Ayah
Word by Word
وَسۡـَٔلِ
And ask
ٱلۡقَرۡيَةَ
the town
ٱلَّتِي
where
كُنَّا
we were
فِيهَا
[in it]
وَٱلۡعِيرَ
and the caravan
ٱلَّتِيٓ
which
أَقۡبَلۡنَا
we returned
فِيهَاۖ
[in it]
وَإِنَّا
And indeed we
لَصَٰدِقُونَ
surely (are) truthful
وَسۡـَٔلِ
And ask
ٱلۡقَرۡيَةَ
the town
ٱلَّتِي
where
كُنَّا
we were
فِيهَا
[in it]
وَٱلۡعِيرَ
and the caravan
ٱلَّتِيٓ
which
أَقۡبَلۡنَا
we returned
فِيهَاۖ
[in it]
وَإِنَّا
And indeed we
لَصَٰدِقُونَ
surely (are) truthful
Translation
"'Ask at the town where we have been and the caravan in which we returned, and (you will find) we are indeed telling the truth.'"
Tafsir
And ask the city in which we were - namely Egypt - in other words, send forth [someone] to ask its people, and the caravan, the men of the caravan, with which we approached - and these were a group of Canaanites. Surely we speak the truth" ', in what we say. So they went back to him and told him as much.
"Yusuf's Brothers consult Each Other in Confidence; the Advice Their Eldest Brother gave Them
Allah tells:
فَلَمَّا اسۡتَيۡأَسُواۡ مِنۡهُ خَلَصُواۡ نَجِيًّا
So, when they despaired of him, they consulted in private.
Allah narrates to us that Yusuf's brothers were desperate because they could not secure the release of their brother Binyamin, even though they had given a promise and sworn to their father to bring him back. They were unable to fulfill their promise to their father, so,
خَلَصُو
(in private), away from people's eyes,
نَجِيًّا
(they consulted), among themselves,
قَالَ كَبِيرُ
The eldest among them said,
and his name, as we mentioned, was Rubil, or Yahudha. He was the one among them who recommended throwing Yusuf into a well, rather than killing him. So Rubil said to them,
هُمۡ أَلَمۡ تَعۡلَمُواۡ أَنَّ أَبَاكُمۡ قَدۡ أَخَذَ عَلَيۡكُم مَّوۡثِقًا مِّنَ اللّهِ
Know you not that your father did take an oath from you in Allah's Name,
that you will return Binyamin to him.
However, you were not able to fulfill this promise.
وَمِن قَبۡلُ مَا فَرَّطتُمۡ فِي يُوسُفَ
and before this you did fail in your duty with Yusuf.
فَلَنۡ أَبۡرَحَ الَارۡضَ
Therefore I will not leave this land,
I will not leave Egypt,
حَتَّىَ يَأۡذَنَ لِي أَبِي
until my father permits me,
allows me to go back to him while he is pleased with me,
أَوۡ يَحۡكُمَ اللّهُ لِي
or Allah decides my case,
by using the sword, or, they says; by allowing me to secure the release of my brother,
وَهُوَ خَيۡرُ الۡحَاكِمِينَ
and He is the Best of the judges.
He next ordered them to narrate to their father what happened so that they could present their excuse about that happened to Binyamin and as claim their innocence before him
ارۡجِعُواۡ إِلَى أَبِيكُمۡ فَقُولُواۡ يَا أَبَانَا إِنَّ ابۡنَكَ سَرَقَ
وَمَا شَهِدۡنَا إِلاَّ بِمَا عَلِمۡنَا
""Return to your father and say, `O our father! Verily, your son has stolen, and we testify not except according to what we know, and we could not know the Unseen!
Rubil said to them (to say to their father),
وَمَا كُنَّا لِلۡغَيۡبِ حَافِظِينَ
and we could not know the Unseen!
or, `we did not know that your son had committed theft,' according to Qatadah and Ikrimah.
Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said that it means,
`we did not know that Binyamin stole something that belonged to the king, we only stated the punishment of the thief,
وَاسۡأَلِ الۡقَرۡيَةَ الَّتِي كُنَّا فِيهَا
And ask (the people of) the town where we have been,
in reference to Egypt, according to Qatadah, or another town.
وَالۡعِيۡرَ الَّتِي أَقۡبَلۡنَا فِيهَا
and the caravan in which we returned,
`about our truthfulness, honesty, protection and sincere guardianship,
وَإِنَّا لَصَادِقُونَ
and indeed we are telling the truth.
in what we have told you, that Binyamin stole and was taken as a captive as compensation for his theft.'"
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