Tafseer Ibn Kathir of YUSUF [77]

77. They ﴿Yusuf's brothers﴾ said: ”If he steals, there was a brother of his ﴿ Yusuf ﴾who did steal before (him). '' But these things did Yusuf keep in himself, revealing not the secrets to them. He said : (within himself) ”You are in an evil situation, and Allah is the Best Knower of that which you describe!'' After Yusuf's brothers saw that the king's bowl was taken out of Binyamin's bag, they said,

(If he steals, there was a brother of his who did steal before.) They tried to show themselves as innocent from being like Binyamin, saying that he did just like a brother of his did beforehand, meaning Yusuf, peace be upon him! Allah said,

(But these things did Yusuf keep in himself), meaning the statement that he said afterwards,

(You are in an evil situation, and Allah is the Best Knower of that which you describe!) Yusuf said this to himself and did not utter it aloud, thus intending to hide what he wanted to say to himself even before he said it. Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas said about Allah's statement,

(But these things did Yusuf keep in himself), ”He kept in himself ﴿his statement next﴾,

(You are in an evil situation, and Allah is the Best Knower of that which you describe!).''