Yusuf · Makki · ayah 65 of 111

Yusuf 12:65

وَلَمَّا فَتَحُوا۟ مَتَـٰعَهُمْ وَجَدُوا۟ بِضَـٰعَتَهُمْ رُدَّتْ إِلَيْهِمْ ۖ قَالُوا۟ يَـٰٓأَبَانَا مَا نَبْغِى ۖ هَـٰذِهِۦ بِضَـٰعَتُنَا رُدَّتْ إِلَيْنَا ۖ وَنَمِيرُ أَهْلَنَا وَنَحْفَظُ أَخَانَا وَنَزْدَادُ كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ كَيْلٌ يَسِيرٌ

“And when they opened their baggage, they found their merchandise returned to them. They said, "O our father, what [more] could we desire? This is our merchandise returned to us. And we will obtain supplies [i.e., food] for our family and protect our brother and obtain an increase of a camel's load; that is an easy measurement."[605]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Opening their sacks, the brothers find their silver returned, and for the first time they hold up evidence that tells the truth.

A reflection

What more could we want, or: we are not lying

The phrase at the heart of this ayah is usually read one way. What more could we want? The brothers are delighted with a generous deal.

That reading is sound, and several commentaries give it. But the words allow another, and it is sharper.

The verb can mean to seek. It can also mean to go beyond the limit, and in speech that means to exaggerate or lie. One classical commentary sets out both readings. On the second, the brothers are saying: we are not overstating anything. This is our merchandise, returned to us.

They had told their father, the reports say, that the ruler of Egypt had honoured them beyond belief. Now they open their sacks and the proof falls out.

Think who is speaking. These are the men who came home once with a shirt and false blood, and a story about a wolf. Their word, in this house, had been worthless for decades.

And here, for the first time in the whole surah, they hold up evidence that tells the truth.

A young man once caught lying to his mother about money starts his first proper job. At the end of the month he puts the payslip on the kitchen table before she can ask. She has not said a word about the old lie in years. He still needs her to see the paper.

That is what the open sacks are. Not just a windfall. A chance, at last, to be believed.

And the irony is that they did nothing to earn this evidence. It was slipped into their bags by the brother they had wronged.

The proof of their honesty was a gift from their victim.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.