ائۡتُوۡنِیۡ

7:113; 26:37, 38.

Commentary:

One error leads to another. Pharaoh and his people called Moses an enchanter (v. 77), and the result was that, instead of following the right course for the investigation of truth, they set about finding out sorcerers to oppose him and thus were caught in the very net which they thought they had laid for Moses.

12:32.

Commentary:

When the King saw that the wise men of his court had failed to interpret his dream and that Joseph had not only interpreted it rightly but had also suggested a remedy for the impending affliction, and when he learnt from his butler that Joseph’s previous interpretation of two dreams had also turned out to be true, he realized that Joseph was no ordinary man and desired to release him from the prison forthwith. But Joseph refused to be released until a full inquiry was made into his case and he was proved to be innocent of the charge laid against him. His object in demanding an inquiry seems to be twofold: firstly, that the King might know that he was innocent so that on no future occasion might his mind be poisoned against him by evilly-disposed persons on the basis of the alleged cause of his imprisonment; secondly, that Potiphar, his benefactor, might not remain under the impression that he had proved faithless to him.

The Holy Prophet is reported to have once said that if he had remained in prison for so long a time as Joseph did and, like Joseph, had received the orders of his release, he would at once have left the prison (Bukhari & Muslim). This readiness of the Holy Prophet to leave the prison in contrast to the hesitancy of Joseph to do so shows the former to be spiritually superior to the latter. It is true that the vindication of one’s honour is an act of virtue, but to welcome the opportunity for discharging one’s duties as a Prophet of God, as the Holy Prophet’s reported readiness implied, leaving one’s honour to take care of itself, is certainly an act of much higher spiritual eminence.

The words, how fare the women who cut their hands, spoken by Joseph show that the incident of the cutting by the women of their hands did actually take place; otherwise Joseph could not have referred to it in these words. Either the women, while absorbed in conversation, had inadvertently cut their hands, or they might have declared that, by bringing a false accusation against Joseph, they had cut their own hands i.e. had landed themselves in a false position. If these words had only expressed the women’s state of mind and nothing actual had happened, Joseph could not have referred to "the cutting of the hands."

Commentary:

In the words, I may take him specially for myself, the King seems to administer a veiled rebuke to Potiphar, hinting that, whereas he (Potiphar) had failed to treat with honour a man like Joseph, he himself would now bestow on him the honour he deserved by admitting him to his special favour. This was the attitude of the King before he had spoken to Joseph. But when he had talked with him, he became still more enamoured of him and hastened to confer high rank upon him. In the Bible we read: And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, "According unto thy word shall all people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou"… "and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had" (Gen. 41:40-43).

Important Words:

جھزھم (he provided them) and جھازھم (their provision) are both derived from جھز which means, he fitted out, equipped, furnished or supplied (a bride, a traveller, a corps or an army) with requisites. جھاز means, requisites or equipment, etc. It also means, excellent goods that are conveyed to another (Lane).

کیل (measure) is derived from کال. They say کال له الطعام or کاله الطعام i.e. he measured out the food to him. اکتال علیه الطعام means, he measured for himself the food from him. This is why the Arabs say کال المعطی و اکتال الآخذ i.e. for the giver the word used is کال and for him who receives the word used is اکتال . کیل means, a measure with which corn etc., is measured, whether of wood or iron. Sometimes the word کیل is used in the sense of weighing also, as they say کال الدراھم i.e. he weighed the dirhams (Aqrab & Taj).

Commentary:

According to the Bible, Joseph said to his brethren, "And bring your youngest brother unto me; then shall I know that ye are no spies" (Gen. 42:34). This shows that Joseph declared his brothers to be spies and threatened to take action against them. The Quran, on the other hand, represents Joseph as showing kindness to them. It is possible that, from the way in which Joseph put so many searching questions to his brothers regarding their family and parents, they might have themselves thought that he had taken them for spies. Otherwise, a Prophet of God such as Joseph could not condemn them as spies, when he knew they were his brothers. Such a statement on his part would have amounted to a lie. The Bible seems only to have reported what Joseph’s brothers thought and has not described the facts as they actually happened. Joseph could not possibly accuse his brothers of espionage simply because they failed to bring Benjamin with them.