وَاسأَلِ القَريَةَ الَّتي كُنّا فيها وَالعيرَ الَّتي أَقبَلنا فيها ۖ وَإِنّا لَصادِقونَ
Ask [the people of] the town we were in, and the caravan with which we came. We indeed speak the truth.”’
EXEGESIS
Qaryah (town) is used figuratively here to mean ‘the people of the town/city’,[1] like in the verse, How many a town (qaryah) defied the command of its Lord (65:8). This sort of figurative speech is common in Arabic[2] and most other tongues. Its usage here is similar to ʿīr (caravan), which was discussed in verse 70, where it referred to ‘the people of the caravan’.
Al-ʿīr allatī aqbalnā fīhā (the caravan with which we came): since ʿīr is a collection of pack animals it is feminine and is referred to with allatī (which). Similarly, the suffix hā in fīhā is referring to ʿīr. So aqbalnā fīhā means ‘the caravan with whom we came’.[3]
EXPOSITION
Ask [the people of] the town we were in: the event of the goblet being stolen by a member of a Canaanite caravan had become the talk of the town so to speak, and everyone there had heard of the event. As this was the second time that they had taken one of Rachel’s sons and promised Prophet Jacob (a) they would return him safely, only to come back empty-handed, it would be only natural that Prophet Jacob (a) would suspect they were lying again, hence they beseeched him that if he wished he could go and ask the people of the city, to prove they had not made up some story.
And the caravan with which we came: they had obviously travelled to Egypt with a larger caravan, as was customary in those times, for the sake of safety, ease, and cost-effectiveness. The news of what had happened was known to all in the caravan, as they had been stopped by the guards and questioned in front of everyone in the caravan. If going all the way to Egypt or sending someone there to fetch news was an unfeasible proposition, Prophet Jacob’s (a) sons suggested he may ask the other members of the caravan who had just arrived with them to Canaan to confirm the truth of their words.
We indeed speak the truth (ṣādiqūn): note once again the echo of what they said when they returned without Prophet Joseph (a) all those years ago, But you will not believe us even if we spoke truly (ṣādiqīn) (verse 17).[4] While this time they were honest, it still reminded them of the last time they tried to impress their honesty upon their father and were lying.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
It is said that qaryah (town) here means ‘the land of Egypt’ and not simply a city in Egypt.[5] This is not very reasonable though because it was not likely that the news of the event had spread throughout Egypt (especially in those times) so that one could expect to ask and hear about it from anyone there.
Some have suggested that asking the caravan and the town should be understood literally as the animals and buildings, and that Prophet Jacob (a) would have been able to talk to them in a miraculous way,[6] but this is unnecessarily farfetched.
[1] Tabrisi, 5/393; Alusi, 7/37; Tantawi, 7/404.
[2] Razi, 18/494; Alusi, 7/37.
[3] See Munyah, 14/203.
[4] See the Topical Article under verse 58.
[5] Tabari, 13/25; Thalabi, 5/246; Zamakhshari, 2/496; Qurtubi, 9/246; related in Tibyan, 6/180. This opinion is attributed to Ibn Abbas, Qatādah, and others. Although it is also attributed to Ibn Abbas that it means a city in Egypt (Baghawi, 2/508).
[6] Related in Tabrisi, 5/393-394; Razi, 18/495.