Tafsir of Yusuf 12:20

{وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍ بَخْسٍ} They sold him for a bakhs (diminished) price, meaning a price that is deficient and clearly lacking in value, or counterfeit and of low standard.

{دَرَاهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍ} They were dirhams, not dinars, and they were "counted" (few), meaning they were counted out by hand rather than weighed. This is because they would only weigh amounts that reached an uqiyyah (forty dirhams), while anything less was counted. It is said that a small amount is called "counted" because a large amount cannot be counted due to its abundance.

• Ibn Abbas said: It was twenty dirhams.
• Al-Suddi said: It was twenty-two.

{وَكَانُوا فِيهِ مِنَ الزَّاهِدِينَ} They were among those who had no desire for him. They were eager to rid themselves of what was in their hands, selling him for whatever meager price they could get because they had found him as a stray (lost item). One who finds something often treats it lightly, not caring for what price they sell it, and fearing that the rightful owner might appear and reclaim it from their hands; thus, they sell it to the first bidder for the lowest price.

It is also possible that the meaning of {وَشَرَوْهُ} is "they bought him"—referring to the caravan buying him from his brothers. In this case, {وَكَانُوا فِيهِ مِنَ الزَّاهِدِينَ} means they (the caravan) had no desire for him because they believed he was a runaway slave, and they feared he might cause them trouble regarding their possessions. It is narrated that his brothers followed the caravan, saying to them: "Keep a tight hold on him so he does not run away."

The phrase {فِيهِ} is not connected to {الزَّاهِدِينَ} because a prepositional phrase cannot precede the noun it modifies (you cannot say "He was Zayd of the strikers"). Rather, it is an explanatory phrase, as if it were asked: "In what did they have no desire?" The answer is: "They had no desire in him."

{وَقَالَ الَّذِي اشْتَرَاهُ مِن مِّصْرَ لِامْرَأَتِهِ أَكْرِمِي مَثْوَاهُ عَسَىٰ أَن يَنفَعَنَا أَوْ نَتَّخِذَهُ وَلَدًا ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُ مِن تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَىٰ أَمْرِهِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ}