And so, when they took him away and decided to throw him into the bottom of the well, We inspired him: “˹One day˺ you will remind them of this deed of theirs while they are unaware ˹of who you are˺.”
وَجَآءُوٓ أَبَاهُمْ عِشَآءً يَبْكُونَ (16)
Then they returned to their father in the evening, weeping.
They cried, “Our father! We went racing and left Joseph with our belongings, and a wolf devoured him! But you will not believe us, no matter how truthful we are.”
And they brought his shirt, stained with false blood.1 He responded, “No! Your souls must have tempted you to do something ˹evil˺. So ˹I can only endure with˺ beautiful patience!2 It is Allah’s help that I seek to bear your claims.”
And there came some travellers, and they sent their water-boy who let down his bucket into the well. He cried out, “Oh, what a great find! Here is a boy!” And they took him secretly ˹to be sold˺ as merchandise, but Allah is All-Knowing of what they did.
The man from Egypt1 who bought him said to his wife, “Take good care of him, perhaps he may be useful to us or we may adopt him as a son.” This is how We established Joseph in the land, so that We might teach him the interpretation of dreams. Allah’s Will always prevails, but most people do not know.
