us full meafure, and beftow corn upon us as alms; for G o d rewardeth the
alms-givers. J oseph faid unto them, Do ye know what ye did unto J o s e p h
and his brother, when ye were ignorant o f the confequences ^thereofs ? They
anfwered, Art thou really J o s e p h b? He replied, lam J o s e p h ; and this is
my brother. Now hath G o d been'gracious unto us. For whofo feareth God
and perfevereth with patience, Jhall at length fin d r e l i e f ; lince G o d will not
buffer the reward of the righteous to periGi. They faid, By G o d , now hath
G o d chofen thee above us ; and we have furely been finners. J oseph anfwered,
Let there be no reproach caft on you this day. G o d forgiveth you; for
he is the mod mercifu) of thofe who fhew mercy. Depart ye with this my
inner garmentc, and throw it on my father’s face; and he fhall recover his
fight: and then come unto me with all your family. And when the company
of travellers was departed from E g y p t on their'journey towards C anaan
their father faid unto thofe who were about him, Verily I perceive the fmell of
J o s e p h A; although ye think that I dote. They anfwered, By G o d , thou
art in thy old miftake'. But when the meffenger of good tidingsf was come
■ with J oseph'« inner garment, he threw it over his face ; and he recovered his
eye-fight. A n d J a c o b faid, Did I not tell you that I knew from G o d ,
-that which ye knew not ? .They .anfwered, O father, afk pardon of our
fins for us, for we have furely been finners. He replied, I will furely afk
pardon for you of my L o r d e ; for he is gracious and merciful. And when
J a c o b and his family arrived in E g y p t , and were introduced unto J o s e p h ,
he received his parents unto himh, and faid, Enter y e into E g y p t , by G o d ’s
favour, in full lecurity. And he raifed his parents to the feat of Hate, and
; they
a Do ye know what ye did unto Jofeph and bis
.'brother, &c.] The injury they did Benjamin,
was the feparating him from his brother; after
which they kept him in fo great fubjeélion, that
’he durft notlpeak to them, but with the utmoft
-fubmiffion. Some fay that thefe words were oc-
-cafioned by a letter which JofepFs brethren delivered
to him from their father, requefting the
releafement of Benjamin, and by their reprefent-
ing his extreme affliction at the lofs of him and his
brother. The commentators obferve that Jofeph,
to excufe his brethren’s behaviour towards him,
attributes it to their ignorance, and the heat of
youth 1.
b Art thou really Jofeph ?] They fay that this
•queftion was not the effeCt of a bare fufpicion
that he was Jofepb, but that they actually knew
him, either by his face and behaviour, or by his
foreteeth, which he Ihewed in fmiling, or elfe by
.putting off his tiara, and difcovering a whitilh
mole on his forehead 2.
c My inner garment j] Which the commentators
generally fuppofe to be the fame garment
with which Gabriel in veiled him in the well;
which having originally come from paradife,
had preferved the odour of that place, and was
of fo great virtue as to cure any diftemper in the
perfon who was touched with it 3.
d I perceive the fmell o f Jofeph j] This was
the odour of the garment abovementioned,
brought by the wind to Jacob, who fmelt it, as
is pretended, at the diftance of eighty para-
fangs 4 s or, as others will have, three, or eight
days journey o f f s.
e Thou art in thy old miflake»] Being led into
this imagination by thy exceffive love of Jofepb.
f Jhe meffenger o f good tidings ;] viz. Judah;
who as he had formerly grieved his father, by bringing
him JofepFs coat ftained with blood, now rejoiced
him as much, by being the bearer of this
veil, and the news of JofepFs prolperity 6.
8 I w ill ask pardon for you, &c.] Deferring
it, as fome fancy, till he ihould fee Jofepb, and
have his confent.
h His parents,] viz. His father, and Leah, his
mother’s lifter, whom he looked on as his mother,
after Rachels death 7.
A l Beidawi tells us, that Jofepb fent carriages
1 Idem. 6 Al
«B&idawi.
4 Idem. J a l l a l o ’ d d i k .
they, together with his brethren, fell down and did obeifance unto hima. And
he faid, O my father, this is the interpretation of my vilion, which I faw
heretofore : now hath my L o r d rendred it true. And he hath furely been
gracious unto me, fince he took me forth from theprifon, and hath brought
you hither from the defart; after that the devil -had fown difcord between.
rne and my brethren : for my L o r d is gracious unto whom he pleafeth j and
he is the knowing, the wife G o d . O L o r d , thou haft given me a fa r t of the
kingdom, and haft taught me the interpretation of dark fayings. The Creator
of heaveni and eartji! thou art my protestor in this world, and in that
which is to come: make me to die a Modem, and join me with The righteous
This is a fecret hiftory, which we reveal unto thee, O M ohammed,
although thou waft not prefent with the brethren o f J oseph, when they concerted
their defign, and contrived a plot againfi him. But the greater part
of men, although thou earneftly deftre it, will not believe. Thou fhalt not
demand of them any reward for thy publijhing the K o r a n ; it is no other than
an admonition unto all creatures. And how many figns foever there be o f
the being, unity, and providence o f God, in the heavens and the earth; they
will pafs by them, and will retire afar off from them. And the greater
part of them believe not in G o d , without being alfo guilty of idolatryc. Do they
not believe that fome overwhelming affUffion fhall fall on them, as a punifh-
ment from G o d ; or that the hour o f judgment fhall overtake them fuddenly,
while they confider not its approach ? Say unto: thofe o f M s e c a . This is
my way : I invite f you unto G o d , by an evident ffemonftration •, both I and
he who followeth meand, praife be unto G o d ! I am not an idolater. We
fent not any apofilerS before thee, except men, unto whom we revealed our
mil, and whom we cjoofe out of thofe who dwelt in cities'1. Will they not
go through the earth,; and fee what hath been the end of thofe who have pre-
i •• . . ceded
and provilions for his. -father, and his family;
and that hé and the king or Egypt went forth to
meet them. He adds, that the number of the children
of Ifrael, who entred Egypt with him, was
feventy two; .and that when they were led out
thence by Mofes, 'they were increafed.to ,fix hundred
thoufand five hundred and leventy men and
upwards, befrdes. the old people and Children.
a And be raifed bis parents :to the feat of fa te,
and they,.together with.bis brethren, fe ll down and
did obeifance unto him.] A tranfpofttion is ,fup-
pofed to be in thefe words, and that he feated
his father and mother after they had bowed down
to'him, and not before I .
b The Mohammedan authors write, that Jacob
dwelt in .Egypt twenty four years, and at his
death ordered his.-.body to be buried in Palefiine
^7 his father, which Jofepb took care to perform
j and then returning into Egypt, died twenty
three years after. They add, that fuch high
difputes arofe among the Egyptians, concerning
his Burial, that they - had like tó havé'come to
blows j but at length they agreed to put his body
into a marble coffin, and to link it in the N ile;
out of a fuperftitious imagination, that it might
help the(regular incrcafe of the river, and deliver
them from famine, .for the fu tu r e b u t
when Mofes led the, Ifraelites out'of Egypt, he
took up the coffin, and' carried JofepFs bones
with him into Canaan,, where he buried them by
his anceftors 2.
c Without being alfo guilty of idolatry;] For
this crime Mohammed charges not ’ only on the
idolatrous Meccans, but alfo on the Jews and
Cbriflians; as has been already obferved more
than once.
,d O f thofé who dwelt in cities;] And not of
the inhabitants of the defarts; becaufe the formed,
are more knowing and compaffionate, and
the latter more ignorant and hard-hearted 3.,
1 Idem. 2 Idem. 3 Idem, See the Prelim. Difc. §. I. p. 30.