The Brothers Come to Egypt

The story then goes on quickly. Yūsuf's (peace be upon him) brothers will come, the drought having now struck everywhere and the dream having come true, and they learn that in Egypt there is the king and that rations are being provided to people. So Yūsuf's (peace be upon him) brothers come, but they do not bring his brother Binyāmīn — Benjamin, Binyāmīn. Yūsuf (peace be upon him) recognises them, and they do not recognise him. And at length he says: you must bring your brother with you — do you not see how much I give for each person? And he tells his people to put their money back among their goods, so that on returning home they may find their money and be the more inclined to come back.

So they go back and press their father to let them bring Binyāmīn. Their father is not content with it, for he says: can I trust you again? But at length he lets him go. And when he does come — some further parts are filled in later — Yūsuf (peace be upon him) takes his brother and keeps him by him; and what he does is to place a costly vessel among his brother's baggage. Then, as they are about to leave, an announcement is made: this gold vessel, a very costly and valuable thing, is missing. And these men say: we have nothing to do with it; we know nothing of it. So everyone's goods were searched, and it was found among Binyāmīn's possessions. He says: we must keep him back. They said: keep one of us instead. He said: no, we may keep only the one with whom it was found; he must be kept back.

Then they wish to return. One of them says that he will not return, but will remain there, since they had failed before in the matter of Yūsuf (peace be upon him) and he cannot face his father. They go back and tell their father what has happened; and he gives them much encouragement. Yūsuf (peace be upon him) is remarkable^**: full, full, full of patience and of trust in Allah. Patience and trust in Allah. Patience and trust in Allah. He now says that perhaps Allah will yet — go and try, go and try, seek them out, and try to bring my sons back; perhaps even Yūsuf (peace be upon him) will return.

They come back, and at last he says something to them: do you remember what you did with Yūsuf? And then at last they recognise him — for in the end there is genetics. So they recognise him and say: are you Yūsuf? It is a deeply emotional moment. It is a deeply emotional moment. And after that he gives them his qamīṣ, his tunic, and says: put this over my father's eyes. For he learns that his father has developed cataracts from the abundance of his weeping. A man does not lose his sight; he develops cataracts. It is like a veil, a covering that comes over.

So they go back. And Yaʿqūb (peace be upon him) is so bound to Yūsuf (peace be upon him), and so trusting, that he says: I smell Yūsuf. I smell the fragrance, the scent, of Yūsuf — before they have even come in; and those with him suppose that he is losing his senses. But then, when the brothers return, mā shāʾ Allāh, yartadda baṣīran: his sight returns. And after that they bring him to Egypt; and, mā shāʾ Allāh, what a moment:

He sets his parents upon the ʿarsh. He sets his parents upon the ʿarsh, and they fall prostrate; and then he says: this is now the realisation of the dream, in which he saw the sun and the moon and the stars prostrating to him.

Then the story closes, with a number of duʿāʾs that Yūsuf (peace be upon him) makes. And the last part, from verse 105, speaks of the various signs Allah (swt) has sent and the purpose of them, and then of the importance of the path. And Allah (swt) says at the end, in verse 111:

In their stories — and We do not relate this to you for nothing; this is no mere tale told for pleasure — the purpose of all of it is that there are lessons to be drawn from it by people of intellect, by those who think it through. And this is not ḥadīthan yuftarā: it is not a thing fabricated, but a confirmation of what they have; and it is an explanation and a setting out in detail of everything, and a guidance and a mercy for those who believe. So Allah gives us the reason for the stories He provides.