What Slipped from Their Mouths

And, subḥānAllāh, another deeply emotional moment is verse 77, the next verse, when the cup was found. Plainly no one had stolen it; but what they said was among the first things that came out when it was discovered. For Binyāmīn is the full brother of Yūsuf (peace be upon him), and the cup has been found among his possessions, and they say:

Qālū in yasriq fa-qad saraqa akhun lahū min qabl. Yūsuf (peace be upon him) is sitting there; they do not know it is he; he knows it is they. And this slips from their mouths — or however they came to say it: if he has stolen, then a brother of his stole before him. Why did they say it? They still have ḥasad in their hearts, and that is what comes out at that moment. It is truly something to think upon. But consider it from the side of Yūsuf (peace be upon him): he knows it is a lie, and he is in a position of authority — he might have them killed, possibly, or whatever he wished. SubḥānAllāh: fa-asarrahā Yūsufu fī nafsihī wa lam yubdihā lahum. He might have spoken it out. But he did not; he kept it veiled in his heart and did not disclose it.

And Yaʿqūb (peace be upon him) always — consider verse 86:

Innamā ashkū baththī wa ḥuznī ilā Allāh, wa aʿlamu min Allāhi mā lā taʿlamūn: he will complain of his grief, and of all his affairs, to Allah (swt) alone, and he knows what they do not know.

Then comes the famous verse quoted above — where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said something similar at the conquest of Makkah — which is verse 92, and may be looked at. But verse 97 is to be pointed out. After it became clear that Yūsuf (peace be upon him) is still there, they realised that their father had always been upon something — for he had been saying that he knows from Allah what they do not know; that is what he had been saying. Now they said: our father, seek forgiveness for our mistakes; we were mistaken, we were wrong.

So the father, Yaʿqūb (peace be upon him), says sawfa astaghfiru lakum rabbī: he will seek forgiveness for them from his Lord. And the ʿulamāʾ say that this is the tahajjud time, which is among the best times for seeking forgiveness: the last portion of the night — which, at suḥūr time in Ramadan, is within the reach of everyone, al-ḥamdu li-llāh.