Tafsir of Yusuf 12:70

{The Drinking Cup (al-siqāyah)} It is a vessel used for drinking, which is the ṣuwāʿ (measuring cup). It is said: The King used to drink from it, then it was repurposed as a measuring cup for grain.

It is also said: Animals were watered with it, and grain was measured with it.

Others say: It was an elongated vessel resembling a makūk (a specific type of container). Some say it was the Persian makūk, whose two ends meet, used by non-Arabs for drinking.

It is also said: It was made of silver gilded with gold, or made entirely of gold, or encrusted with jewels.

{Then an announcer announced} Meaning, a caller called out. It is said: ādhana-hu means "he informed him." Adhdhana means "to announce repeatedly." From this comes the mu’adhdhin (caller to prayer), due to the frequency of his announcements.

It is narrated that they departed, and Yusuf allowed them time until they had set off. Then he ordered that they be pursued and detained, and then they were told this.

{The caravan (al-ʿīr)} These are the camels carrying the loads, because they taʿīru—meaning they go and come. It is also said: It refers to a caravan of donkeys, then the term became widespread until it was applied to every caravan, as if it were the plural of ʿīr. Its root is fiʿl, like saqf and suquf; it underwent the same transformation as bayḍ and ʿīd. The intended meaning is the people of the caravan, as in the saying: "O horses of Allah, mount!"

Recitations and Linguistic Notes:

• Ibn Masʿūd recited: "And he placed the drinking cup..." (omitting the response to "when"). It is as if it were said: "When he provided them with their provisions and placed the cup in his brother’s saddlebag, he allowed them time until they departed, then an announcer announced."
• Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī recited: tafqidūn (you are missing), from afqadtuhu (I found him missing).
• It is recited as ṣuwāʿ, ṣāʿ, ṣūʿ, and ṣawʿ, with the ṣād either fatha or damma, and the ʿayn either dotted or undotted.

{And I am a guarantor for it} The announcer says this, meaning: I am a surety for the camel’s load; I will deliver it to whoever brings it. He intended a camel-load of food as a reward for whoever recovers it.

{They said, "By Allah, you have certainly known that we did not come to cause corruption in the land, and we have not been thieves."}