'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorious is He: "And they came to their father at night weeping. They said, 'O our father, indeed we went racing each other and left Yusuf with our belongings, so a wolf ate him. And you will not believe us even if we were truthful.'" And they brought upon his shirt false blood. He said, 'Rather, your souls have enticed you to a matter. So patience is most fitting. And Allah is the One sought for help against that which you describe.' A group read: 'at night,' meaning: the time of night. And Al-Hasan read: 'at dusk,' like the plural of 'dusk.' Abu Al-Fath said: 'Dusk' is like 'walking' and 'moving,' but the letter 'h' was omitted for ease, just as it was omitted from 'Maalikah.' And Adi said: 'Inform Al-Nu'man from me of Maalikah, that my imprisonment and waiting have been prolonged.' The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And the meaning of that is that they were afflicted with a night of weeping or something like dusk, for this is the state of the eye of the one who weeps, as it becomes dim. And Shuraih likened it to a woman who weeps while she is in denial of the weeping of these. And it was narrated that when Yaqub heard their weeping, he said: 'What is the matter with you? Has something happened to the sheep?' They said: 'No.' He said: 'Then where is Yusuf?' They said: 'We went racing each other...' So he wept and cried out: 'Where is his shirt?' And the story of that will come. And 'we went racing' means: on foot, that is: we ran in competition. It was said: by throwing, that is: we competed, and it is a type of racing, as Al-Zajjaj said. And their saying: 'And you will not believe us' means: as a confirmer. And the meaning of the words is: that if we were described as truthful, and it was said: the meaning is: and if you believed that about us in all our previous statements, you would not have believed us in this incident, especially due to the grief that has afflicted you in it and the hardship that has befallen you and due to the previous accusation you had against us. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this is a statement mentioned by Al-Zajjaj and others, and it is possible that their saying: 'And if we were truthful' means: even if we were truthful. Al-Mubarrid said: As if they informed about themselves that they were truthful in this incident, so it is a continuation from them in lying, and it is like His saying, exalted is He: 'Or even if we were unwilling' [Al-A'raf: 88]. Meaning: or if we were unwilling. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And in this example, in my opinion, there is consideration, and Al-Rummani stumbled in this matter and said: 'They compelled their father in obstinacy,' and similar to this is not necessary because they did not say: 'And you will not believe us even if we were truthful in your belief.' Rather, they said: 'And you will not believe us even if we were truthful in what we believe.' As for you, evil suspicion has prevailed over you regarding us, and it is not denied that the prophets, peace be upon them, may believe the liar and disbelieve the truthful unless revelation is sent to them, for he is merely a human, as he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'I am only a human, and you dispute before me, so perhaps some of you is more eloquent in his argument than others, and I may judge for him based on what I hear from him...' This indicates that he permitted himself to believe.

(p-55) The liar. Likewise, peace be upon him, Abdullah ibn Ubayy confirmed this when he swore by the statement of Zayd ibn Arqam and denied Zayd, until the revelation descended and the truth appeared. The words of the brothers of Yusuf are merely a deception and an argument without any obligation of obstinacy.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿And they came upon his shirt with false blood﴾. It has been narrated that they took a goat or a kid, slaughtered it, and smeared Yusuf's shirt with it. They said to Yaqub: This is his shirt. He took it and smeared his face with it and cried. Then he examined it and did not see any tear or mark of a fang. He deduced from that their lie and said to them: When has a wolf been so gentle as to eat Yusuf and not tear his shirt? This story was narrated by Ibn Abbas and others, and they all agreed that he deduced their lie from the integrity of the shirt. The jurists relied on this in applying indications in matters like the qasama and others in the saying of Malik, among others. Al-Shabi said: There were three signs in the shirt: its indication of their lie, its testimony regarding its tear, and the return of Yaqub's sight by it. It has been narrated that they went and took a wolf, smeared its mouth with blood, and brought it to Yaqub saying: This has eaten Yusuf. So Yaqub called it, and it howled and spoke in denial of their claims.

And the description of the blood as "

," is either in the sense of: with blood that is false, or it may mean: that which is lied about, as it has come (the rational) instead of (the mind) in the saying of the poet:

Until when they left nothing for his bones ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ nor for his heart anything rational.

(p-56) Thus, the (denial) comes in place of (the lied about).

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is the saying of Al-Tabari, and I have no evidence for it, because the negation of (the rational) necessitates the negation of (the mind) and does not require a substitute. And the false blood, in my view, is a description with the source in the sense of exaggeration. Al-Hasan read:

The reading of the accusative is correct on the condition that it is understood that Ya'qub, peace be upon him, returned to addressing himself during his address to his sons. And the beautiful patience is that one does not complain to a human being. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever expresses his complaint has not shown beautiful patience." And his saying: ﴿And Allah is the One whose help is sought against what you describe﴾ is a submission to the command of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and reliance upon Him. The implication is based on the possibility of what you describe.