Tafsir of Yusuf 12:13

{إني ليحزنني} (Indeed, it saddens me): The lam is the lam of inception (lam al-ibtida’), as in His saying: {Indeed, your Lord will judge between them} (An-Nahl: 124). Its entry here is due to one of the reasons for resemblance to the noun (al-mudari‘ah) mentioned by Sibawayh.

He excused himself to them with two things:

1. That their taking him away and his separation from him is something that saddens him, for he could not bear to be away from him for an hour.
2. His fear for him from the aggression of the wolf if they were to become negligent of him due to their grazing and playing, or because their concern for him was little and their care for his protection was not sincere.

It is said: He saw in a dream that a wolf had attacked Yusuf, so he was wary of it. Thus, he said that, and by doing so, he provided them with the excuse. In their proverbs: "Calamity is entrusted to speech."

{الذئب} (The wolf): It is recited with the hamza (as the original form) and with the takhfif (lightening/omission of the hamza). It is said that its derivation comes from tadha’abat al-rih (the wind blew from every direction).