Yusuf · Makki · ayah 77 of 111

Yusuf 12:77

۞ قَالُوٓا۟ إِن يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَّهُۥ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِى نَفْسِهِۦ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ ۚ قَالَ أَنتُمْ شَرٌّ مَّكَانًا ۖ وَٱللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ

“They said, "If he steals - a brother of his has stolen before." But Joseph kept it within himself and did not reveal it to them.[610] He said, "You are worse in position, and Allāh is most knowing of what you describe."”

Saheeh International

Essence

The brothers slander Yusuf to his face, and he keeps his verdict inside, entrusting what they describe to Allah, who knows best.

A reflection

What he kept inside was a verdict, not a rage

This ayah is usually summed up as a moment of self-control. The brothers insult Yusuf, and he holds his temper.

That is true. But the Qur'an does something unusual here. It tells us exactly what he held in.

He kept it within himself, it says, and did not reveal it to them. Then it gives the sentence: you are in a worse position, and Allah knows best what you describe.

The commentaries point out the grammar. The pronoun it comes before the words it refers to, a construction one classical commentary explains as a pronoun awaiting its explanation. The listener hears he kept it, wonders what, and is then told the very words.

So the Qur'an discloses what Yusuf never disclosed. We are let into a room the brothers never entered.

And look at what is in that room. Not curses. Not a fantasy of exposing them. A calm verdict: you are worse in this matter, since you truly stole a brother from his father. And then a turning of the whole affair to Allah.

That is a different thing from swallowing rage. It is judgement kept in its proper place.

At a parents' evening, a teacher is accused by a father of favouring certain children. She knows exactly what she could say about his son's record. She writes in the notes only: parent concerned. The rest she keeps for her own prayer that night.

She has not pretended the accusation is fair. She has simply refused to make it a fight.

Yusuf does not deny the truth to himself. He refuses to spend it on them, yet. The truth is held, not lost.

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.