...at the time he took it: "If he steals, a brother of his has stolen before." But Yusuf concealed it within himself and did not reveal it to them, up to His saying: "And Allah is most knowing of what you describe."

11838 - ‘Abd Allah ibn Sulayman narrated to us, al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali narrated to us, ‘Amir narrated to us, Asbat narrated to us, from al-Suddi, who said: When he extracted it—meaning from the saddlebag—their backs broke, and they were ruined. They said: "O sons of Rahil, will there never cease to be a trial from you for us? When did you take this measuring cup?" Binyamin said: "O sons of Rahil, the ones who will always have a trial from you! You went with my brother and caused him to perish in the wilderness. No one placed this measuring cup in my saddlebag except the one who placed the dirhams in your saddlebags." They said: "Do not mention the dirhams, lest you be taken for them." They fell upon him and insulted him. When they brought them before Yusuf, he called for the measuring cup, then tapped it, then brought it close to his ear, then said: "This measuring cup of mine informs me that you were twelve brothers, and that you went away with a brother of yours and sold him." When Binyamin heard this, he stood up, prostrated to Yusuf, and said: "O King, ask this measuring cup of yours, is he alive or not?" Yusuf tapped it, then said: "Yes, he is alive and you shall soon see him." He said: "Do with me what you wish, for if he knows of me, he will rescue me." Yusuf went inside and wept, then performed ablution and tapped it. Binyamin said: "O King, I see you striking your measuring cup and it tells you the truth, so ask it, who is its owner?" He tapped it, then said: "This measuring cup of mine is angry; it says: 'How do you ask me who my owner is, when you have seen whom I was with?'" The sons of Ya‘qub, when they grew angry, could not be restrained. Rubil grew angry and stood up, saying: "O King, by Allah, you will either release us, or I shall let out a cry such that no pregnant woman in Egypt will remain without miscarrying what is in her womb!" Every hair on Rubil’s body stood up and emerged from his clothes. Yusuf said to his son: "Go to the side of Rubil and touch him." The sons of Ya‘qub, if one of them grew angry and another touched him, his anger would vanish. The boy went to his side and touched him, and his anger vanished. He said: "Who is this? There is in this land some seed of the seed of Ya‘qub." Yusuf said: "And who is Ya‘qub?" Rubil grew angry and said: "O King, do not mention Ya‘qub, for he is the intimate of Allah, son of the sacrificed of Allah, son of the friend of Allah." Yusuf said: "You are [him] then, if you are truthful."

His saying, the Almighty: "But Yusuf concealed it within himself and did not reveal it to them."

11839 - Muhammad ibn Sa‘d al-‘Awfi informed us in what he wrote to me, my father narrated to me, my uncle narrated to me, my father narrated to me, from his father, from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas, regarding His saying: "But Yusuf concealed it within himself and did not reveal it to them," he says: He concealed within himself his saying: "You are in a worse position, and Allah is most knowing of what you describe."