7 Verily in Joseph and his brethren there are signs for the inquirers.

8 When they said: Certainly Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than we, though we are a (strong) company. Surely our father is in manifest error —

9 Slay Joseph or banish him to some (other) land, so that your father’s regard may be exclusively for you, and after that you may be a righteous people.

10 A speaker among them said: Slay not Joseph, but, if you are going to do anything, cast him down to the bottom of the well. Some of the travellers may pick him up.

11 They said: O our father, why dost thou not trust us with Joseph, and surely we are his sincere well-wishers?

12 Send him with us tomorrow that he may enjoy himself and play, and we shall surely guard him well.

13 He said: Indeed it grieves me that you should take him away and I fear lest the wolf devour him, while you are heedless of him.

14 They said: If the wolf should devour him, while we are a (strong) company, we should then certainly be losers.

15 So when they took him away and agreed to put him down at the bottom of the pit, We revealed to him: Thou wilt certainly inform them of this affair of theirs while they perceive not.

16 And they came to their father at nightfall, weeping.

17 They said: O our father, we went off racing one with another and left Joseph by our goods, so the wolf devoured him. And thou wilt not believe us, though we are truthful.

18 And they came with false blood on his shirt. He said: Nay, your souls have made a matter light for you. So patience is goodly. And Allāh is He Whose help is sought against what you describe.

19 And there came travellers, and they sent their water-drawer and he let down his bucket. He said: O good news! This is a youth. And they concealed him as an article of merchandise, and Allāh was Cognizant of what they did.

20 And they sold him for a small price, a few pieces of silver, and they showed no desire for him.