The king informed Joseph that his innocence was established and ordered him to come to the
palace for an interview. The king recognized his noble qualities. When Joseph came, the king
spoke to him in his tongue. Joseph’s replies astonished the king with his cultural refinement and wide knowledge.
Then the conversation turned to the dream. Joseph advised the king to start planning for years of famine ahead. He informed him that the famine would affect not only Egypt but the neighboring countries as well. The king offered him a high position.
Joseph asked to be made controller of the granaries, so that he could guard the nation’s harvest and thereby safeguard it during the anticipated drought. By this Joseph did not mean to seize an opportunity or personal gain; he merely wanted to rescue hungry nations for a personal gain; he merely wanted to rescue hungry nations for a period of seven years.
It was a sheer nobleness on his part in that he wanted to ensure that many people would not die as a result.
Joseph’s High Position – Quranic
Almighty Allah said:
“And the king said: “Bring him to me that I may attach him to my person.” Then, when he spoke to him, he said: “Verily, this day, you are with us high in rank and full trusted.”
Joseph said: “Set me over the store houses of the land; I will indeed guard them with full
knowledge.” (as a minister of finance in Egypt, in place of Al-Aziz who was dead at that time).
Thus did We give full authority to Joseph in the land, to take possession therein, as when or
where he likes. We bestow of Our Mercy on whom We please, and We make not to be lost the
reward of Al Muhsineen (the good-doers). (Ch 12:54-57).
Joseph Meets His Brothers
The wheels of time turned. During the seven good years, Joseph had full control over the
cultivation, harvesting, and storage of crops. During the following seven years, drought followed and famine spread throughout the region, including Canaan, the homeland of Joseph. Joseph advised the king that as his kingdom was blessed with reserved grain, he should sell his grain to the needy nations at a fair price. The king agreed, and the good news spread all over the region.
Jacob sent ten of his sons, all except Benjamin, to Egypt to purchase provisions. Joseph heard of the ten brothers who had come from afar and who could not speak the language of the Egyptians.
When they called on him to purchase their needs, Joseph immediately recognized his brothers, but they did not know him. How could they? To them Joseph no longer existed; he had been thrown into the deep, dark well many years ago!
Joseph received them warmly. After supplying them with provisions, he asked where they had
come from. They explained: “We are eleven brothers, the children of a noble prophet. The
youngest is at home tending to the needs of our aging father.”
On hearing this, Joseph’s eyes filled with tears; his longing for home swelled up in his heart, as well as his longing for his beloved parents and his loving brother Benjamin. “Are you truthful
people?” Joseph asked them.
Perturbed they replied, “What reason should we have to state an untruth?”
“If what you say is true then bring your brother as proof and I will reward you with double
rations. But if you do not bring him to me, it would be better if you do not return,” Joseph warned them.
They assured him that they would gladly fulfill his command but that they would have to get their father’s permission. As an inducement to return with their brother, Joseph ordered his servant to secretly place the purse, with the money they had paid, into one of their grain sacks.
Joseph Meets His Brothers – Quranic
Allah the Almighty said:
“And Joseph’s brethren came and they entered unto him, and he recognized them, but they
recognized him not. And when he had furnished them forth with provisions (according to their
need), he said: “Bring me a brother of yours from your father; (he meant Benjamin). See you not that I give full measure, and that I am the best of the hosts? But if you bring him onto me, there shall be no measure of corn for you with me, nor shall you come near me.”
They said: “We shall try to get permission for him from his father, and verily, we shall do it.”
And (Joseph) told his servants to put their money (with which they had bought the corn) into
their bags, so that they might know it when they go back to their people, in order that they might come back. (Ch 12:58-62)
The Brothers Return to Canaan
The scene dims in Egypt and lights in Canaan. The brothers returned to their father. Before they could unload the camels, they greeted him, then reproved him: “We were denied some supplies because you did not let your son go with us. They would not give us food for absentees.
Why would you not entrust him with us? Please, send him with us, and we shall take care of him.”
Jacob became sad and told them: “I will not permit Benjamin to travel with you. I will not part
with him, for I entrusted Joseph to you and you failed me.”
Later, when they opened their grain sacks, they were surprised to find the money purse returned intact.
They rushed to their father; “Look, father! The noble official has returned our money; this
is surely proof that he would not harm our brother and it can only benefit us.” But Jacob refused to send Benjamin with them.
After some time, when they had no more grain, Jacob asked them to travel to Egypt for more.
They reminded him of the warning the Egyptian official had given them. They could not return
without Benjamin. Jacob agreed, but not before he extracted a pledge from them.
“I will not send him with you unless you give me a pledge in Allah’s name that you shall bring him back to me as safely as you take him.” They gave their solemn pledge. He reminded them: “Allah is witness to your pledge.” He then advised them to enter the city through several different gates.
The Brothers Return to Canaan – Quranic
Almighty Allah narrated:
“So when they returned to their father, they said: “O our father! No more measure of grain shall
we get (unless we take our brother). So send our brother with us, and we shall get our measure and truly we will guard him.”
He said: “Can I entrust him to you except as I entrust his brother (Joseph) to you aforetime? But Allah is the best to guard, and He is the Most Merciful of those Who show mercy.”
And when they opened their bags they found their money had been returned to them.
They said: “O our father! What more can we desire? This, our money has been returned to us, so we shall get more food for our family, and we shall guard our brother and add one more measure of a camel’s load. This quantity is easy (for the king to give).”
He (Jacob) said: “I will not send him with you until you swear a solemn oath to me in Allah’s
Name, that you will bring him back to me unless you are yourselves surrounded (by enemies,
etc). And when they had sworn their solemn oath, he said: “Allah is the Witness over what we
have said.”
And he said: “O my sons! Do not enter by one gate, but by different gates, and I cannot avail
you against Allah at all. Verily! The decision rests only with Allah. In Him, I put my trust and let
all those that trust, put their trust in Him.” (Ch 12:63-67 Quran).
Jacob blessed them on their departure and prayed to Allah for their protection. The brothers
undertook the long journey to Egypt, taking good care of Benjamin.
Joseph and Benjamin Meet
Joseph welcomed them heartily, although, with difficulty, he suppressed the desire to embrace
Benjamin that arose within him. He prepared a feast for them and seated them in pairs. Joseph arranged to sit next to his beloved brother Benjamin, who began to weep. Joseph asked him why he was crying. He replied: “If my brother Joseph had been here, I would have sat next to him.”
That night, when Joseph and Benjamin were alone in a room, Joseph asked whether he would
have him for a brother. Benjamin respectfully answered that he regarded his host as a wonderful person, but he could never take the place of his brother. Joseph broke down, and amidst flowing tears said; “My loving brother, I am the brother who was lost and whose name you are constantly repeating. Fate has brought us together after many years of separation. This is Allah’s favor.
But let it be a secret between us for the time being.” Benjamin flung his arms around Joseph and both brothers shed tears of joy.
A Thief Among the Brothers
The next day, while their bags were being filled with grains to load onto the camels, Joseph
ordered one of his attendants to place the king’s gold cup which was used for measuring the grain into Benjamin’s saddlebag. When the brothers were ready to set out, the gates were locked, and the court crier shouted:
“O you travelers, you are thieves!” The accusation was most unusual, and the people gathered around Joseph’s brothers.
“What have you lost?” his brothers inquired.
A soldier said: “The king’s golden cup. Whoever can trace it we will give a beast load of grain.”
Joseph’s brothers said with all innocence: “We have not come here to corrupt the land and steal.”
Joseph’s officers said (as he had instructed them): What punishment should you choose for the thief?”
The brothers answered: “According to our law, whoever steals becomes a slave to the owner of the property.”
The officers agreed: “We shall apply your law instead of the Egyptian law, which provides for
imprisonment.”
The chief officer ordered his soldiers to start searching the caravan. Joseph was watching the
incident from high upon his throne. He had given instructions for Benjamin’s bag to be the last to be searched. When they did not find the cup in the bags of the ten older brothers, the brothers sighed in relief.
Benjamin is Accused
There remained only the bag of their youngest brother. Joseph said, intervening for the first time, that there was no need to search his saddle as he did not look like a thief.
His brothers affirmed: “We will not move an inch unless his saddle is searched as well. We are the sons of a noble man, not thieves.”
The soldiers reached in their hands and pulled out the king’s cup. The brothers exclaimed: “If he steals now, a brother of his has stolen before.” They strayed from the present issue in order to blame a particular group of the children of Jacob.
Joseph heard their resentment with his own ears and was filled with regret. Yet, he swallowed his own resentment, keeping it within.
He said to himself, “you went further and fared worse; it shall go bad with you and worse hereafter, and Allah knows your intention.”
Silence fell upon them after these remarks by the brothers. Then they forgot their secret
satisfaction and thought of Jacob; they had taken an oath with him that they would not betray his son. They began to beg Joseph for mercy. “Joseph, O minister! Take one of us instead. He is the son of a good man, and we can see you are a good man.”
Joseph answered calmly: “How can you want to set free the man who has stolen the king’s cup? It would be sinful.”
The brothers went on pleading for mercy. However, the guards said that the king had spoke and his word was law. Judah, the eldest, was much worried and told the others: “We promised our father in the name of Allah not to fail him. I will, therefore, stay behind and will only return if my father permits me to do so.”
Joseph Meets Benjamin and the Accusation – Quranic
Regarding this scene, Almighty Allah said:
“And when they entered according to their father’s advice, it did not avail them in the least
against (the Will of ) Allah, it was but a need of Jacob’s inner self which he discharged. And
verily, he was endowed with knowledge because We had taught him, but most men know not. And when they went in before Joseph, he betook his brother (Benjamin) to himself and said: “Verily!
I am your brother, so grieve not for what they used to do.”
So when he had furnished them forth with their provisions, he put the golden bowl in his
brother’s bag. Then a crier cried: “O you in the caravan! Surely, you are thieves!”
They, turning towards them said: “What is that you have missed?”
They said: “We have missed the golden bowl of the king and for him who produces it is the
reward of a camel load; I will be bound by it.”
They said: “By Allah! Indeed you know that we came not to make mischief in the land, and we
are no thieves!” They (Joseph’s brothers) said: “The penalty should be that he, in whose bag it is found, should
be held for the punishment of the crime. Thus we punish the Zalimeen (wrongdoers, etc)!”
So he (Joseph) began the search in their bags before the bag of his brother. Then he brought it out of his brother’s bag. Thus did We plan for Joseph. He could not take his brother by the law of the king (as a slave), except that Allah willed it. So Allah made the brothers to bind
themselves with their way of ‘punishment, i.e. enslaving of a thief.’ We raise to degrees whom We please, but over all those endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allah).
They (Joseph’s brothers) said: “If he steals, there was a brother of his (Joseph) who did steal
before him.” But these things did Joseph keep in himself, revealing not the secrets to them. He
said (within himself): “You are in the worst case, and Allah knows best the truth of what you
assert!”
They said : “O ruler of the land! Verily, he has an old father who will grieve for him, so take one
of us in his place. Indeed we think that you are one of the good doers.”
He said: “Allah forbid! That we should take anyone but him with whom we found our property.
Indeed if we did so, we shall be Zalimun (wrongdoers).”
So, when they despaired of him, they held a conference in private. The eldest among them said: “Know you not that your father did take an oath from you in Allah’s name, and before this did fail in your duty with Joseph? Therefore, I will not leave this land until my father permits me, or Allah decides my case (by releasing Benjamin) and He is the Best of the judges.” (Ch 12:68-80
Quran).
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