Yusuf said, `Take this shirt of mine,
[فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَى
وَجْهِ أَبِى يَأْتِ بَصِيرًا]
(and cast it over the face of my father, his vision will return),' because
Ya`qub had lost his sight from excessive crying,
[وَأْتُونِى
بِأَهْلِكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ]
(and bring to me all your family.) all the children of Ya`qub.
[وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ
الْعِيرُ]
(And when the caravan departed) from Egypt,
[قَالَ
أَبُوهُمْ]
(their father said...), Ya`qub, peace be upon him, said to the children who
remained with him,
[إِنِّى لأَجِدُ
رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ]
`(I do indeed feel the smell of Yusuf, if only you think me not senile.),
except that you might think me senile because of old age.' `Abdur-Razzaq
narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "When the caravan departed [from Egypt], a wind
started blowing and brought the scent of Yusuf's shirt to Ya`qub. He said,
[إِنِّى لأَجِدُ
رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ]
(I do indeed feel the smell of Yusuf , if only you think me not senile.) He
found his scent from a distance of eight days away!'' Similar was also reported
through Sufyan Ath-Thawri and Shu`bah and others reported it from Abu Sinan.
Ya`qub said to them,
[لَوْلاَ أَن
تُفَنِّدُونِ]
(if only you think me not senile.) Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ata, Qatadah and
Sa'id bin Jubayr commented, "If only you think me not a fool!'' Mujahid and
Al-Hasan said that it means, "If only you think me not old.'' Their answer to
him was,
[إِنَّكَ لَفِى
ضَلَـلِكَ الْقَدِيمِ]
(Certainly, you are in your old Dalal.) meaning, `in your old error,'
according to Ibn `Abbas. Qatadah commented, "They meant that, `because of your
love for Yusuf you will never forget him.' So they uttered a harsh word to their
father that they should never have uttered to him, nor to a Prophet of Allah.''
Similar was said by As-Suddi and others.
[فَلَمَّآ أَن جَآءَ
الْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَاهُ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ فَارْتَدَّ بَصِيرًا قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ
لَّكُمْ إِنِّى أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ - قَالُواْ يأَبَانَا
اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا خَـطِئِينَ - قَالَ سَوْفَ
أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّى إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ ]
(96. Then, when the bearer of the good news arrived, he cast it (the shirt)
over his face, and his vision returned. He said: "Did I not say to you, `I know
from Allah that which you know not''') (97. They said: "O our father! Ask
forgiveness (from Allah) for our sins, indeed we have been sinners.'') (98. He
said: "I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you, verily, He! Only He is the
Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.'')