Tafsir of Yusuf 12:73-75

Surah Yusuf (12:73-75)

{قالوا تالله لقد...}

The Basrans said: The wāw in {Wallāhi} (By God) is a substitute for the tā’, and the tā’ is a substitute for the wāw.

The exegetes said: They swore an oath concerning two matters:

1. That they did not come for the purpose of spreading corruption in the land. This is evident from their conduct, as they completely refrained from dealing with people's property—neither eating it nor sending their animals into their fields. It is even narrated that they had tied the mouths of their animals so they would not graze in the crops. Furthermore, they were diligent in all types of acts of worship. For one whose description is this, spreading corruption in the land is not fitting.
2. That they were not thieves. They had conclusive proof of this: when they found their goods in their saddlebags, they brought them from their land to Egypt but did not permit themselves to take them. A thief would never act this way.

Then, when they clarified their innocence of that accusation, the companions of Joseph (peace be upon him) said: {فما جزاؤه إن كنتم كاذبين} (So what is its penalty, if you are truthful?).

They replied: {قالوا جزؤه من وجد فى رحله فهو جزاؤه} (They said: Its penalty is that he, in whose saddlebag it is found, shall be its penalty).

Ibn Abbas said: In that era, they used to enslave every thief because of his theft. The enslavement of a thief in their law served the same purpose as the cutting off of the hand in our law.

The meaning is: The penalty for this crime is the person in whose saddlebag the stolen item is found; that person is the penalty for that crime. That is, his enslavement is the penalty for that offense.

Al-Zajjaj said: There are two interpretations here:

1. That {جزاؤه} (its penalty) is the subject (mubtada'), and {من وجد فى رحله} (whoever is found in his saddlebag) is the predicate (khabar). The meaning is: The penalty for theft is the person in whose saddlebag the theft is found. And the statement {فهو جزاؤه} (then he is its penalty) is an addition for clarification, just as you would say, "The penalty for the thief is cutting off [the hand], and that is its penalty."
2. That {جزاؤه} (its penalty) is the subject, and the sentence {من وجد فى رحله فهو جزاؤه} (whoever is found in his saddlebag, then he is its penalty) is a clause in the position of the predicate for the subject. The meaning is as if it were said: "Its penalty is whoever is found in his saddlebag, that is it." However, the pronoun (هو) was used for emphasis and exaggeration in clarification. The grammarians cited the following verse:

As for the statement {كذالك نجزى الظالمين} (Thus do We recompense the wrongdoers), it means: A penalty like this is the recompense for wrongdoers—meaning, if he steals, he is enslaved.

Then it was said: This is part of the speech of Joseph's brothers. Another view is that when they said, "Its penalty is that whoever is found in his saddlebag, then he is its penalty," Joseph's companions replied: {كذالك نجزى الظالمين} (Thus do We recompense the wrongdoers).

{فبدأ بأوعيتهم قبل وعآء أخيه ثم استخرجها من وعآء أخيه كذالك كدنا ليوسف ما كان ليأخذ أخاه فى دين الملك إلا أن يشآء الله نرفع درجات من نشآء وفوق كل ذى علم عليم} (75)

(So he began with their containers before the container of his brother. Then he brought it out from his brother's container. Thus did We devise a plan for Joseph. He could not have taken his brother according to the law of the king unless Allah had willed it. We raise in degrees whom We will. And above every possessor of knowledge is one who knows more.)