His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿They said, 'We will entice him away from his father, and indeed we will do it.'﴾ ﴿And he said to his young men, 'Put their merchandise into their saddlebags so perhaps they will recognize it when they have gone back to their people, perhaps they will return.'﴾ ﴿So when they returned to their father, they said, 'O our father, we have been denied the measure, so send with us our brother that we may obtain measure, and indeed, we will protect him.'﴾

The meaning of "enticing" has already been mentioned, meaning: we will persuade their father to let him come with us to you. Then they emphasized this statement by committing to it in their saying: ﴿And indeed, we will do it.﴾ And Yusuf, peace be upon him, intended to greatly influence them by returning the money of each one of them in his bag among his food, and he commanded his young men to do so.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Amer read: "to his young men." Hamza and Al-Kisai read: "to his young men." There is a difference regarding Asim, so "young men" is for the plurality considering those ordered, and "young man" is for the few considering those receiving, who are the servants. This description can apply to both free men and slaves. In the manuscript of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, it is stated: "And he said to his young men while he was measuring for them."

His saying: ﴿Perhaps they will recognize it﴾ means: perhaps they will recognize a favor or a kindness that they see its right, so they will desire us, and perhaps they will return then. As for distinguishing the merchandise, it cannot be said: "Perhaps." It is said that Yusuf intended by returning the merchandise to make them hesitant to take the food without payment, so they would return to pay the price. This is weak from several angles. Their joy with the merchandise and their saying: ﴿This is our merchandise that has been returned to us﴾ [Yusuf: 65] reveals that Yusuf, peace be upon him, did not intend this. Rather, he intended to win them over and connect with them, encouraging them towards himself as he had done before. He specifically chose the merchandise without giving them anything else from the wealth because it was more impactful in their souls; they know its permissibility, and his wealth was merely unknown to them, with the ultimate goal being that it could be accepted in the manner of their acceptance of the provisions. It shows that what Yusuf did in connecting with them and comforting them in that hardship was obligatory upon him, as he is a just king, and they are people of faith and prophethood. It is said that he knew of the lack of merchandise and money with their father, so he returned the merchandise to them so that their lack would not prevent them from turning to him. It is said that he made it a prelude to placing the cup in his brother's bag afterward to show that he did not steal, for those who reflect on the story.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The apparent meaning of the story is that he intended to establish kinship and connection.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi, Abu Amr, Asim, and Ibn Amer read "naktal" with the noon, considering: ﴿muni'a minna﴾. This is supported by: ﴿wa namiru ahlina﴾ [Yusuf: 65] "wa nazdadu". Hamza and Al-Kisai read "yaktal" with the ya, meaning: he will gather as we gathered. The original form of "naktal" is "naktayil", and its weight is naftail. Their saying: ﴿muni'a minna﴾ appears to refer to His saying: ﴿fa la kayla lakum 'indi﴾ [Yusuf: 60], so it is a prohibition in the context of the new situation. It is said that they referred to the camel of Yamin which did not rain. The first is more likely. Then they included for him his preservation and protection.