فَلَمَّا رَجَعُوْۤا اِلٰٓى اَبِيْهِمْ قَالُوْا يٰۤاَبَانَا مُنِعَ مِنَّا الْكَيْلُ فَاَرْسِلْ مَعَنَاۤ اَخَانَا نَكْتَلْ وَاِنَّا لَهٗ لَحٰـفِظُوْنَ (63) قَالَ هَلْ اٰمَنُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ اِلَّا كَمَاۤ اَمِنْتُكُمْ عَلٰٓى اَخِيْهِ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَاللّٰهُ خَيْرٌ حٰفِظًا وَّهُوَ اَرْحَمُ الرّٰحِمِيْنَ (64) وَلَمَّا فَتَحُوْا مَتَاعَهُمْ وَجَدُوْا بِضَاعَتَهُمْ رُدَّتْ اِلَيْهِمْ قَالُوْا يٰۤاَبَانَا مَا نَـبْغِىْ هٰذِه بِضَاعَتُنَا رُدَّتْ اِلَيْنَا وَنَمِيْرُ اَهْلَنَا وَنَحْفَظُ اَخَانَا وَنَزْدَادُ كَيْلَ بَعِيْرٍ ذٰ لِكَ كَيْلٌ يَّسِيْرٌ (65) قَالَ لَنْ اُرْسِلَهٗ مَعَكُمْ حَتّٰى تُؤْتُوْنِ مَوْثِقًا مِّنَ اللّٰهِ لَــتَاْتُنَّنِىْ بِهۤ اِلَّاۤ اَنْ يُّحَاطَ بِكُمْ فَلَمَّاۤ اٰتَوْهُ مَوْثِقَهُمْ قَالَ اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مَا نَقُوْلُ وَكِيْلٌ (66) وَقَالَ يٰبَنِىَّ لَا تَدْخُلُوْا مِنْۢ بَابٍ وَّاحِدٍ وَّادْخُلُوْا مِنْ اَبْوَابٍ مُّتَفَرِّقَةٍ وَمَاۤ اُغْنِىْ عَنْكُمْ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ مِنْ شَىْءٍ اِنِ الْحُكْمُ اِلَّا لِلّٰهِ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَعَلَيْهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُتَوَكِّلُوْنَ (67) وَلَمَّا دَخَلُوْا مِنْ حَيْثُ اَمَرَهُمْ اَبُوْهُمْ مَا كَانَ يُغْنِىْ عَنْهُمْ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ مِنْ شَىْءٍ اِلَّا حَاجَةً فِىْ نَفْسِ يَعْقُوْبَ قَضٰهَا وَاِنَّهٗ لَذُوْ عِلْمٍ لِّمَا عَلَّمْنٰهُ وَلٰكِنَّ اَكْ
79;َرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ (68)
Quran Ayah Data not found….for Surah:12, Ayah:63 and Translation:24
Quran Surah:12 Ayah:63-68
“So, when they returned to theirfather, they said, “Father, the(required) measure (of grain) has beenwithheld from us, therefore, send ourbrother with us, so that we mayreceive our full measure. And, ofcourse, we are his guards.”64. He said, “Shall I trust you abouthim as I trusted you earlier about hisbrother? Well, Allah is the bestguardian, and He is the Most-Mercifulof all the merciful.”65. When they opened their baggage,they found their goods given back tothem. They said, “Our father, whatelse should we want? Here is ourgoods given back to us, and we shallbring food to our family, protect ourbrother and add the measure of onecamel more. That is an easy measure.”66. He said, “I shall never send himwith you until you give me a pledge inthe name of Allah that you willdefinitely bring him back to me, unlessyou are overpowered (bycircumstances).” So, when they gavehim their pledge, he said, “Allah iswatchful over what we say.”67. And he said, “O my sons, do notenter (the city) all of you from thesame gate, rather, enter from differentgates. And I cannot help you in anyway against (the will of) Allah.Sovereignty belongs to none but Allah.In Him I place my trust, and all thosewho trust should trust in Him alone.”68. And (recall) when they entered(the city) in the manner their fatherhad advised them. He could not helpthem in any way against (the will of)Allah, but it was just an urge in theheart of Yaqub which he satisfied; hewas a man of knowledge, because Wehad taught him, but most of the peopledo not know.
According to the Holy Qura’n, the story of Hazrat Yusuf (A.S.) is declared to be ‘the best of stories’. The verses appearing above contain the segment of the same event which goes as follows:
When Hazrat Yusuf (A.S.) was appointed as the king of Egypt, he experienced the initial seven years of abundant prosperity and well-being. Thereafter there followed the seven years of hard drought and famine to such extent that even the surrounding countries of Egypt were affected by it. Since, HazratYusuf (A.S.) had already stored the stocks of food-grains; they would also began to consult him to purchase it from him. Even his step-brothers came to take the grains.
It was then that Sayyidna Yusuf (A.S.) recognized them while they were not to recognize him. Sayyidna Yusuf (A.S.) had established a standing rule of procedure while distributing grains. He would not give more than one camel-load of grains to one present at one time. When his brothers demanded the grains on side of their step-brother, Binyamin (the uterine brother ofSayyidna Yusuf A.S.), he gave it to them at that time. However, he added a restriction at their second visit as to bring with them Binyamin.
So, when they returned to their father, they told him about what had happened there, especially about the condition imposed by Hazrat Yusuf (A.S.). As for the happenings after it, they have been described in above mentioned verses which contain many a rules and points of guidance related to one’s social life. Hence, it is worth-mentioning here. They are as follows:
- If children make mistakes and cause much pain, relations should not be cut off with them. One should, rather, think of ways to reform their conduct. The mistakes made by the brothers of Sayyidna Yusuf (A.S.) were serious. They were sins, major and grave: they lied to their father. They conspired against their step-brother, Hazrat Yusuf (A.S.) and ultimately put him in the well. Though all these things caused great pains to HazratYaqub (A.S.), but he did not sever his relationships with them, rather, let them keep living with him. He even sent them to Egypt to bring back foodgrains when they were afflicted with famine. This was what HazratYaqub did –and finally, all of them were ashamed of hteir wrongdoings, turned away from sins, yielded to their father to ask Allah for their forgiveness and lived a reformed life.
- Another instruction inferred from here is that when the children make any mistake with result that lessen your trust in them, it is appropriate to give them the feeling that they are being given a fresh chance by forgoing what has gone before – so that they become rather careful in future. This is what SayyidnaYaqub did in the first instance. He made a caustic reference to their past record when he had to send Binyamin with them.
Besides it, he also took a pledge on oath from his sons so that their sense of shame returns to them later and they become totally repentant.
- No matter how wrong the children go, since they lack in practical experiences as compared to their father, it is the responsibility of their father to guide them in every walk of their life and if required through appropriate education and training as SayyidnaYaqub (A.S.) did with his sons.
As a precaution measure, while entering Egypt, he instructed them not to enter the city from the same gate, rather, enter from different gates. He considered it necessary to speak out about the reality behind it – their entering it all together in such emergency case of famine might have caused a superstition or baseless scruples among masses. They might have taken their entering into city with intention of looting. While, there was no possibility of any such scruples in case of entering from the different gates.
- Whatever responsibility we hand over to anyone should not be out of one’s capability or control. Therefore, when SayyidnaYaqub (A.S.) asked his sons to give him a pledge to bring Binyamin safely, he added an exception to it by saying: الا ان يحاط “unless you are overpowered (by circumstances) i.e. unless you become totally helpless. Therefore, when the Holy Prophet ﷺasked the noble Companions to give him a pledge of their obedience to him, then, he himself added a restriction to it, that is, the restriction of ability. Allah, the Almighty says: لايكلف الله
Hence, we should also take this thing into our consideration i.e. we should not load our children or subjects with more than their ability.
- Whenever a problem arises, we must take a precaution measure. But, rather than placing all trust on the physical arrangement, we must rely all our trust in the person of Allah, the Almighty.
This is what SayyidnaYaqub (A.S.) did. He explained to his sons that it was only his precaution while what works here is but the command of Allah, the Almighty. In addition to it, we should not feel depressed if the precaution or any material arrangement fails to work out, rather, place our real trust in Allah, the Almighty which would surely prove beneficial for us. Rather than being against a man, Allah’s will is always in his favour as we come to learn it through this event that despite all possible precautions Binyamin was held back by the will and command of Allah, the Almighty. But, lastly, they managed to reach Egypt with due respect and honour.