يا بَنِيَّ اذهَبوا فَتَحَسَّسوا مِن يوسُفَ وَأَخيهِ وَلا تَيأَسوا مِن رَوحِ اللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّهُ لا يَيأَسُ مِن رَوحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا القَومُ الكافِرونَ

Go, my sons, and look for Joseph and his brother, and do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Indeed, no one despairs of Allah’s mercy except the faithless lot.’

EXEGESIS

Taḥassasū (look for); taḥassus is very close to tajassus (spying) in meaning,[1] except that tajassus is used in a negative sense, and taḥassus in a positive sense.[2] The English equivalent of taḥassus vis-à-vis tajassus would be investigation, or searching diligently.

Rawḥ (mercy) means breath (nafas) or pure/pleasant breath (al-nafas al-ṭayyib). It metaphorically signifies the state that is opposite to exhaustion. This is because intense hardship, where means are severed and paths of salvation blocked, creates a feeling of suffocation and constriction in a person. In contrast, emerging into the expanse of relief and attaining wellness brings breathing space (tanaffus) and revitalisation (rawḥ). Thus, the rawḥ attributed to God refers to the divine relief (faraj) after hardship.[3]

EXPOSITION

Prophet Jacob (a) advised his sons that they should not lose hope, and they should look for not only Benjamin, but Joseph (a) as well. What was their father even saying? Why and how could they hope to find Joseph (a) in Egypt? Their father only mused mysteriously that he knew something that they did not know.

Go, my sons, and look for Joseph and his brother: look should be understood in different ways for Prophet Joseph (a) and Benjamin. Prophet Joseph (a) was missing, so looking for him has the meaning of trying to find him, whereas for Benjamin it means to look for a way to free him.

The eldest son is not intended here, because he was neither missing nor imprisoned, but had remained voluntarily in Egypt.[4]

And do not despair of Allah’s mercy: though it had been decades since Prophet Joseph (a) had been last seen by any of them (or so they thought), Prophet Jacob (a) advised them not to despair of God’s mercy. If God willed it, Prophet Joseph (a) would be reunited with his family.

From a literary point of view, the choice to use the word rawḥ when speaking of God’s mercy instead of raḥmah, naṣr, faḍl, and so on, is an eloquent one, as it beautifully links with the chosen expressions bathth (anguish) and kaẓīm (choked with suppressed agony) in the previous verses. Bathth as we discussed was the emotion of grief that could not be kept in and had to be expressed, a cry that is released from deep within. Rawḥ, on the other hand, is the sigh of relief one breathes after difficulties have been overcome.[5]

Indeed, no one despairs of Allah’s mercy except the faithless lot: a believer should always expect that relief will come from God no matter how bleak the situation. A similar sentiment is quoted from Prophet Abraham (a) when he says: Who despairs of his Lord’s mercy (raḥmah) except those who are astray (15:56).

Does this suggest that sadness or depression indicates a lack of faith? Absolutely not. Emotional struggles are part of the human experience and do not inherently reflect weak faith. However, a believer must always anchor their heart in God’s boundless mercy, never surrendering to the delusion that hope is lost. God promises, And whoever is wary of Allah, He shall make a way out for him (65:2), and Indeed ease accompanies hardship (94:5). To truly despair is to disbelieve in God’s promise. At the very least he should hope for bliss and ease in the hereafter.

It has also been pointed out that the verse reminds us that hope (amal) should be accompanied by action (ʿamal). Prophet Jacob (a) tells his sons that they should not despair and should set out and look for Prophet Joseph (a). If they do not set out and look, hope alone will not be fruitful.[6]

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. From Imam Ali (a): ‘You should not think that even the best of this community (ummah) are safe from the punishment of God, because God – the exalted – says: No one feels secure from Allah’s devising except the people who are losers [7:99]. But do not despair for even the worst of this community, as God – the exalted – says: Indeed, no one despairs of Allah’s mercy except the faithless lot.’[7]
2. From Imam Ali (a): ‘The true scholar (faqīh) is the one who does not let people lose hope in the kindness (raḥmah) of God, nor does he make them despair of God’s mercy (rawḥ), and does not make them feel safe from God’s plan.’[8]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

The Mutazilites adhere to a strict view regarding the punishment of God. One of their views is that if a Muslim has been guilty of openly committing sins (fāsiq) one should not entertain any hopes for his salvation. Ṭūsī mentions that this verse has been used as a counterargument against them, saying that only the faithless lot are subject to despair of the mercy of God.[9] In this regard, consider the hadith mentioned in the previous section.

Rāzī argues that despair occurs when one thinks that God is unable, unaware, or unwilling to be merciful or to help, and every one of these notions is contrary to faith.[10] Ālūsī replies that it is not so that one who has despaired necessarily thinks such things about God in general, but rather he has despaired about God’s mercy specifically regarding himself, because, for example, he considers his sins to be so huge that God would never forgive them. This does not mean that such despair is not a major sin, or indeed as is reported from Ibn Masʿūd, perhaps that it is the greatest of the major sins (kabāʾir).[11]

[1] Tibyan, 6/185.
[2] This opinion is attributed to Ibn Abbas (Thalabi, 5/250-251). Abū Ḥayyān contradicts this, saying taḥassus can be used in both positive and negative senses (Muhit, 6/315).
[3] Mizan, 11/234.
[4] Alusi, 7/42.
[5] A similar link exists in its usage in Sūrat al-Wāqiʿah where it is used to describe the bliss of paradise: Then a restful breath (rawḥ), a fragrant breeze, and a garden of bliss (56:89); there it links to the previous mention of how the person about to die has his last breath reach his throat (56:83), before the pious believer finally sighs with relief after being released from this world in order to move on to the true mercy and bounty that God has prepared for him.
[6] See Munyah, 14/205.
[7] Nahj, saying 377.
[8] Nahj, saying 90.
[9] For more, see the discussion in Tibyan, 6/185. See also Tabrisi, 5/395.
[10] Razi, 18/501.
[11] Alusi, 7/43. Tabatabai also mentions that there are reports which consider despair of God’s mercy to be one of the major sins (Mizan, 11/234).