وَلَمّا فَتَحوا مَتاعَهُم وَجَدوا بِضاعَتَهُم رُدَّت إِلَيهِم ۖ قالوا يا أَبانا ما نَبغي ۖ هٰذِهِ بِضاعَتُنا رُدَّت إِلَينا ۖ وَنَميرُ أَهلَنا وَنَحفَظُ أَخانا وَنَزدادُ كَيلَ بَعيرٍ ۖ ذٰلِكَ كَيلٌ يَسيرٌ

And when they opened their baggage, they found their trade goods restored to them. They said: ‘Father, what [more] do we want?! This is our trade goods, restored to us! We will get provisions for our family and take care of our brother, and add another camel-load of rations. These are meagre rations.’

EXEGESIS

Matāʿ (baggage) originally denotes anything that provides beneficial utility or enjoyable service, encompassing possessions that fulfil practical needs or offer comfort (istimtāʿ).[1] In a commercial context it specifically refers to a merchant’s trade goods and any valuable wares that serve a functional or profitable purpose. Within the verse’s narrative, matāʿ takes on a more immediate meaning, namely the saddlebags filled with provisions that the brothers carried back and forth between Canaan and Egypt.[2]  

Mā nabghī (what more do we want): nabghī is derived from the root verb baghiya, which conveys the idea of intense desire or determined pursuit. This core meaning takes on different nuances depending on context and usage. When used with the preposition ʿalā (over), it denotes transgression or overstepping, whether in intention or action, as in: [We are] two disputants, one of whom transgressed against the other (baghā baʿḍunā ʿalā baʿḍ) (38:22), or Your transgression (baghyukum) is only against (ʿalā) yourselves (10:23). Also, when employed in contexts of prohibition or restraint, it carries a similar sense of wrongful excess, as in: He forbids indecency, wickedness, and oppression (baghy) (16:90). However, when used without contextual indicators, it simply signifies strong desire or pursuit, as in: That is what we were seeking (nabghi) (18:64), and as in the verse under review: They said: ‘Father, what [more] do we want (mā nabghī).

The intensity of this pursuit may vary, either due to the nobility of the object sought, as in seek Allah’s grace (62:10), and Seek with what Allah has given you the home of the hereafter (28:77), or due to the baseness and irrationality of the desire, as in Should I seek a lord other than Allah? (6:164), and Do they seek other than the religion of Allah? (3:83).

Thus, this root does not inherently mean corruption, fornication, injustice, aggression, or need, rather, its essence is ‘intense pursuit’. This core meaning adapts to various derived concepts based on contextual clues, the nature of the subject, and the circumstances in which it is used.[3]

Biḍāʿah (money): the verb baḍaʿa means 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.^[4] As mentioned in verses 20 and 62, it should not be understood in its modern sense, but rather as trade goods.

Namīru (we will get provisions) comes from mīrah, which is the food one takes when traveling from one place to another.[5]

Baʿīr (camel) is possibly originally any pack animal such as horse, donkey, or camel, but is usually used only for camels.[6] The word appears again in verse 72 and these are the only two places that it is used in the Quran. Kayla baʿīr means a camel-load.

Dhālika kaylun yasīr (these are meagre rations): kayl was discussed in verse 59 and means a measure of something. Yasīr comes from yusr, meaning ease. Yasīr can also be used to refer to a small amount of something.[7] So in this context it may mean easily obtained, or it may mean that it is something meagre for the governor that he would easily give away.

EXPOSITION

And when they opened their baggage: it seems that Prophet Jacob’s (a) answer – while not a definitive yes or no – had ended the discussion and his sons had left the issue for the time being. So they moved on to begin unpacking their saddlebags. Upon doing so they made a discovery: they found their trade goods restored to them, which had been hidden there by the orders of Prophet Joseph (a), so that Maybe they will recognise it when they return to their folks (verse 62).

They said: ‘Father, what [more] do we want?!’: when they opened their belongings and found their goods returned to them, they hurried back to their father joyfully, and said these words, meaning: ‘Father! What else could we ask from the noble ruler of Egypt?’ In other words, it was evidence of the honour the Egyptian governor had shown them and that he intended no harm to them. He had provided them with food and returned their payment. Thus, their journey to Egypt for provisions turned out to be a most beneficial trip, bringing both profit and safety.

This is our trade goods, restored to us: the brothers wished to say: ‘How could we justify ourselves to the governor if we do not take our brother Benjamin to him? For he has already honoured us, as you see, by returning our payment.’ They intended by this to reassure their father, so that he would consent to their brother (Benjamin) going with them, for he would be safe under the protection of the Egyptian governor, and they would guard him as they had promised.

As Prophet Joseph (a) had planned, they took the restored goods as a sign of his goodwill, and since going back would not incur any extra financial burden on them, they would be more inclined to return.

We will get provisions for our family: the brothers now emphasised the need for their next journey. It is something that was necessitated by their duty to provide for the household of Jacob (a). Importantly, they use the term ahlanā (our family) instead of ahālīnā/ahlūnā (our families), even though they all were almost certainly married and had children and families of their own. In this way they are appealing to Prophet Jacob (a) as the head of the household and the duty that this imposes on him. It is also an emphasis that they are in this together as one family. It is not just their interest that they are thinking about, but also that of Prophet Jacob (a) and Benjamin.

And take care of our brother: they repeat this statement to assuage the worries of their father.

And add another camel-load of rations: this is evidence that each person was only given one camel-load of food, and distribution from the granaries was strictly rationed.

These are meagre rations: they certainly were in dire need of the extra amount that would be the share of Benjamin.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Thaʿlabī understands mā nabghī to mean ‘we don’t seek anything more from you’, in other words ‘we are not asking you to give us more money’.[8] Zamakhsharī understands it to mean ‘we are not exaggerating in our description of the Egyptian governor. He honoured us greatly as if he was one of your own children!’ Alternatively, he suggests it could mean ‘there is no honour we should wish for him to have bestowed upon us besides what he already did’.[9]

According to some other commentators there are two possibilities for the meaning of mā here: it may be an interrogative (istifhām), or for negation (nafy). In the first case it could mean ‘what more do we want’.[10] In the second case it could mean ‘we are not lying in what we told you about the events that transpired’,[11] or alternatively, ‘we did not have any evil intentions when we asked that you send Benjamin with us’.[12]

Abū Ḥayyān relates the suggestion that it is possible that dhālika kayl yasīr was spoken by Prophet Jacob (a) and means ‘one camel-load is a meagre amount of food and it is not worth risking my son for the sake of that’. He then promptly rejects that, saying it is contrary to the apparent structure of the verse.[13]

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. They loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed in the lodging place, he saw his money. It was in the mouth of his sack. And he said to his brothers, ‘My money has been returned. Here it is in my sack!’ Then their hearts sank, and they were afraid, saying to one another, ‘What is this that God has done to us?’ They came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying, ‘The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and took us for spies of the country. And we said to him, “We are honest men. We are not spies. We are twelve brothers, all sons of our father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.”’[14]

Note: In the Biblical narration, the brothers discover the money that has been returned to them prior to reaching their father.

[1] Tibyan, 6/165.
[2] Tibyan, 6/165.
[3] Tahqiq, 1/334-335.
[4] Tibyan, 6/114.
[5] Tibyan, 6/165.
[6] Tahqiq, 1/324, b-ʿ-r.
[7] Raghib, pp. 891-892, y-s-r.
[8] Thalabi, 5/236.
[9] Zamakhshari, 2/486;
[10] Tabari, 13/9; Tibyan, 6/165; Mizan, 11/215; Tantawi, 7/390.
[11] Tibyan, 6/165.
[12] Tabrisi, 5/378.
[13] Muhit, 6/297.
[14] Genesis 42:26-32.