Tafsir of Yusuf 12:110

{حتى إذا استيأس} The word ḥattā (until) is linked to an omitted element indicated by the discourse. It is as if it were said: "We did not send before you any but men," and their victory was delayed until they despaired of victory.

{وظنوا أنهم قد كذبوا} This means their own souls lied to them when they whispered that they would be granted victory, or their hope lied to them—for there is "truthful hope" and "false hope." The meaning is that the period of denial and hostility from the disbelievers, and the waiting for and hoping for God’s victory, had become prolonged for them, until they felt despair and imagined that there would be no victory for them in this world. Then, Our victory came to them suddenly, unexpectedly.

Regarding Ibn Abbas (may God be pleased with them both): "They thought, when they were weakened and overcome, that they had been failed regarding what God had promised them of victory." He said: "They were human beings," and he recited His saying: {...and they were shaken until the Messenger and those who believed with him said: 'When is the help of God?'} (Al-Baqarah: 214).

If this is authentic from Ibn Abbas, he intended by "thought" (ẓann) that which crosses the mind and stirs in the heart—like a whisper or internal dialogue—consistent with human nature. As for the ẓann that implies weighing one of two possibilities over the other, it is not permissible for any Muslim, so how could it be for the Messengers of God, who are the most knowledgeable of people regarding their Lord, that He is exalted above breaking a promise and transcendent above all that is ugly?

It is also said: "The people to whom they were sent thought that the Messengers had been proven false," meaning: they were failed. Or: "The people to whom they were sent thought that they [the Messengers] had lied to them," meaning: the Messengers lied to them regarding the claim that they would be granted victory over them, and they did not believe them in that.

It was read as kudhḍibū (with tashdīd—passive voice): "The Messengers thought that their people had proven them false regarding what they had promised them of punishment and victory over them."

Mujahid read it as kudhibū (with takhfīf—passive voice): "The Messengers thought that they had been proven false regarding what they had told their people of victory." This is either according to the interpretation of Ibn Abbas, or that when their people did not see any trace of their promise, they said to them: "You have lied to us," thus they became liars in the eyes of their people. Or: "The people to whom they were sent thought that the Messengers had lied." If it were read with tashdīd in this sense, it would mean: "The Messengers thought that their people had called them liars regarding their promise."

{فنجي من نشاء} It was read as fanunjī and fanunjī (with takhfīf and tashdīd), from anjā and najjā. And funjī (as a passive past tense verb). Ibn Muḥayṣin read it as fanajā. The intended meaning of {whom We will} is the believers, for they are the ones worthy of having their salvation willed. This is clarified by His saying: {...and Our punishment cannot be averted from the criminal people.}

{لقد كان في قصصهم عبرة لأولي الألباب ما كان حديثا يفترى ولكن تصديق الذي بين يديه وتفصيل كل شيء وهدى ورحمة لقوم يؤمنون}