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. |