The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 219
PT. 12 YUSUF CH. 12 travellers and they sent their وَجَاءَتْ سَيَّارَةٌ فَأَرْسَلُوْا وَارِدَهُمْ And there came a caravan of. 20 * فَأَدْلى دَلْوَهُ قَالَ يُبشِّرَى هَذَا غُلمُ water-drawer. And he le down ط وَاَسَرُّوهُ بِضَاعَةً وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ his bucket into the well. 'Oh, good news!' said he, 'Here is a youth!' And they concealed him as a piece of merchandise, and Allah well knew what they did. 1523 of great sins; or he incited him to indulgence in lusts; or he made the commission of great sins appear small in his eyes. The Arabic expression am means, his soul embellished or commended to him a thing or an affair; or his soul made it appear easy to him; or made it appear as a light matter in his eyes; or pictured to him what is foul as goodly (Lane & Aqrab). Commentary: This verse alludes to another point of difference between the Quranic account and the Biblical version. According to the Bible, Jacob believed the report of his sons to be true and declared that Joseph had really been "rent in pieces" by a wolf (Gen. 37:33); while the Quran says that he regarded their report as a concocted story. Other parts of the Bible, however, support the Quranic version. In Gen. 44:28 we have: And the one (child) went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since. If Jacob was really convinced that Joseph had been torn in pieces, the sentence, "I saw him not since" becomes quite meaningless. These words clearly show that in his heart of hearts Jacob thought Joseph to be alive, though for the time being he yielded to the inevitable. The Talmud also agrees with the Quranic account and says that Jacob did not believe the statement of his sons to be true and that he was told in a vision that Joseph was alive (Jew. Enc. ). as The verse provides another point of resemblance between Joseph and the Holy Prophet. Just Joseph's brothers falsely declared that he had been slain, similarly, the Quraish falsely announced first at Uḥud and then at Mecca that the Prophet had been killed, with the difference that Joseph as having been killed by a whereas Joseph's brethren spoke of wolf, the Quraish asserted that they had themselves killed the Holy Prophet. This is the tenth point of resemblance between the Holy Prophet and Joseph. 1427 1523. Commentary: It is noteworthy how God takes care of His faithful servants. Joseph's brothers cast him into a deep well in