When the state of distress and indigence had, in consequence of the security, been protracted like the story of the Lord Ya’qûb and the veracious one, and the calamity of famine had become universal, and had spread over E’râq, Arabia, and Syria, the difficulty of gaining a livelihood distressed the noble and ignoble, the rich and the poor.
Verses: The cry of distress reached its height;
Famine enters [even] through iron doors.
No, not famine, but a dragon
Both spread afflictions on all sides;
They shut upon the young and the old
The gates of joy with the bars of fate.
The tribes of the Kana’anites were likewise being drowned in the inundation of famine, and the fire of hunger scattered the dust of patience to the winds; children were unable to bear it, and females lost the veins of self-possession and restraint from their hands. In this state of confusion the sons of Ya’qûb went to their father and represented to him the helpless condition of their progeny, and the distress of their families. Ya’qûb, the fire of whose anxiety was blazing on account of his separation from Yusuf, had gone away from his sons, and dwelt in a house, small like the eye of an ant, or the temper of a sick person. He had selected a corner, dark as the grave of sinners and the place of mourners, and this cottage he surnamed ‘the abode of lamentation.’ When he beheld the distress of his children, his wounds were renewed, and his sufferings became unbounded. He asked his sons, by way of consulting them, for the means of removing this calamity, and putting an end to this affliction. They replied: ‘We have heard that in this year of scarcity the A’ziz of Egypt has opened the door of his granary, and erected the balance of justice. Whoever brings wares to him obtains in exchange advantage [i.e. grain]. If thou wilt give us camels, we shall separate from our families, travel to his presence, and offer him some of our goods, whereby we may possibly rescue our wives and children from misery, and restore to those weak minors, whose souls have ascended to their lips for the want of bread, their spirits and the strength of their bodies.’ Though Ya’qûb was unwilling to separate from his sons, he at last, nevertheless, consented to their journey to Egypt, so that every one of Yusuf’s brothers, except Ebn Yâmin, mounted a camel, loaded it with goods in proportion to his wealth, and turned his face towards Egypt.* After performing the journey, and passing through the perils of the desert, the brothers arrived in Egypt, and on a day when the grandees and nobles were present in the assembly of Yusuf, they were made happy by being allowed to approach him for the purpose of kissing his hands. They were ten handsome young men, with black eyes, of high stature, and of commanding aspect. The Egyptians were astonished when they beheld those strange figures of gigantic stature. It is related that Yusuf was sitting on the couch of dignity, and on the throne of magnificence, with a diadem set in jewels on his forehead, and dressed like the King of Egypt, in robes of brocade and silk, with a golden collar on his neck. These royal garments, and the length of the time of Yusufs separation, prevented his brothers from recognising him. They approached him respectfully, and addressed their Musalmân [sic] salutations to him in the Hebrew tongue, to which the veracious one responded in the same language. He also recognised them by their features and motions, ‘but they knew him not.’* Then he asked them: ‘Where are you from, how came you to this country, and what is your intention?’ They replied: ‘We are Nomads from Syria; the troubles and difficulties of the times have afflicted us; the rumour of thy good name has induced us to come here for the purpose of obtaining provisions.’ Yusuf continued: ‘You are spies: you came to find out the number of our army, and to become acquainted with our country; after that you will go to the governors of Syria and Rûm to invite them to attack us.’ The brothers, however, unanimously exclaimed: ‘God forbid that we should be spies! We are the descendants of prophets, and of the seed of the pure; all the ten gems of us belong to the same casket, and all these ten stars belong to the same constellation. Our ancestors were observers of the [celestial] spheres, and connoisseurs of the pure world; the prosperous degrees of the fixed stars and of the planets were evident to their luminous minds without the instrumentality of the astrolabe, and the subtleties of sciences treasured up for ages are shining in them like the sun, and perceived by their acute intellects without the trouble of study. Perhaps the narratives of the mission of the Esrâil of God, and the nobleness of the friend of God, have reached the hearing of your highness. In consequence of the liberality of the king, endowed with laudable qualities, which has in this year of famine become public, and is the theme of universal praise, the people of surrounding countries have come to this locality, and we have also travelled to this land, in order to reap great advantages from the spread table of his beneficence, to be rejoiced with an abundant share of his benevolence, and to save the lives of our children, companions, followers, and posterity, from the distress of famine, and the afflictions of scarcity.’ Yusuf asked: ‘Is your father alive or dead?’ They replied: ‘He is alive.’ Yusuf continued: ‘What kind of man is he, how is he occupied, how does he spend his time, and how many are there of you?’ They said: ‘Our father is an opulent man of advanced age, of the lineage of Ebrahim, the friend of God; his epithet is the Esrâil of the Divine Majesty’s threshold. Having obtained the robe of patriarchal dignity and of human propensities by inheritance and by merit, he has entirely turned away his face from the society of anyone but that of the Creator of the universe. We were originally twelve brothers, but he who was the best of us in shape and virtue, and the most worthy of the prophetic dignity, went one day in our company to the desert, for the purpose of diverting himself, but after he had a little while disappeared from our eyes, a wolf attacked and devoured him. As soon as our father heard this news he was utterly dismayed, and ascribed his son’s destruction to the decree of fate, but as he was, in consequence of the frailty of human nature, unable by the efforts of patience to subdue the grief caused by that sad event, he has taken up his abode,
Distich: Since many years, in a hut narrow—
Narrow like the mouth-piece of a lute,
and has adopted the life of a hermit. He has closed the door of intercourse with anyone, and putting on his noble stature the robe of mourning like a violet, he placed, on account of his separation from that sun-like child, his head into the tears of his own eyes like the water-lily [i.e. Lotus flower]:
Distich: The heart’s blood rains tears from his eyes
Since that heart and eye left his arms.
The same mother whose son was thus lost, and the same conch, bore [also] another pearl:
Distich: Now the signet of that moon-faced one is put on him,
And his world-embracing eye is opened on him.’
Yusuf asked: ‘What is the name of that son?’ They replied: ‘His name is Ebn Yâmin.’ He continued: ‘Why is he called thus?’ They said: ‘A boy who has lost his mother is named Ebn Yâmin, and when this child was born, his mother, who bore the name of Rahil, struck the drum of departure. Our father has brought him up on the milk of a nurse, and keeping that orphan-pearl in his arms, he does not expose his person to the sun, nor does he think the earth secure enough for him. From morning till evening he deplores the loss of his other son, and has made the remembrance of the latter one’s beauty the associate of his imaginations. He knows no other occupation besides the wish of again beholding him, and undertakes no other business than to sport with his loveliness.’ Yusuf asked: ‘Is there anyone in this country who might vouch for the truth of your assertions, and could bear testimony to the correctness of your genealogy?’ Rubil replied: ‘We are from Syria, of the religion of Islâm; we are distinguished by the nobility of our lineage; we are not conscious that things already manifest need be made known, and that pure gold requires an ignoble stone to reveal its value.’ Hereupon the veracious one retained by divine inspiration the royal dignity, and taking no notice of these words, said: ‘I shall not cease to speak on this point, nor withdraw my hand from this matter, until you have cleared yourselves of all suspicions, and I am convinced whether you have come to this country for mercantile or for warlike purposes. Now, when you return, it will be proper that one of you remain under the shadow of my protection until you bring your youngest brother, so that the countenance of certainty may become freed from the veil of dubiousness.’ To this proposal the brethren of Yusuf assented; therefore he assigned to them a convenient habitation, and provided for all their wants with the greatest liberality. The next day the sons of Ya’qûb came to purchase wheat; Yusuf asked them for their capital, and they produced their merchandise. Then the A’ziz said: ‘Our treasury is not in want of your goods, but as you are of a noble race, and come from a long distance, you may take them to the market for the purpose of being valued, and I shall give you their equivalent in wheat.’ They acted according to these orders, and their wares amounted to the price of two hundred dinârs. After three days more had elapsed, during which Yusuf entertained his brothers hospitably, he gave to every one of them one camel-load of wheat, and remitted to them the sum by which this wheat exceeded the value of their merchandise. The brothers then cast lots who should remain in Egypt, and the lot of remaining fell upon Shima’ûn.* This is, however, contradicted in the history of Tabari, because if Yusuf had retained one of the brothers, that the others might bring Ebn Yâmin, they would have suspected that the A’ziz was himself Yusuf; but it is not hidden to the intellects of the discerning that this objection of Tabari has been refuted. Allah knows best!
When Yusuf had provided his brethren with wheat, he said to them: ‘Bring your youngest brother also with you,* that I may give also to him a camel-load of wheat. For, if you do not bring him, I shall not give you any food, nor will I admit you into my presence.’ They replied: ‘We shall ask our father, and shall do thy bidding.’ After the brothers had left Shima’ûn, and departed to Kana’an, Yusuf forthwith invited his brother to his private palace, set apart for hospitality; entertained and comforted him every day, and enjoined his attendants to respect and honour him; but occasionally he sent him a message through an interpreter to the effect that ‘The king is indisposed and sick, and his wishes must be obeyed, else I would not have subjected your family to all this inconvenience. Now, however, repose thyself for some time in our neighbourhood, until I send thee back in the company of thy brethren, in a manner the amenity whereof could not be exceeded.’
Various texts inform us that when the brothers departed, Yusuf ordered some confidants secretly to replace the goods* which they had brought from Kana’an into their baggage. The veracious one entertained full confidence in the upright character and honesty of his brethren, and knew when, on their return to their families and children, they would—after opening their loads and finding their wares among them—imagine that some persons had by mistake placed their goods among the wheat, and would return to Egypt, according to their perfect honesty, in order to restore what no longer belonged to them. There are, however, also other opinions current concerning this restoration of goods.
When the sons of Ya’qûb arrived in Kana’an after the termination of their journey, and were honoured by meeting the Esrâil of God, they said: ‘O father, by the blessing of thy orisons and the prosperity entailed by our connection with thee, the A’ziz of Egypt has received us very honourably, has treated us with extreme kindness, and has hospitably entertained us with various dishes and beverages.’ Ya’qûb listened to what they had to say, but perceiving the absence of Shima’ûn, the fire of his grief blazed up torch-like. He inquired about him, and his sons fully informed him of everything that had taken place. Then he asked: ‘Why have you revealed your secret to the A’ziz?’ They replied: ‘Because he attributed our arrival to the intention of spying out the land, and did not cease to suspect us of evil designs, it became necessary to inform him of our lineage, and we told him that we were of the family of prophets and inspired seers.’ Ya’qûb said nothing more, and when his sons commenced to open their loads they found their goods among them, and said: ‘O father, we had not told thee a falsehood when we mentioned the kind disposition of the A’ziz of Egypt. See, what we had given in exchange for food, we again find in our loads.’ Ya’qûb then pronounced a blessing upon the A’ziz; but as Shima’ûn had not returned with his brethren, his sad mood continued, and he would not be comforted. To pacify him, his sons continued: ‘Be no longer grieved and distressed, for the A’ziz of Egypt has retained Shima’un as hostage for Ebn Yâmin. There is no doubt that, if thou wilt send the latter with us, we shall have fulfilled the conditions imposed upon us; and if we bring our brother to Egypt, we shall obtain one more camel-load of wheat. But if thou failest to send him, the A’ziz of Egypt will not give us any more wheat, and will not feed us.’ Ya’qûb, however, replied: ‘I shall not send Ebn Yâmin with you to Egypt, nor do I trust your words; since your treachery and unrighteousness have become evident with reference to his brother, and have been confirmed.’ They insisted, and convinced him of their probity in this demand. Then Ya’qûb said: ‘I shall believe your words if you will strengthen your covenant with an oath.’ The brethren assented, and immediately gave the required promise on oath. Ya’qûb accordingly consented, and said: ‘God is the best keeper; He is the most merciful of the merciful.’* As the sons of Ya’qûb were tall like cypresses, had complexions pure like water, and perfectly symmetrical bodies, the Lord Ya’qûb received a divine inspiration, in consequence of which he ordered them, for the purpose of averting the evil eye, not to enter by one, but by various gates: ‘Enter not [into the city] by one [and the same] gate, but enter by different gates.’* It is related that on this occasion the sons of Ya’qûb requested him to send a letter, with references concerning them, to the A’ziz. Accordingly, the dweller in the house of mourning despatched an epistle, and therewith, as a present, the turban he had inherited from Ebrahim, entrusting both to the care of Yahuda and of Ebn Yâmin; and they were to deliver them to the A’ziz. Then the sons of Esrâil took leave from the fruit of the tree of the friend of God, and turned their face towards Egypt, where they arrived after traversing the desert. They dispersed according to the injunction of their father, and gradually reached the place where Shima’un was, who continually extolled to them the hospitality and great kindness of the A’ziz of Egypt, so that they spent the whole night conversing on this and similar matters:
Distich: The night elapsed, our story remained unfinished;
Is it the fault of the night that our story was long?
When it was day, and they had finished their orisons, with other religious duties, all the eleven brethren went to the palace of the A’ziz, and the veracious one was informed that those Hebrew youths had arrived, and had brought a gift of salutation from the aged Kana’anite:
Verses: For joy his spirit was exalted;
The rose of the spring laughed;
But the father’s unheard message
Caused him to be very sad.
At all events, he ordered them to be received with honours, and to be seated in the place of nobility and respect. After the veracious one had welcomed the brothers and inquired about the toils of the journey, he asked concerning the circumstances of Ya’qûb—i.e. of him who was sitting in the corner of grief. They replied: ‘Ere this he had consoled himself in his solitude with Ebn Yâmin for the loss of his other son; but now, as we are deprived of the opportunity to meet our father, we know not how he is, and how he spends his time.’ Then they handed the turban of Ebrahim and the letter of Ya’qûb to the A’ziz, whereby Yusuf was highly exhilarated and rejoiced, because he knew the arrival of that gift to be the approach of the happiness of prophecy and apostleship; nor would he accept the goods brought back from Kana’an by the brothers, but, refusing to accept them, said: ‘I am not in want of this merchandise.’ As the meeting had been protracted to the time in which kings eat their repasts, various plates of delicious food were brought into the assembly of the A’ziz. Yusuf retired behind the curtains of dignity, and ordered the brothers to sit two at each table; but [as their number was odd], Ebn Yâmin found himself sitting alone at one table. Then he remembered his beloved brother, and the water of regret flowed from his eyes. Yusuf perceived this from behind the curtain; fraternal love induced him to call Ebn Yâmin to his own table, and to make him his partner in the repast; he inquired about the names and circumstances of the other brothers, and said: ‘O Ebn Yâmin, if thou art willing, I shall take the place of the lost Yusuf, and shall be a brother to thee.’ Ebn Yâmin replied: ‘Thy position is very high; but oh, how pleasant it would be if the A’ziz were related to the family of Ebrahim!’ Yusuf could after these words no longer contain himself, but removed the veil [of dignity], and said: ‘I am thy beloved and lost brother Yusuf; but thou must not reveal this secret to thy brethren, lest they acknowledge their guilt and approach me with excuses and requests for pardon.’ Ebn Yâmin was highly pleased, and said: ‘I shall no more leave Egypt, for how could I after this separate myself from thee?’ Yusuf said: ‘I am meditating on this subject, and shall devise a very agreeable plan.’ Then he ordered his officials to treat the sons of Ya’qûb with the greatest respect, and invested every one of them with a robe of honour; he also commanded, with a heart full of sadness, one of his intimate secretaries to place the private drinking-cup of the king, which was set in precious stones, clandestinely into the baggage of Ebn Yâmin.
When the brethren of Yusuf had left the city with the intention of journeying to Kana’an, a number of men overtook them, one of whom shouted: ‘O company of travellers, ye are surely thieves.’ The brothers of Yusuf were greatly astonished, and turning back, exclaimed: ‘What say you, and what seek you?’ They replied: ‘We have lost the king’s drinking-cup, and whoever will restore it to us, we shall give him a camel-load of wheat.’ The sons of Ya’qûb said: ‘We swear by God, that you know, we came not to this country with the intention to do evil, and we have not been thieves. “By God ye do well know that we come not to act corruptly in the land, neither are we thieves.”’* They swore oaths, excused themselves, asked how the drinking-cup looked, and after it had been described to them, they said: ‘We have in this country even tied up the mouths of our camels, lest they might eat some of the standing crops of your fields, or some leaves of your trees. You are indeed accusing us of an illicit act.’ The messengers of Yusuf asked: ‘What shall be the punishment of him in whose baggage the drinking-cup is found?’ They replied: ‘Let him suffer for it who has perpetrated this treachery, and let him become the slave* of the owner of the stolen article.’ The Egyptians first examined the luggage of Ebn Yâmin’s brethren, and not finding the drinking-cup, began to search his own, in which they discovered it. When the sons of Ya’qûb perceived this, they drooped their heads for shame; then they turned towards Ebn Yâmin, and said: ‘Boy, thy father is the confidant of spiritual beings and the companion of celestials. Art thou not ashamed to soil the skirts of thy innocence with the mire of a treachery like this, and to make the family of righteous people a target for the arrows of the calumnies of the impious?’ Though Ebn Yâmin emphatically denied having committed the act, he was not believed, but was asked how the cup could be found among his goods if he had not put it there, and who could have done it?’ Ebn Yâmin said: ‘The same person has placed this cup among my goods who has clandestinely returned your merchandise.’ Rubil said: ‘Indeed this is so, and we do not know what jugglery the A’ziz of Egypt may have in view by these tricks, which he is secretly playing upon us.’ After some expostulations, the messengers of Yusuf carried away Ebn Yâmin to his highness the A’ziz. In those times the custom of the Egyptians with reference to theft was the same as in the religion of Ebrahim, i.e. the thief was kept in servitude. The brothers likewise thought themselves bound to return, and accordingly made their appearance in the assembly of Yusuf, and said: ‘If Ebn Yâmin be guilty of theft, his brother [Yusuf] had been guilty of theft before.’* It is recorded in the ‘Jâmi’ Aa’zim’ that at these words the flame of Yusuf’s wrath was kindled, and that he ordered all the brothers to be punished.
There are, however, different opinions concerning the theft here ascribed to Yusuf. Some assert that the father of Rahil had a golden idol which he worshipped, but Yusuf concealed this statue when a child, and gave it to his mother Rahil to rescue her from poverty, and Labân from idolatry. Others allege that Yusuf was in the habit of secretly removing food from the table, and of distributing the same to the poor and needy. Some assert that Yusuf stole a sheep from the flock and gave it to a poor man. There are, however, various other traditions current on this subject. It is also related in the above-mentioned work, that when Yusuf ordered his brothers to be punished, they got their arms ready, and having resolved to sell their lives dearly, they drew their swords. Shima’ûn came forward the first, and said: ‘O king! I shall this moment utter a shout from the terror whereof all pregnant women will immediately become subject to the travail of parturition, and will deposit their infants on the ground.’ Yahuda said: ‘I shall, with the force of my physical strength, tear to pieces the men-devouring lions, and shall pull out with my hands the tusks from the jaws of thy furious elephants.’ The others said: ‘We shall annihilate thy valorous soldiers, and the bright day will become to them as dark as the night. We shall take possession of our brother and depart to our country.’ When Yusuf had become aware of their rage, he beckoned to his son Efrahim, to go to the rear of Yahuda and of Shima’ûn, and to draw his hand over their backs, because the veracious one knew that it was a peculiarity in the family of Ya’qûb, that every time when a member of it became angry, a descendant of Ebrahim was able to calm him, by smoothing his back in the way just mentioned. When the sons of Ya’qûb saw that they were thus suddenly appeased without any perceptible cause, they exclaimed, amazed: ‘Is any one of the descendants of Ebrahim or of the family of Ya’qûb present in this place, who was aware that by touching our bodies with his hand, he was able to extinguish the fire of our wrath?’ Then the servants of Yusuf surrounded them and made them prisoners. When they were about to take the brothers to the place of execution, Yahuda came forward and said: ‘O A’ziz, it is a long time since our father, on account of the loss of one of his sons, began sitting in the corner of solitude and became a prisoner in the army of affliction and grief, tried by the calamity of separation and exclusion. If thou inflictest capital punishment upon these, his beloved sons, and retainest one in servitude, what wilt thou say, and how wilt thou excuse thyself in the day of the resurrection—when all the just and the righteous will be assembled—to Ebrahim the friend of God, to Esahâq and to Esrâil? Moreover, our father is old, and we have made a covenant with him, that we will bring his son back to him in safety, and we have taken the Absolute Sovereign to witness our bond. Now, if we are liberated and return without him, how can we look into the face of our father, and what can we answer him? We hope your highness will pardon us and take [instead of Ebn Yâmin] one of us to be your slave; whereby the purpose of your highness and also our own will be served.’ Yusuf replied: ‘What baseness have you perceived in me, that you suppose I would retain a free man as a slave, and take the innocent in lieu of the guilty individual? Indeed, to keep the latter is in accordance with the usage of kings and the laws of the prophets. Therefore I shall keep him and pardon your transgression. Depart ye now, therefore; consider yourselves lucky to have saved your heads, and do not put me nor yourselves to further inconvenience.’
Thus it is recorded in the history of Hâfez Abru, that although the sons of Ya’qûb made use of much flattery to liberate Ebn Yâmin, it proved to be futile. Rubil, the eldest brother, became excited, and every time he was excited the hair of his body bristled up. When he roared, those who heard him died of terror, but when one of the family of Ya’qûb smoothed his back his wrath gradually subsided. In his rage he approached Yusuf and said: ‘O A’ziz, anger has so overpowered me that one shout of mine will cause all who hear it to give up their ghosts. Be therefore so gracious as to surrender to me my brother, or else I shall do something which it will be impossible to remedy.’ The veracious one knew that the words of Rubil were true, therefore he cajoled him, and told his son Efrahim to go behind his uncle slyly and to place his hand on his back. When Yusuf saw that the flame of Rubil’s anger was extinguished, he said: ‘I shall not surrender thy brother; do thou as thou listest.’ Rubil then made efforts to shout, but to his astonishment his voice refused to obey, and he said: ‘It appears that there is someone of the family of Ya’qûb here, who has, by placing his hand on my back, calmed my excitement.’
From the same work we learn that on the second occasion when the [future fathers of the] tribes came to Egypt, Yusuf showed to them the deed of sale which they had made when Mâlek Bin Za’r had purchased him, and said: ‘This is a Hebrew writing, which no one in Egypt is able to read; be kind enough to explain the contents thereof to me.’ When the sons of Ya’qûb beheld that papyrus, they saw [as it were] the book of their works, whereby they were much disturbed, and said to each other: ‘How did this writing come into the hands of the A’ziz?’ They neither wished to inform him of its contents, nor inclined to say that they could not read it. Accordingly they drooped their heads and remained mute.
Verses: Yusuf the veracious said: O men!
I have a writing in the Hebrew tongue,
No one is able to read it—
I shall give you much if you read it.
All knew how to read Hebrew. To please the king
They said: Bring forth the writ!
Yusuf gave them their own writing,
And all their members quaked.
They would not read the document
Nor reveal the cause of their refusal.
The above-named Hâfez relates that when the drinking-cup was found in the baggage of Ebn Yâmin he was taken prisoner, and his brothers followed him to the presence of Yusuf in the hopes of releasing him. Yusuf took the cup, and after holding it to his ear, spoke to the assembly as follows: ‘This drinking-cup says, “Ye were twelve brethren, and you have sold one of your number!”’ When Ebn Yâmin heard these words he kissed the earth, and said: ‘O king, ask it whether that brother is alive or not.’ Yusuf then placed his hand on the cup and replied: ‘It says that he is alive, and that thou wilt see him.’ Ebn Yâmin continued: ‘Ask it who has stolen it.’ Yusuf again placed his blessed hand on the cup, and said: ‘The cup is angry, and says, “Why askest thou who stole me, since thou hast seen me carried out of the palace?”’ When the sons of Ya’qûb despaired of being able to liberate Ebn Yâmin they departed to Kana’an, but Rubil, who had pledged himself in a covenant to the return of his brother, said: ‘I will by no means depart from the land [of Egypt] until my father give me leave [to return unto him], or Allah maketh known His will to me.’* The brothers of Yusuf then left Egypt disappointed, arrived in Kana’an after performing the journey, and informed their father how matters stood. The dweller in the mansion of grief was again overwhelmed by feelings of melancholy, and by the desire of beholding Yusuf. Now, however, he had also to deplore the loss of two of his sons, and wept so much for them that his world-embracing eyes ceased to be sensible to the impressions of light.
| Distich: | He bemoaned his friend so long, that When he had no more tears he wept out his eyes. |
It is said that on this occasion a relative of Ya’qûb, who was his intimate friend, had come on a visit and asked him about the cause which had bent down his cypress-like stature. Ya’qûb replied: ‘The loss of Yusuf.’ He again asked: ‘The dust of what affliction has entered thy world-seeing eyes?’ He replied: ‘My longing for Ebn Yâmin has reduced me to this condition.’ At that moment the following reproachful divine allocution from the Almighty reached him: ‘Why hast thou complained to another besides Me, and why hast thou related thy case to another besides Me?’ Hereupon Ya’qûb confessed his fault, and besought the Lord of Unity to pardon him. Then the following words were addressed to him: ‘As thou hast acknowledged the justice of My assertion and thy guilt, I swear by My glory and magnificence that I shall restore to thee both thy sons in safety, and I will grant thee a long time during which you may enjoy pleasure and the society of each other.’ After this Ya’qûb restrained his voice and complained no more, for fear of incurring the displeasure of the Almighty:
| Verses: | O my soul, thou hast cramped my heart, burnt my spirit. I said, I will complain [but] thou hast burnt my tongue. Thou art gone, and we gave many promises of meeting, In hopes of which thou hast consumed me as a lamp. I said, I will lament my separation, But within me thou hast burnt that lamentation. |