The Scent of Yūsuf

When the caravan was leaving Egypt, Yaʿqūb was in al-Shām — very far away, a few hundred miles away. The caravan had only just begun moving out of Egypt when Yaʿqūb smelled Yūsuf. He was smelling his shirt while it was still in Egypt. And this was another miracle, a miracle of Yaʿqūb (peace be upon him).

And when the caravan departed, their father said: I do indeed feel the smell of Yūsuf — if only you do not think me a dotard, a person whose mind has weakened with old age.

They said: by Allah, you are certainly in your old error. One of the mufassirūn of the Qur'an said about this that they said a grave thing to their father — something inappropriate to say to him. O our father, by Allah, you are certainly in your old error: they were telling him that he had grown old and was starting to lose his mind.