And when that was established, he began [by mentioning] the verses that occur in the context of this universe, and he said: ﴿When they said﴾, meaning: that was when the brothers spoke after they had narrated the dream to him, and Satan had instigated them - as Jacob, blessings and peace be upon him, thought - swearing an oath as a sign of their utmost concern for these words, and that it was what stirred them to the utmost agitation. Or it is the lam of emphasis that confirms the content of the sentence ﴿Indeed, Joseph and his brother﴾, meaning his full brother Benjamin ﴿are more beloved﴾. They specified that the comparative form applies equally to the singular and to the plural, whether masculine or feminine, if it is not defined or attributed ﴿to our father﴾, meaning they love them more than they love us; and love is an inclination that calls for the desire for [good] and benefit for the beloved, unlike desire, for it is the inclination of the soul and its struggle for what brings it pleasure. "And" the state is that "we are a strong group," meaning: we are strong among ourselves and support one another, whereas they are two small ones who have no sufficiency among them; and a group is from ten to forty. It is as if it were said: So what was the outcome? - on the assumption that they were more beloved to him, they said, confirming that their father's state in uprightness and guidance is a reason for their denial of him: ﴿Indeed, our father is in clear error﴾, meaning: he has gone astray from the path of correctness in that ﴿clear﴾, where he favored them over us. The closeness that necessitates love in all of us is one, for we are equal in sonship, and we have a merit that necessitates our preference, which is that we are a group, having from the benefit to him and defending him and the sufficiency that they do not have. Imam Abu Hayyan said: And "more beloved" is the comparative form, and it is based on the passive form [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: maf'ul] in an exceptional way, and for this reason it is constructed with "to" because if what it relates to is an agent in meaning, it is constructed to it with "to"; and if it is a patient, it is constructed to it with "in". You say: Zayd is more beloved to 'Amr than Khalid, so the pronoun in "loved" is a patient in meaning, and 'Amr is the lover. And if I say: Zayd is more beloved in 'Amr than Khalid, then the pronoun is an agent and 'Amr is the beloved. And from Khalid - in the first example, he is beloved, and in the second example, he is the agent. He said: And the error here is guidance - this was said by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them.