"And when the caravan had departed," meaning: when the group set out from Egypt with the shirt, Jacob sensed the scent of Joseph. He said: "Indeed, I perceive the scent of Joseph." Qatada said: He perceived his scent when they departed (fol. 158) with the shirt from Egypt, while he was in the land of Canaan, and the distance between them was eighty farsakhs. "If you do not think me senile," he says: were it not for the fact that you would say: 'He has grown old, and his mind has become confused,' thereby regarding me as foolish; meaning: deeming me ignorant.
﴿وَلما فصلت العير﴾ أَيْ: خَرَجَتِ الرُّفْقَةُ مِنْ مِصْرَ بِالْقَمِيصِ وَجَدَ يَعْقُوبُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ، قَالَ: ﴿إِنِّي لأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ﴾ قَالَ قَتَادَةُ: وَجَدَ رِيحَهُ حِينَ خَرجُوا (ل ١٥٨) بِالْقَمِيصِ مِنْ مِصْرَ، وَهُوَ بِأَرْضِ كَنْعَانَ، وَبَيْنَهُمَا ثَمَانُونَ فَرْسَخًا ﴿لَوْلا أَن تفندون﴾ يَقُولُ: لَوْلا أَنْ تَقُولُوا: قَدْ هَرَمَ، وَاخْتَلَطَ عَقْلُهُ؛ فَتُسَفِّهُونِي؛ أَيْ: تجهلوني
