Surah Yusuf, Ayah 95

Ya`qub finds the Scent of Yusuf in his Shirt!

Yusuf said, `Take this shirt of mine,

فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَى وَجْهِ أَبِى يَأْتِ بَصِيرًا

(and cast it over the face of my father, his vision will return),' because Ya`qub had lost his sight from excessive crying,

وَأْتُونِى بِأَهْلِكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ

(and bring to me all your family.) all the children of Ya`qub.

وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ الْعِيرُ

(And when the caravan departed) from Egypt,

قَالَ أَبُوهُمْ

(their father said...), Ya`qub, peace be upon him, said to the children who remained with him,

إِنِّى لأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ لَوْلاَ أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ

`(I do indeed feel the smell of Yusuf, if only you think me not senile.), except that you might think me senile because of old age.' `Abdur-Razzaq narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "When the caravan departed from Egypt, a wind started blowing and brought the scent of Yusuf's shirt to Ya`qub. He said,

In verse 95, it was said: قَالُوا تَاللَّـهِ إِنَّكَ لَفِي ضَلَالِكَ الْقَدِيمِ (They said, 'By God, you are still in your old fallacy!' ). It means that those around Sayyidna Ya` qub (علیہ السلام) commented on what he had said by wondering that he still seemed to be engrossed into his old fallacy, that is: 'Yusuf is alive and we shall meet again.'

When the truth came out into the open, Joseph’s brothers acknowledged Joseph’s greatness and freely admitted their guilt. In the same way, Joseph also showed such broadmindedness as a true God-worshipper is expected to show on such occasions. He did not condemn his brothers. He completely forgot and forgave the bitter experiences of the past and once again entered into fraternal relations with his brothers. In this incident there is an example of a combination of divine and human help. And through this incident, circumstances were created which favoured the Children of Israel leaving Palestine and reaching Egypt where they attained a position of honour and prosperity. It was during the time of Joseph that the family of Jacob shifted to Egypt and for the next five hundred years they lived there with dignity and honour. According to the Bible, the number of members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt was sixty seven.