What Trick Did Yusuf Use to Keep His Brother With Him in Egypt?
ما الحيلة التي دبرها يوسف عليه السلام لإبقاء أخيه عنده؟
Yusuf-peace be upon him approached his brother and then revealed his identity to him; to assure him that he was in his brother’s presence and that his brother was alive, and he was holding a high position. He urged him to end sadness and disdain for the brothers’ repeated actions and abuses, “When they entered Yusuf pbuh’s presence, he called his brother ˹Benjamin˺ aside, and confided ˹to him˺, “I am indeed your brother ˹Yusuf pbuh˺! So do not feel distressed about what they have been doing.”
Yusuf pbuh’s trick in keeping his brother with him is as follows:
First: he made his servants put the King’s cup, in which he drank water or wine, in the brother’s saddle-bag.
Second: when the convoy went, they called them, Oh people of the caravan, you stole from us, “Then a herald cried, “O people of the caravan! You must be thieves!”
Third: the brothers trusted that they had done nothing to fear that charge, so they turned to the caller who allegedly told them that they had stolen and said, “What have you lost?” They did not say, “What did we steal?”, to assert that they were innocent of the theft.
Fourth: the caller said, “We lost the measuring cup which we use to measure the king’s drink, and whoever finds this cup has a reward for finding it, and the caller guarantees that he will give him compensation.” They asked, turning back, “What have you lost?” The herald ˹along with the guards˺ replied, “We have lost the King’s measuring cup. And whoever brings it will be awarded a camel-load ˹of grain˺. I guarantee it.”
Fifth: The brothers defended themselves that they did not come to steal, but came to get provisions and al-Aziz knew about them, and he ordered them to bring their brother and returned their goods to them the first time. It is not reasonable for them to be thieves, and theft is one of the biggest types of corruption in the land, and they are not corrupt, i.e., their conditions indicated that they are exempt and deterred from theft and that they would not commit theft, and that is more informed than if they said: “by Allah, we did not destroy the land and we did not steal.
What they did say was : “(Yusuf pbuh’s brothers replied, “By Allah! You know well that we did not come to cause trouble in the land, nor are we thieves.”
Six: Here the caller told them, what is the punishment of the thief if you are lying? They said that the thief would be a slave to whomever he stole from.
Yusuf pbuh’s men asked, “What should be the price for theft if you are lying?” Yusuf pbuh’s brothers responded, “The price will be ˹the enslavement of˺ the one in whose bag the cup is found. That is how we punish the wrongdoers.”
Seven: Yusuf-pbuh ordered his guards to begin searching the saddlebags of the brothers before his own brother’s bag, and he found nothing in those bags until he reached his brother’s bag and found the cup there.
Eight: Then Yusuf pbuh achieved what he set out to do; keep his brother with him without the brothers suspecting. Allah facilitated that plot so Yusuf pbuh could retain his brother with him. Because the brother who was accused of taking the king’s cup, was punished by becoming owned by the person he stole from; that punishment was not in the laws of the state in which Yusuf pbuh lived, but it was in the religion of Yusuf pbuh. Therefore Allah says: ‘He could not have taken his brother under the King’s law’.
(Yusuf pbuh began searching their bags before that of his brother ˹Benjamin˺, then brought it out of Benjamin’s bag. This is how We inspired Yusuf pbuh to plan. He could not have taken his brother under the King’s law, but Allah had so willed. We elevate in rank whoever We will. But above those ranking in knowledge is the One All-Knowing.) Yusuf 12: 70-76
قرب يوسف-عليه السلام-أخاه منه ثم عرفه بنفسه ليكون مطمئنًا أنه بحضرة أخيه وأن أخاه على قيد الحياة، بل هو في منصب عالٍ حتى قصدته الناس جميعًا، ونهاه عن الحزن والكدر لأفعال الإخوة وإساءاتهم المتكررة، قال الله تعالى: “وَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا عَلى يُوسُفَ آوَى إِلَيْهِ أَخاهُ قالَ إِنِّي أَنَا أَخُوكَ فَلا تَبْتَئِسْ بِما كانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ”
ب. الحيلة التي دبرها يوسف لإبقاء أخيه عنده هي كما يلي:
أولاً: أنه جعل الإناء الذي يشرب فيه الماء أو الخمر في الحمل المخصوص به الأخ.
ثانيًا: لما سارت القافلة ناداهم المنادي يا أيتها القافلة لقد سرقتم منا، “أَذَّنَ مُؤَذِّنٌ أَيَّتُهَا الْعِيرُ إِنَّكُمْ لَسَارِقُونَ”.
ثالثًا: كان الإخوة يثقون أنهم لم يرتكبوا شيئًا يقتضي الخوف من تلك التهمة ولذلك التفتوا إلى ذلك المنادي الذي زعم أنهم قد سرقوا وقالوا لهم: “مَاذَا تَفْقِدُونَ”؟ ولم يقولوا: “ما الذي سرقنا”، لجزمهم بأنهم براء من السرقة.
رابعًا: قال المنادي نفقد الكيل الذي يكال فيه شراب الملك، ومن وجد هذا الإناء فله أجر على وجادته، والمنادي كفيل لمن وجد الصواع أن يعطيه الأجرة والعوض.
“قَالُوا وَأَقْبَلُوا عَلَيْهِمْ مَاذَا تَفْقِدُونَ * قَالُوا نَفْقِدُ صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ وَلِمَنْ جَاءَ بِهِ حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ”
خامسًا: دافع الإخوة عن أنفسهم بأنهم لم يأتوا ليسرقوا وإنما أتوا للميرة، وقد عرفت أخبارهم عند العزيز الذي أمرهم بإحضار أخيهم ورد بضاعتهم عليهم في المرة الأولى، فهؤلاء لا يعقل أن يكونوا سارقين، والسرقة من أكبر أنواع الفساد في الأرض، وهم ليسوا بمفسدين، أي: إن أحوالهم تدل على عفتهم وورعهم عن السرقة، وأنها لا تقع منهم، وذلك أبلغ مما لو قالوا: “تالله لم نفسد في الأرض ولم نسرق.
ولذلك قالوا: “قَالُوا تَاللَّهِ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمْ مَا جِئْنَا لِنُفْسِدَ فِي الأرْضِ وَمَا كُنَّا سَارِقِينَ”
سادسًا: هنا قال لهم المنادي، فما جزاء السارق إن كان كلامكم كذبا وفي غير محله، قالوا يكون السارق عبدًا عند المسروق منه.
“قَالُوا فَمَا جَزَاؤُهُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ كَاذِبِينَ * قَالُوا جَزَاؤُهُ مَنْ وُجِدَ فِي رَحْلِهِ فَهُوَ جَزَاؤُهُ كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الظَّالِمِينَ”
سابعًا: أمر يوسف-عليه السلام-أن يبدأ العمال في تفتيش الأمتعة، والبداءة في أوعية الإخوة قبل وعاء أخيه الشقيق، ولم يجد شيئًا في تلك الأوعية حتى وصل إلى وعاء أخيه فوجد الصواع هناك.
ثامنًا: حينئذ تم ليوسف ما أراد من بقاء أخيه عنده على وجه لا يشعر به إخوته، وقد يسر الله ذلك التدبير الخفي ليتوصل به إلى أمر غير مذموم، فقد جرت معاقبة الأخ المتهم بأخذ صواع الملك بأنه يكون مملوكًا للمسروق منه، وتلك العقوبة ليست في قوانين الدولة التي فيها يوسف، وإنما هي في الدين الذي كان عليه يوسف-عليه السلام- ولذا قال: “مَا كَانَ لِيَأْخُذَ أَخَاهُ فِي دِينِ الْمَلِكِ”
قال الله تعالى: “فَبَدَأَ بِأَوْعِيَتِهِمْ قَبْلَ وِعاءِ أَخِيهِ ثُمَّ اسْتَخْرَجَها مِنْ وِعاءِ أَخِيهِ كَذلِكَ كِدْنا لِيُوسُفَ مَا كانَ لِيَأْخُذَ أَخاهُ فِي دِينِ الْمَلِكِ إِلَاّ أَنْ يَشاءَ اللَّهُ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجاتٍ مَنْ نَشاءُ وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ”
1. A Private Reassurance Before the Public Plan | تطمين خاص قبل الخطة العلنية
Before staging the accusation, Yusuf drew Benjamin aside privately and revealed his own identity to him alone, telling him plainly not to grieve over what their brothers had done. This reassurance came first, so that whatever apparent charge followed in public, Benjamin already knew from his own brother that no real harm was intended toward him.
قبل تدبير التهمة، قرّب يوسف بنيامين منه سرا وكشف له هويته وحده، قائلا له صراحة ألا يحزن لما فعله إخوتهما. وجاء هذا التطمين أولا، حتى إنه مهما كانت التهمة الظاهرة التي تلت علنا، كان بنيامين يعلم بالفعل من أخيه نفسه أنه لا يُقصد به أي أذى حقيقي.
2. Why the King’s Own Cup Became the Instrument | لماذا كان صواع الملك هو الأداة
Yusuf had his officials place the king’s own measuring cup in Benjamin’s bag rather than any lesser object, giving the accusation the full weight of a royal matter that the caravan could not simply dismiss or walk away from. That weight is what guaranteed the public search which followed and gave the plan its force.
أمر يوسف أعوانه بوضع صواع الملك نفسه، لا أي غرض أقل شأنا، في رحل بنيامين، مانحا التهمة كامل ثقل قضية ملكية لا يمكن للقافلة أن تتجاهلها أو تمضي متجاوزة عنها ببساطة. وهذا الثقل هو ما ضمن التفتيش العلني الذي تلا وأعطى الخطة قوتها.
3. Letting the Brothers Pronounce Their Own Judgment | ترك الإخوة يحكمون على أنفسهم
When challenged, the brothers themselves proposed the penalty: that whoever the cup was found with would become enslaved to the one he stole from. The verse that follows states this very penalty could not have been applied under the king’s own legal system, “unless Allah willed,” so the outcome rested on a judgment the brothers had freely offered, not one Yusuf imposed on them by force.
حين واجهوا التهمة، اقترح الإخوة أنفسهم العقوبة: أن من وُجد الصواع في رحله يصبح مملوكا لمن سُرق منه. وتنص الآية التالية على أن هذه العقوبة بعينها ما كانت لتُطبق في نظام الملك القانوني، “إلا أن يشاء الله”، فاستندت النتيجة إلى حكم قدّمه الإخوة طوعا، لا حكما فرضه عليهم يوسف بالقوة.
4. A Test That Revealed Real Change | اختبار كشف تغيرا حقيقيا
The brothers’ confident defense, that they had not come to cause corruption in the land and were not thieves, stands in sharp contrast with their conduct toward Yusuf himself decades earlier. Commentators read this steady, unhesitating defense as evidence of the sincere change already visible in the brothers by this point in the story.
يقف دفاع الإخوة الواثق، بأنهم لم يأتوا ليفسدوا في الأرض ولم يكونوا سارقين، على طرف نقيض تام من تصرفهم تجاه يوسف نفسه قبل عقود. ويقرأ المفسرون هذا الدفاع الثابت غير المتردد دليلا على التغيّر الصادق الذي أصبح ظاهرا لدى الإخوة عند هذه المرحلة من القصة.
5. Elevated by Knowledge, Not Only by Position | الرفعة بالعلم لا بالمنصب فقط
The passage closes with a principle reaching beyond this one episode: Allah raises in rank whoever He wills, yet above every possessor of knowledge is One more knowing. Scholars cite this closing line as a reminder that Yusuf’s success in retaining his brother came through Allah-given insight, not merely through the worldly authority he already held in Egypt.
يُختتم المقطع بمبدأ يتجاوز هذه الحادثة وحدها: أن الله يرفع درجات من يشاء، لكن فوق كل ذي علم عليم. ويستشهد العلماء بهذا السطر الختامي تذكيرا بأن نجاح يوسف في إبقاء أخيه جاء عبر بصيرة وهبها الله له، لا بمجرد السلطة الدنيوية التي كان يملكها بالفعل في مصر.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
What trick did Yusuf use to keep his brother with him?
He had the king’s measuring cup placed in Benjamin’s bag, then had his officials publicly accuse the caravan of theft so the resulting judgment would let Benjamin stay with him in Egypt.
Did Yusuf tell his brother the truth before the accusation?
Yes, he drew Benjamin aside privately first and revealed that he was his brother Yusuf, telling him not to grieve over what the others had done.
Who decided the punishment for the theft?
The brothers themselves proposed it, that whoever the cup was found with would become enslaved to the one he stole from.
Could Yusuf have kept his brother under Egypt’s own law?
The Quran states he could not have taken his brother under the king’s law, except that Allah willed it through this plan.
Which verses of the Quran describe this event?
Surah Yusuf 12:69-76 records both Yusuf’s private reassurance to his brother and the plan involving the king’s cup.