قالوا يا أَبانَا استَغفِر لَنا ذُنوبَنا إِنّا كُنّا خاطِئينَ

They said: ‘Father! Plead [with Allah] for forgiveness of our sins! We have indeed been erring.’

EXPOSITION

They said: ‘Father! Plead [with Allah] for forgiveness of our sins!’: all his sons who were gathered there to witness the miracle repented for their sins and asked their father to do so for them as well, as they realised the value of God’s prophet seeking forgiveness for them.

Ālūsī posits that they did not ask their father for forgiveness because they were sure he would forgive them, and so they merely asked him to plead with God for forgiveness of their sins.[1] However, asking him to seek the forgiveness of God for them can be considered an act of even greater humility than simply asking for his forgiveness, for it entails a recognition of his station and that they had wronged him.

We have indeed been erring: at this pivotal moment – as the brothers witnessed their father’s sight being miraculously restored – the veils over their own hearts were lifted. Their spiritual blindness gave way to clarity, and in that illumination they finally recognised the gravity of their past transgressions. This awakening of conscience was a divine prerequisite for the fulfilment of Prophet Joseph’s (a) childhood vision, as it transformed them from perpetrators of harm to humble witnesses of God’s enduring plan.

[1] Alusi, 7/53.