Tafsir Ibn Kathir -> Surah Yusuf -> Ya`qub finds the Scent of Yusuf in his Shirt! |
Yusuf said, `Take this shirt of mine, ﴿فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَى وَجْهِ أَبِى يَأْتِ بَصِيرًا﴾ (and cast it over the face of my father, his vision will return),' because Ya`qub had lost his sight from excessive crying, ﴿وَأْتُونِى بِأَهْلِكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ﴾ (and bring to me all your family.) all the children of Ya`qub. ﴿وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ الْعِيرُ﴾ (And when the caravan departed) from Egypt, ﴿قَالَ أَبُوهُمْ﴾ (their father said...), Ya`qub, peace be upon him, said to the children who remained with him, ﴿إِنِّى لأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ﴾ `(I do indeed feel the smell of Yusuf, if only you think me not senile.), except that you might think me senile because of old age.' `Abdur-Razzaq narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "When the caravan departed ﴿from Egypt﴾, a wind started blowing and brought the scent of Yusuf's shirt to Ya`qub. He said, ﴿إِنِّى لأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ﴾ (I do indeed feel the smell of Yusuf , if only you think me not senile.) He found his scent from a distance of eight days away!'' Similar was also reported through Sufyan Ath-Thawri and Shu`bah and others reported it from Abu Sinan. Ya`qub said to them, ﴿لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ﴾ (if only you think me not senile.) Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ata, Qatadah and Sa'id bin Jubayr commented, "If only you think me not a fool!'' Mujahid and Al-Hasan said that it means, "If only you think me not old.'' Their answer to him was, ﴿إِنَّكَ لَفِى ضَلَـلِكَ الْقَدِيمِ﴾ (Certainly, you are in your old Dalal.) meaning, `in your old error,' according to Ibn `Abbas. Qatadah commented, "They meant that, `because of your love for Yusuf you will never forget him.' So they uttered a harsh word to their father that they should never have uttered to him, nor to a Prophet of Allah.'' Similar was said by As-Suddi and others. ﴿فَلَمَّآ أَن جَآءَ الْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَاهُ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ فَارْتَدَّ بَصِيرًا قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَّكُمْ إِنِّى أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ - قَالُواْ يأَبَانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا خَـطِئِينَ - قَالَ سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّى إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ ﴾ (96. Then, when the bearer of the good news arrived, he cast it (the shirt) over his face, and his vision returned. He said: "Did I not say to you, `I know from Allah that which you know not''') (97. They said: "O our father! Ask forgiveness (from Allah) for our sins, indeed we have been sinners.'') (98. He said: "I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you, verily, He! Only He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.'')
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