Why Do You Not Trust Us?

So they went to their father and said: O our father, why do you not trust us with Yūsuf? We are strong men; we will take care of him; let him come out and play with us. Yaʿqūb was so protective of his son that he would not let him go out and play with them. Yūsuf was always with him. He loved his son that much.

O our father, why do you not trust us with Yūsuf, when we are truly his well-wishers? Send him with us tomorrow to enjoy himself and play, and we will surely take care of him.

He said: it truly saddens me that you should take him away. Yaʿqūb (peace be upon him) loved his son so much that he could not even bear to let him go out for a day. I would feel sorrow; I would be sad if you took Yūsuf away from me. One day was too much for him; he could not let his son go for a single day.

And then he said: wa akhāfu an yaʾkulahu al-dhiʾbu wa antum ʿanhu ghāfilūn — and I fear that a wolf will devour him while you are not paying attention to him. The brothers picked up this word from their father, and then they used it. The father said he was worried that a wolf would kill him. The brothers were in such a hurry to be rid of Yūsuf that they did not even take the time to perfect their plan, so they took up that word of their father's. And they took Yūsuf out with them, to go out and play.