His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "They said, O mighty one, indeed he has a father, an old man. So take one of us in his place. Indeed, we see you as one of the doers of good." "He said, I seek refuge with Allah from taking anyone except him with whom we found our property. Indeed, we would then be wrongdoers." "So when they despaired of him, they secluded themselves. Their eldest said, Did you not know that your father took a commitment from you before Allah? And before, you had failed in your duty regarding Yusuf. So I will not leave this land until my father permits me or Allah judges for me, and He is the best of judges." (p-128) They addressed him by the name of the mighty one because at that moment he was either in the position of the first one or his death, according to what has been narrated about that. And their saying: "So take one of us in his place" may be understood as a metaphor, and they know that it is not correct to take a free man to be enslaved in place of one whose enslavement is established by the Sunnah. This is similar to saying to someone whose action you dislike: "Kill me and do not do such and such," while you do not want him to kill you, but you are exaggerating in your attempt to dissuade him. And thus, the saying of Yusuf: "I seek refuge with Allah" is because it is a refuge from something impermissible. It is also possible that their saying: "So take one of us in his place" is literal, and it is far from them - being prophets - that they would intend to enslave a free person. So it remains that they intended by that a means of carrying, meaning: take one of us until your companion returns to you. Their aim by that is for Benjamin to reach his father, and for Jacob to know the reality of the matter. So Yusuf, peace be upon him, prevented that; for carrying in the context of limits and similar matters means bringing forth the guaranteed, which is permissible with mutual consent but not obligatory if the claimant refuses. As for carrying in such a case - on the condition that the carrier is obliged to what the guaranteed is obliged to in terms of punishment - that is not permissible by consensus. And in "the clear" it is stated that carrying in the face only in all limits is permissible except in the case of life. And their saying: "Indeed, we see you as one of the doers of good" may mean that they are describing him by what they have seen of his goodness in all his actions with them and with others, and it may mean: we see goodness for you towards us in this hand if you extend it to us. And this is the interpretation of Ibn Ishaq. And "I seek refuge" is in the accusative as a source, and it is not permissible to express the verb with it. And the injustice in his saying: "we would then be wrongdoers" is in its reality; for it is placing something in its improper place. And Al-Tabari mentioned that it was narrated that when Yusuf despaired them with this wording, he said to them: When you come to your father, convey peace to him, and say to him: Indeed, the king of Egypt calls for you not to die until you see your son Yusuf, so that he may know that there are righteous people like him in the land of Egypt. And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So when they despaired of him" - it is said: despair and despaired have the same meaning, as it is said: mocked and made fun of, and from it is His saying, exalted is He: "They mock." And as it is said: amazed and astonished, and from it is the saying of Aws ibn Hajar: (p-129) A person who is astonished by what he sees of our patience, and if war had overwhelmed him, he would not have trembled. And from it is: he was a coward and he became a coward. And thus comes the saying of the poet in some interpretations:

And they sought to deceive, and for the youth, they deceived.

And this is the reading of the majority. Ibn Kathir read: "they despaired" and "do not despair" and "they do not despair" and "until when the messengers despaired." Its origin is: "they despaired" as "they sought" from "despair" on the heart of the action from "to despair" to "to be in despair." And this is not like "to pull" and "to drag," but these are two origins, and the first is a change. This indicates that the source from "to despair" and "to be in despair" is one, which is "despairing." And for "to pull" and "to drag," there are two sources.

And His saying, exalted is He: "They secluded themselves in private conversation" means: they separated from others, conversing privately with one another. "Private conversation" is a term used to describe one who has a private conversation, whether singular or plural, or feminine or masculine. It is like "enemy" and "justice," and its plural is "private conversations." Labeed said:

And I witnessed the private conversations of the high ones, Like Ka'b and the followers of the kings are witnesses.

And "their elder" said Mujahid: he is Shimon; because he was their elder in opinion, planning, and knowledge, even though Reuben was the oldest among them. And Qatadah said: he is Reuben because he is the oldest among them. This is more apparent, and Al-Tabari favored it. And Al-Suddi said: the meaning of the verse is: And their elder in knowledge reminded them of the covenant in the words of Jacob: "You will not bring it to me unless you are surrounded" [Yusuf: 66].

And His saying: "What you have neglected," it is valid that "what" is a relative pronoun in the speech and has no place for it in the grammatical case, and it is valid that it is in the nominative case as a subject, and the predicate is His saying: "in Yusuf." Thus said Abu Ali. And it is not permissible for His saying: "from before" [Yusuf: 77] to be related to "what you have neglected," but it would be - on this - a verbal noun, the estimation being: "from before your neglect in Yusuf is occurring or established." And with this estimation, His saying: "from before" [Yusuf: 77] is related. And it is valid that it is in the accusative case as a conjunction, on the estimation: "and you know your neglect" or "and you know what you have neglected," so it is valid - on this aspect - that it means "what," and it is valid that it is a verbal noun.

And His saying, exalted is He: "So I will not leave the land," he meant the land of the region and the place where he faced the disliked leading to his father's anger. The intent of this term is to restrict himself and commit to confinement, as if he imprisoned himself in that region to present an excuse.

And His saying: "Or Allah judges for me" is a general term for all that can be returned from destiny, such as death or victory and reaching hope, and other than that. And Abu Salih said: or Allah judges for me with the sword. And "judges" is in the accusative case as a conjunction to "permits," and it is permissible that "or" in this place means "except that," as you say: "I will bind you or you will fulfill my right," so you would put "judges" in the accusative case with "or."

It has been narrated that when they reached Jacob, he cried and said: "O my sons, you do not go away from me except that you decrease. You went and decreased Yusuf, then you went and decreased Shimon where he was pledged, then you went and decreased Benjamin and Reuben."