سُوْرَةُ يُوسُفَ
Surah Yusuf (12) — Ayah 81
ٱرْجِعُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰٓ أَبِيكُمْ فَقُولُوا۟ يَـٰٓأَبَانَآ إِنَّ ٱبْنَكَ سَرَقَ وَمَا شَهِدْنَآ إِلَّا بِمَا عَلِمْنَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِلْغَيْبِ حَـٰفِظِينَ ﴿81﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
"Return to your father and say, ‘O our father! Verily, your son (Benjamin) has stolen, and we testify not except according to what we know, and we could not know the Unseen!
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
ٱرْجِعُوٓا۟
ir'jiʿū
Return
إِلَىٰٓ
ilā
to
أَبِيكُمْ
abīkum
your father
فَقُولُوا۟
faqūlū
and say
يَـٰٓأَبَانَآ
yāabānā
'O our father
إِنَّ
inna
Indeed
ٱبْنَكَ
ib'naka
your son
سَرَقَ
saraqa
has stolen
وَمَا
wamā
and not
شَهِدْنَآ
shahid'nā
we testify
إِلَّا
illā
except
بِمَا
bimā
of what
عَلِمْنَا
ʿalim'nā
we knew
وَمَا
wamā
And not
كُنَّا
kunnā
we were
لِلْغَيْبِ
lil'ghaybi
of the unseen
حَـٰفِظِينَ
ḥāfiẓīna
guardians
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
81. "Return to your father and say, 'O our father! Your son has committed theft. We testify only to what we know, and we could not guard against the unseen.'"
[78] That is, we ourselves saw with our own eyes that the missing cup was taken out from his belongings. That is why we say that he committed theft, and when we made a promise to you regarding his protection, at that time we did not know that he would go to Egypt and steal. And its other meaning is that those people asked us what is the punishment for a thief among you, so we told them what we knew, that the thief should remain in the slavery of the person from whom he stole for one year. But how could we have known that our own statement would be applied to us?
[78] That is, we ourselves saw with our own eyes that the missing cup was taken out from his belongings. That is why we say that he committed theft, and when we made a promise to you regarding his protection, at that time we did not know that he would go to Egypt and steal. And its other meaning is that those people asked us what is the punishment for a thief among you, so we told them what we knew, that the thief should remain in the slavery of the person from whom he stole for one year. But how could we have known that our own statement would be applied to us?
