Enter by Different Gates

These brothers — eleven of them — were strong and handsome. To have eleven sons is something people will be jealous of, and Yaʿqūb may have been worried about the effect of the evil eye, al-ʿayn. And it is real: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: al-ʿaynu ḥaqq — the evil eye is true. The evil eye is an ability some people have to cause you harm when they are jealous of you.

So Yaʿqūb said: O my sons, do not enter by one gate, but enter by different gates. Do not all go in together through one gate; go in through different gates, because if you all go in together, people will be jealous. So break up into groups and go in through different gates. Yaʿqūb told them this to keep them away from the evil eye.

But then Yaʿqūb made something clear. He said: and I cannot avail you anything against Allah. This is a means you can follow — this is a sabab — but it is not this that will save you. It is Allah. So we follow the means, and then we leave the matter in the hands of Allah (swt). That is tawakkul. In al-ḥukmu illā lillāh. Allāhu akbar. Even Yaʿqūb emphasises this again, saying: the command and the decision rest with Allah alone. And then he said: in Him I put my trust, and let all who trust put their trust in Him.

And when they entered in the way their father had advised them, it did not avail them in the least against the will of Allah; it was only a need of Yaʿqūb's inner self, which he fulfilled. It is not this that would save them; it is the will of Allah (swt).