Surah 12. Yusuf, Ayah 58
| وَجَاءَ إِخْوَةُ يُوسُفَ فَدَخَلُوا عَلَيْهِ فَعَرَفَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُ مُنْكِرُونَ |
| Transliteration | : | wa- jaa'a 'ikhwah yosuf fa- dakhalo calay -hi fa- carafa -hum wa- hum la- -hu munkiron |
| Pickthall | : | And Joseph's brethren came and presented themselves before him, and he knew them but they knew him not. |
| Asad | : | AND [after some years,] Joseph's brothers came [to Egypt]58 and presented themselves before him: and he knew them [at once], whereas they did not recognize him. |
| Malik | : | Several years later when the famine started and there was no food available outside of Egypt, Yusuf's brothers came to Egypt for food and entered his office. He recognized them but they did not recognize him. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | Then came Joseph's brethren: they entered his presence and he knew them but they knew him not. 1719 |
Note - 58I.e., to buy wheat from the stores which Joseph had
accumulated during the seven years of plenty: for all the
countries in the vicinity of Egypt were by now affected
by the famine which he had predicted, and Egypt alone had
a surplus, the distribution of which he supervised
personally (cf. Genesis xii, 54-57).
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Note - 1719Years pass; the times of prosperity go by: famine holds
the land in its grip; and it extends to neighbouring
countries. Joseph's preparations are complete. His
reserves are ample to meet the calamity. Not only does
Egypt bless him, but neighbouring countries send to Egypt
to purchase corn. All are received with hospitality, and
corn is sold to them according to judicious measure. Now
there has been one sorrow gnawing at Joseph's heart. His
poor father Jacob! How he must have wept, as indeed he
did, at the loss of his beloved Joseph! And Joseph's
little brother Benjamin, born of the same mother as
himself; would the other ten brothers, not by the same
mother, have any affection for him, or would they treat
him, as they treated Joseph? How would the whole family
be in these hard times? A sort of answer came when the
ten selfish brothers, driven by famine, came from Canaan
to buy corn. Joseph, though so great a man, kept the
details of the famine department in his own hands,
otherwise there might have been waste. But to the public
he was a mighty Egyptian administrator, probably in
Egyptian dress, and with all the paraphernalia of his
rank about him. When his brothers came, he knew them, but
they did not know he was Joseph. In their thoughts was
probably some menial slave in a remote household, perhaps
already starved to death in these hard times!
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I.e., to buy wheat from the stores which Joseph had accumulated during the seven years of plenty: for all the countries in the vicinity of Egypt were by now affected by the famine which he had predicted, and Egypt alone had a surplus, the distribution of which he supervised personally (cf. Genesis xii, 54-57). |
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Years pass; the times of prosperity go by: famine holds the land in its grip; and it extends to neighbouring countries. Joseph's preparations are complete. His reserves are ample to meet the calamity. Not only does Egypt bless him, but neighbouring countries send to Egypt to purchase corn. All are received with hospitality, and corn is sold to them according to judicious measure. Now there has been one sorrow gnawing at Joseph's heart. His poor father Jacob! How he must have wept, as indeed he did, at the loss of his beloved Joseph! And Joseph's little brother Benjamin, born of the same mother as himself; would the other ten brothers, not by the same mother, have any affection for him, or would they treat him, as they treated Joseph? How would the whole family be in these hard times? A sort of answer came when the ten selfish brothers, driven by famine, came from Canaan to buy corn. Joseph, though so great a man, kept the details of the famine department in his own hands, otherwise there might have been waste. But to the public he was a mighty Egyptian administrator, probably in Egyptian dress, and with all the paraphernalia of his rank about him. When his brothers came, he knew them, but they did not know he was Joseph. In their thoughts was probably some menial slave in a remote household, perhaps already starved to death in these hard times! |
