Tafseer Ibn Kathir of YUSUF [87]

87. ”O my sons! Go you and inquire about Yusuf and his brother, and never give up hope of Allah's mercy. Certainly no one despairs of Allah's mercy, except the people who disbelieve.'' 88. Then, when they entered unto him, they said: ”O `Aziz! A hard time has hit us and our family, and we have brought but poor capital, so pay us full measure and be charitable to us. Truly, Allah does reward the charitable. Allah states that Ya`qub, peace be upon him, ordered his children to go back and inquire about the news of Yusuf and his brother Binyamin, in a good manner, not as spies. He encouraged them, delivered to them the good news and ordered them not to despair of Allah's mercy. He ordered them to never give up hope in Allah, nor to ever discontinue trusting in Him for what they seek to accomplish. He said to them that only the disbelieving people despair of Allah's mercy. Allah said next,

(Then, when they entered unto him), when they went back to Egypt and entered upon Yusuf,

(they said: ”O Aziz! A hard time has hit us and our family...''), because of severe droughts and the scarcity of food,

(and we have brought but poor capital,) means, `we brought money for the food we want to buy, but it is not substantial,' according to Mujahid, Al-Hasan and several others. Allah said that they said next,

(so pay us full measure) meaning, `in return for the little money we brought, give us the full measure that you gave us before.' Ibn Mas`ud read this Ayah in a way that means, ”So give the full load on our animals and be charitable with us.'' Ibn Jurayj commented, ”So be charitable to us by returning our brother to us.'' And when Sufyan bin `Uyaynah was asked if the Sadaqah (charity) was prohibited for any Prophet before our Prophet , he said, ”Have you not heard the Ayah,

(so pay us full measure and be charitable to us. Truly, Allah does reward the charitable.)'' Ibn Jarir At-Tabari collected this statement.