Joseph said, “O my father, you wept until you lost your sight. Did you not know that the Day of Resurrection will bring us together?” He replied, “Indeed, my son; but I feared that your religion might be taken from you, and that I would be kept apart from you.” (1)
“Then, when they entered upon Joseph, he drew his parents close to himself and said, ‘Enter Egypt, if Allah wills, in security.’ And he raised his parents upon the throne, and they fell down before him in prostration. He said, ‘O my father, this is the fulfilment of my former vision. My Lord has made it come true. He has certainly been good to me: He brought me out of prison and brought you from the desert after Satan had stirred up discord between me and my brothers. Indeed, my Lord is Subtle in accomplishing what He wills. He alone is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.’” (99–100)
This is the meaning of His saying, Most High: “Then, when they entered upon Joseph, he drew his parents close to himself,” that is, he embraced them. Regarding “his parents,” most Qur’anic exegetes said: they were his father and his maternal aunt, Leah. His mother, Rachel, had died while giving birth to Benjamin. (2)
Al-Hasan said: They were his father and his mother, and she was still alive. (3)
Some commentaries relate that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, brought his mother back to life, and she came with Jacob to Egypt. (4)
As for His saying, “And he said, ‘Enter Egypt, if Allah wills, in security,’” it may be asked: Allah has already said, “Then, when they entered upon Joseph, he drew his parents close to himself”; so how could he say, “Enter Egypt, if Allah wills, in security,” (5) after He had informed us that they had entered it? What is the point of this qualification, when their entry had already taken place?
It is said: Joseph only spoke these words to them when he went out to receive them, before they entered Egypt. The verse involves an inversion in sequence, and the qualification refers to seeking forgiveness; it belongs to Jacob’s statement to his sons: “I shall ask my Lord to forgive you, if Allah wills.” (6)
(1) See al-Bahr al-Muhit, 5:347.
(2) Reported by Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu al-Shaykh from Wahb ibn Munabbih, and by al-Tabari from al-Suddi. See al-Durr al-Manthur, 4:587-588; Tafsir al-Tabari, 16:267.
(3) Reported by al-Tabari from Ibn Ishaq. He said: “This is more likely to be correct, because this is the predominant and customary usage of people regarding the term ‘parents,’ unless the claim that Yusuf’s mother had died before this can be established by evidence that must be accepted; in that case, it should be accepted.” See Tafsir al-Tabari, 16:267; Ibn Atiyyah, al-Muharrar al-Wajiz, 8:79.
(4) See al-Bahr al-Muhit, 5:347. Al-Alusi said, 13:57: “Apparently, this has not been established; and had such a report been established, it would have become widely known.”
(5) The text in parentheses is omitted from “B.”
(6) Al-Tabari explained this in detail: “The scholars of interpretation differed concerning this. Some said that Jacob entered upon Yusuf only with his children, and that Yusuf had received his parents into his care before they entered Egypt. They said that Yusuf met his father before he entered Egypt, as an honor to him, and received him into his care. He then said to him and those with him: ‘Enter Egypt, if Allah wills, in safety’—that is, before their entry. This was the view of al-Suddi. Others said that the phrase ‘if Allah wills’ was an exception connected to Jacob’s statement to his sons: ‘I shall seek my Lord’s forgiveness for you.’ They said that it is a delayed phrase whose meaning comes earlier; that is, the meaning is: ‘I shall seek my Lord’s forgiveness for you, if Allah wills. Indeed, He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’ Then, when they entered upon Yusuf, he received his parents into his care, said, ‘Enter Egypt,’ and raised his parents [upon the throne]. This was the view of Ibn Jurayj.”
Al-Tabari then preferred the first view, saying: “The correct view in our judgment is that stated by al-Suddi: Yusuf said this to his parents and those with them of their children and households before they entered Egypt, when he met them. This is what the apparent wording of the revelation indicates. There is no evidence establishing the correctness of Ibn Jurayj’s view, and there is no basis for moving any part of Allah’s Book forward from its place or delaying it from its position except on the basis of clear proof.” See Tafsir al-Tabari, 16:264-266.
Ibn Kathir aptly endorsed al-Tabari’s refutation of Ibn Jurayj and his preference for al-Suddi’s view, then said, 2:491: “What prevents him from having said to them—after they had entered upon him and he had received them into his care—‘Enter Egypt,’ thereby meaning: settle in Egypt, if Allah wills, in safety; that is, safe from the hardship and famine in which you had been living?” Ibn Atiyyah also mentioned this interpretation, 8:79, explaining the verse, “Enter Egypt,” as meaning: “Establish yourselves, reside, and settle, for they had already entered upon him.” He then mentioned al-Suddi’s view and said, 8:80: “This exception is what the Quran encourages people to say regarding everything they intend to carry out in the future.” He also cited Ibn Jurayj’s view and said: “This interpretation is weak.” See Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 9:263.