فَلَمّا أَن جاءَ البَشيرُ أَلقاهُ عَلىٰ وَجهِهِ فَارتَدَّ بَصيرًا ۖ قالَ أَلَم أَقُل لَكُم إِنّي أَعلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ ما لا تَعلَمونَ

When the bearer of good news arrived, he cast it on his face, and he regained his sight. He said: ‘Did I not tell you: “I know from Allah what you do not know?”’

EXEGESIS

Irtadda (he regained) from irtidād is when something changes to another state and is also used to mean return.[1]

EXPOSITION

When the bearer of good news arrived: the brothers arrived carrying the news from Egypt that Prophet Joseph (a) was still alive.

He cast it on his face: one of Prophet Joseph’s (a) brothers[2] who had been entrusted with the task, placed the shirt on his father’s face as he had been instructed by Prophet Joseph (a).

And he regained his sight: the brothers looked in amazement as their father who had gone blind with sorrow had his eyesight return to him as soon as the shirt was placed on his face.

He said: ‘Did I not tell you: “I know from Allah what you do not know?”’: these words of Prophet Jacob (a) harken back to what he had said earlier: I complain of my anguish and grief only to Allah. I know from Allah what you do not know (verse 86). It is said the knowledge he had from God referred to:

1. The dream of Joseph (a).[3]
2. That Joseph (a) is alive.[4]
3. That God will return Joseph (a) to me.[5]

In fact, it can be said to be referring to all of these. In other words, when he sent them to Egypt and told them to look for Joseph (a) and not to despair of God’s mercy, he knew that Joseph (a) was still alive; and when he was crying, he was not crying because he thought Joseph (a) was dead.[6] This is because he knew that what God had revealed to Joseph (a) in his dream was true and that one day his sons would prostrate themselves before Joseph (a).

Far from intending to disparage his sons, Prophet Jacob (a) sought by this statement to strengthen their faith by reminding them that the words of God’s prophets are never spoken without divine wisdom or foundation. His gentle admonition was thus both a lesson in trust and a testament to the profound connection between prophetic insight and unwavering certainty in God’s promises.[7]

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. They went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father. They told him, ‘Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.’ And Jacob’s heart stood still because he could not believe them. They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Then Israel said, ‘Enough! Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.’[8]

[1] Tibyan, 6/194.
[2] Early exegetes often name him as Judah, although there is no significant evidence for this claim (Tabrisi, 5/403; Tabari, 13/42). Other have similarly identified him as Simeon (related in Qurtubi, 9/261).
[3] Tibyan, 6/194; Tabrisi, 5/403.
[4] Baghawi, 2/514.
[5] Ibn Kathir, 4/351.
[6] See Alusi, 7/53.
[7] Sharawi, p. 7072.
[8] Genesis 45:25-28.