He said, "Did you not know that he came to them from the direction of religion and was wise and successful?"

So he spoke to them, inquiring about the ugliness that the repentant must consider. He said, "Did you know the ugliness of what you did to Yusuf and his brother when you were ignorant and did not know its ugliness? Therefore, you proceeded with it. He means: Did you know its ugliness and repent to Allah from it? Because knowledge of ugliness leads to aversion, and aversion leads to repentance. His words were out of compassion for them and advising them in religion, not out of reproach or blame, preferring the right of Allah over the right of himself, in that moment where the distressed breathes and the oppressed expresses himself.

[The phrase "and the oppressed expresses himself..." refers to the one who complains of his chest. The angry one is the one who is enraged. The one who seeks revenge is the one who has had a relative killed and has not avenged his blood, as stated in the authentic narrations.]

And Allah has the morals of the prophets, how humble and gentle they are.

[The phrase "how humble and gentle they are" means how easy and kind they are, as indicated in the authentic narrations. And it is said: such-and-such is of sound mind, meaning he has intellect and understanding; the soundness of their minds is an explanatory addition.]

And Allah has the soundness of their minds, how firm and weighty they are.

And it is said: He did not intend to deny knowledge from them, for they were scholars. However, since they did not act according to what knowledge necessitates, and only an ignorant person would proceed with it, he called them ignorant.

And it is said: Its meaning is, when you were children in the state of folly and recklessness before you reached the age of maturity and soundness. It has been narrated that when they said, "We and our family have been harmed," and they pleaded with him, his eyes overflowed with tears, and then he said this saying.

And it is said: They presented to him a letter from Yaqub: from Yaqub, the Israel of Allah, the son of Ishaq, the sacrificial son of Allah, the son of Ibrahim, the friend of Allah, to the Aziz of Egypt. As for what follows, we are a family burdened with calamity: as for my grandfather, his hands and feet were bound and he was thrown into the fire to be burned, but Allah saved him and made the fire coolness and safety for him. As for my father, the knife was placed on his neck to be killed, but Allah ransomed him.

As for me, I had a son who was the most beloved of my children to me. His brothers took him to the wilderness, then they brought me his shirt stained with blood and said, "A wolf has eaten him." My eyes lost their sight from crying for him. Then I had another son who was his brother from his mother, and I used to find solace in him. They took him away, then they returned and said, "He has stolen, and you have imprisoned him for that." And we are a family that does not steal, nor do we give birth to a thief. If you do not return him to me, I will invoke a curse upon you that will reach the seventh of your offspring, and peace be upon you.

When Yusuf read the letter, he could not contain himself and his patience ran out, so he said to them that.

And it has been narrated that when he read the letter, he wept and wrote the response: "Be patient as they were patient, and you will succeed as they succeeded."

If you ask: What did they do to his brother?

I say: Their exposing him to grief and loss by separating him from his brother for their father and mother, and their harshness towards him, until he could not speak to any of them except in the manner of the humble to the mighty, and their causing him harm in various ways.