يُوسُف : ١٥

  • فَلَمَّا So when
  • ذَهَبُواْ they took him
  • بِهِۦ they took him
  • وَأَجۡمَعُوٓاْ and agreed
  • أَن that
  • يَجۡعَلُوهُ they put him
  • فِي in
  • غَيَٰبَتِ (the) bottom
  • ٱلۡجُبِّۚ (of) the well
  • وَأَوۡحَيۡنَآ But We inspired
  • إِلَيۡهِ to him
  • لَتُنَبِّئَنَّهُم Surely, you will inform them
  • بِأَمۡرِهِمۡ about this affair
  • هَٰذَا about this affair
  • وَهُمۡ while they
  • لَا (do) not
  • يَشۡعُرُونَ perceive
So when they took him [out] and agreed to put him into the bottom of the well...1 But We inspired to him, "You will surely inform them [someday] about this affair of theirs while they do not perceive [your identity]."
Footnotes
1 - The conclusion of this sentence is estimated to be "...they tormented him."
So when they went off with him, and agreed, resolved, to put him into the bottom of the well (the response of lammaa, 'when', has been omitted, in other words [understand it as being] fa'aloo dhaalika, 'they did [just] that') by taking off his shirt - after having beaten him, humiliated him and desiring to kill him - and lowering him in a bucket [into the well]. When he reached half-way down the well, they flung him [from the bucket] so that he would [fall and] die, but he fell into the water and took refuge near a rock. They then called to him and he responded, thinking that they had [decided to have] mercy on him. They then wanted to smash his head with a rock, but Judah prevented them. And We revealed to him, in the well, through true revelation (wahy haqeeqa) - he was 17 years of age or just under - in order to reassure his heart: 'Truly you shall inform them, after this day, of this affair, [this] deed, of theirs when they are unaware', of [who] you [are] (wa-hum laa yash'uroona is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the action of 'informing').