قالوا لَئِن أَكَلَهُ الذِّئبُ وَنَحنُ عُصبَةٌ إِنّا إِذًا لَخاسِرونَ

They said: ‘Should the wolf eat him while we are a hardy group, then we will indeed be losers!’

EXEGESIS

Khāsirūn (losers) is the plural of the active participle khāsir. It comes from the root khasira, literally meaning to lose one’s capital (raʾs al-māl).^[1] It is used in general for any kind of loss.^[2] Similar to its usage in English, a loser (khāsir) can mean an incapable weakling, which is the meaning intended here.^[3] Others have said it means that they deserve to lose and be resigned to ruin, because they are inept.^[4]

EXPOSITION

The brothers, who were planning to get rid of Prophet Joseph (a) for good, pretended to be hurt by their father’s concerns: how could he think Prophet Joseph (a) would be eaten by a wolf? Was his opinion of them that lowly? That ten strong men could not take care of their one little brother? How could they live with such guilt and shame after that?^[5] They assured their father they were not such incapable weaklings, and they swore by their honour that they would not allow anything to happen to Joseph (a).

However, it was not even a day before they betrayed their brother and their oath and lied to their father that a wolf ate Joseph (a).^[6]

[1] Raghib, p. 281, kh-s-r; Tibyan, 6/109; Tabrisi, 5/331.
[2] Tahqiq, 3/61, kh-s-r.
[3] Tabari, 12/95; Thalabi, 5/201; Zamakhshari, 2/449; Tantawi, 7/327.
[4] Zamakhshari, 2/449.
[5] Nemuneh, 9/331-332.
[6] Mizan, 11/98-99.