ‘We are missing the king’s measuring cup. Whoever brings it shall have a camel-load of provisions, and I guarantee it.’” (70–72)

“So when he had furnished them with their supplies, he placed the drinking cup in his brother’s saddlebag.” This was the vessel from which the king drank.

Ibn ‘Abbas said: It was made of chrysolite.

Ibn Ishaq said: It was made of silver. It was also said that it was made of gold. ‘Ikrimah said: It was a silver drinking vessel set with jewels. Joseph used it as a measuring vessel so that nothing else would be used for measuring, and he drank from it.

The drinking cup and the measuring cup were one and the same. It was placed in Binyamin’s food container. Then they departed, and Joseph gave them time until they had set out and travelled one stage.

It was also said: until they had left the inhabited area; then he sent someone after them to stop and detain them.

“Then an announcer proclaimed”: that is, a caller cried out, “O caravan”—meaning, the caravan carrying loads. Mujahid said: Their caravan consisted of donkeys. Al-Farra’ said: They were people with camels. “You are surely thieves”: “Stop!” It was said that they said this without Joseph’s instruction. It was also said that they said it by his instruction, and that it was a slip on his part. Another view is that they said it in the sense that the brothers had stolen Joseph from his father.

When the messenger reached them, he said to them, “Did we not honor you as guests, treat you generously, give you your full measure, and do for you what we have not done for others?” They said, “Indeed; but what is the matter?” They said, “The king’s drinking cup is missing, and we suspect no one but you of taking it.” Thus is His saying, exalted is He:

“They turned towards them”—that is, they turned toward the announcer and his companions—“and said, ‘What is it that you are missing?’” Meaning: What is it that has gone missing from you? Loss is the opposite of finding.

“They said, ‘We are missing the king’s measuring cup. Whoever brings it shall have a camel-load’”—that is, a camel-load of provisions—“‘and I guarantee it.’” That is, “I am responsible for it,” as stated by the announcer.