Surah Yusuf (12) — Ayah 84

(Ayah84) ➊ {وَ تَوَلّٰى عَنْهُمْ وَ قَالَ يٰۤاَسَفٰى … : ’’ يٰۤاَسَفٰى ‘‘} was originally {’’يَا أَسَفِيْ‘‘} with the ya of the first person, but for lightness and to express grief, the ya was changed to an alif. { وَ ابْيَضَّتْ عَيْنٰهُ مِنَ الْحُزْنِ } “His eyes became white with grief” means that due to the continuous flow of tears, the whiteness covered the blackness of his eyes and his eyesight was impaired. {’’ كَظِيْمٌ ‘‘} means {’’مَكْظُوْمٌ‘‘}, which is someone who is full of grief but hides it from people and does not express it. From this is: «{ وَ الْكٰظِمِيْنَ الْغَيْظَ }» [ آل عمران : ۱۳۴ ] meaning those who restrain their anger. {’’كَظَمَ فُلَانٌ السِّقَاءَ‘‘} means so-and-so closed the mouth of a filled water skin. That is, when Yaqub (peace be upon him) heard his sons’ words and replied to them, a flood of sorrows overwhelmed him and all the wounds of his heart were reopened, so he left his sons and departed from the gathering, saying: “Alas, my grief for Yusuf!” and his eyes became white with grief, but despite being full of grief, he did not express it. As for the grief of the heart and crying and shedding tears in distress, this is permissible and beyond human control. Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when the son of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Ibrahim, passed away, tears flowed from the eyes of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and he said: [ إِنَّ الْعَيْنَ تَدْمَعُ وَالْقَلْبَ يَحْزَنُ وَلَا نَقُوْلُ إِلاَّ مَا يَرْضٰی رَبُّنَا وَ إِنَّا بِفِرَاقِكَ يَا إِبْرَاهِيْمُ ! إِنَّا لَمَحْزُوْنُوْنَ ] [بخاري، الجنائز، باب قول النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم إنا بک لمحزونون : ۱۳۰۳۔ مسلم : ۲۳۱۵ ] “Indeed, the eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, and we do not say except what pleases our Lord, and indeed we are, O Ibrahim, surely grieved by your separation.” However, wailing at the time of calamity, tearing the collar, and slapping the face are strictly forbidden.

➋ Although the news was about the other two sons, the words expressing the intensity of grief for Yusuf came from the mouth of Yaqub (peace be upon him), because when a wound is struck upon another wound, the first wound hurts more. {’’ وَلٰكِنَّ نَكْأَ الْجُرْحِ بِالْجُرْحِ أَوْجَعُ ‘‘} “But the reopening of a wound by a new wound is more painful.”