فَلَمّا دَخَلوا عَلَيهِ قالوا يا أَيُّهَا العَزيزُ مَسَّنا وَأَهلَنَا الضُّرُّ وَجِئنا بِبِضاعَةٍ مُزجاةٍ فَأَوفِ لَنَا الكَيلَ وَتَصَدَّق عَلَينا ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَجزِي المُتَصَدِّقينَ
Then, when they entered into his presence, they said: ‘O governor! Distress has befallen our family, and us, and we have brought [just] a meagre sum. Yet grant us the full measure, and be charitable to us! Indeed Allah rewards the charitable.’
EXEGESIS
Massanā … al-ḍurru (distress has befallen … us): mass is the touch that is tangible, in a palpable sense. Ḍurr, from ḍarar, is used generally for any harm, and here means poverty and affliction.[1] The expression is used because distress had touched them in a way that they could feel it tangibly.[2]
Biḍāʿah (sum): as discussed in verse 19, it comes from the verb baḍaʿa meaning to cut off. Biḍāʿah is a portion of wealth that is set aside for business, as if it is cut off from the rest of one’s wealth.[3] Here it intends the goods they had brought with them to barter for grain.
Muzjāh (meagre) is a passive participle from the verb azjā, meaning to give sparingly; thus muzjāh means giving something so poor in value or quality that is repelled and pushed away out of disdain for it.[4] Some argue that originally it means to drive and to push (dafʿ) something slowly and gradually,[5] as in, Allah drives (yuzjī) the clouds (24:43), and as dafʿ is used in Arabic for payment, izjāʾ is used also for making small and meagre payments.
Awfi (grant the full) was discussed in verse 59 and comes from wafāʾ, meaning to complete something in the fullest manner.[6]
EXPOSITION
Clearly, a significant period had passed since Prophet Joseph’s (a) brothers last journeyed to Egypt. Now, their provisions were running low once more, forcing them to return for additional grain. While their primary objective was to secure food, their journey also carried the hope of reuniting with Prophet Joseph (a) – though they remained unaware of his true fate.
Then, when they entered into his presence: Prophet Joseph’s (a) brothers returned to him for the third and final time. We may surmise from later verses that not all the remaining nine brothers came to Egypt this time and some of them remained behind in Canaan, presumably to take care of Prophet Jacob (a) and/or other matters.
They said: ‘O governor!’: they still did not recognise Prophet Joseph (a) and thought him to be the governor appointed by the king of Egypt to oversee the distribution of grain.
Distress has befallen our family, and us: the years of drought had taken their toll and their crops and livestock had been afflicted; furthermore, perhaps it was the loss of two brothers and having to provide for their families as well, or perhaps the mental anguish of the last year had affected their ability to work, or perhaps the constant journeying between Canaan and Egypt had cost them too much, or perhaps it was all of these. Be as it may, they were financially in dire straits and in desperate need of help.
And we have brought [just] a meagre sum: the value of the goods they had brought with them was not sufficient to exchange for the grains that they needed to survive for the year.[7]
Yet grant us the full measure: again, the terms harken back to earlier in the surah, when Prophet Joseph (a) was reunited with his brothers for the first time and promised them, Do you not see that I give the full measure (verse 59). They were appealing to his earlier promise, hoping he would still abide by his words.
And be charitable to us: make up for the difference between the two, the meagre sum we have brought and the actual price of the food that we need.[8]
We should keep in mind that their brother had been accused and punished for a high crime and it would not have been strange if the Egyptian governor should have refused to give them any food, let alone food that they could not pay for. They were truly asking him to be charitable.[9]
Indeed Allah rewards the charitable: in their previous interactions they had noticed that the governor was a believer in God (see for example verse 79). They knew that there was no foreseeable near future in which they could repay their debt, so instead they beseeched him that God would repay his charity.
It has been pointed out that the brothers made no plea for the release of Benjamin. Some have claimed that when they said be charitable to us, they meant to highlight their helplessness and need and in this way were indirectly asking for the mercy of the governor to release their brother.[10] This claim is hard to accept though, as this would be a very indirect way of asking. It is possible they meant to speak of that as well, but Prophet Joseph’s (a) reply in the next verse cut their petition short.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- It is reported in some lengthy narrations that Prophet Jacob (a) wrote a letter to the governor of Egypt asking for Benjamin to be freed and that the brothers delivered this letter to Prophet Joseph (a).[11]
[1] Razi, 18/503.
[2] Tibyan, 6/186.
[3] Tibyan, 6/114.
[4] Baydawi, 3/174.
[6] Tibyan, 6/160.
[7] See Tabrisi, 5/399; Tabari, 13/33.
[8] Baghawi, 2/511.
[9] See also Mizan, 11/235.
[10] Razi, 18/502. This opinion is attributed to al-Ḍaḥḥāk and others in Tabrisi, 5/399; Baghawi, 2/511. See also Muhit, 6/318; Mizan, 11/235.
[11] Tabrisi, 5/399-400; Ayyashi, 2/190-192. Some other sources relate much shorter versions of this opinion without attributing it to anyone; see Thalabi, 5/252; Zamakhshari, 2/501; Razi, 18/503; Alusi, 7/46; Abū al-Hasan ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh (Beirut: Dār Bayrūt, 1965), 1/152-153. Baghawi, 2/510, attributes it to ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Yazīd ibn Abī Farwah.