Overview (Verses 15 - 20)

Fast-Changing Fortunes
 
Then we see them on their way, Joseph with them, and they intent on putting their wicked plot into effect. God Almighty inspires the young boy, reassuring him that it is only a trial that is certain to come to an end. He will survive and he will remind his brothers of their plot against him on a day when they will not know him to be Joseph. “And when they went away with him, they resolved to cast him into the depths of the well. We revealed [this] to him: ‘You will tell them of this their deed at a time when they shall not know you.’“ (Verse 15)
 
Their resolve, then, was to cast him into the dark depths of a well to remove him altogether from their family life. At this point when Joseph fears for his life, when there’s no one to help him and ten adult and powerful brothers against him, a mere young child, reassurance comes to him through inspiration that he will be saved and will live until such a time as he reminds them of their crime. At that point in the future, they will not know that he is their brother whom they had thrown into the well.
 
We leave Joseph now to face his ordeal, undoubtedly reassured by God’s inspiration, to look at his brothers facing their saddened father after committing their crime: “At nightfall they came to their father weeping, and said: ‘Father, we went off racing and left Joseph behind with our belongings, and the wolf devoured him. But you will not believe us even though we are saying the truth.’ And they produced his shirt stained with false blood. He said: No, but your minds have tempted you to evil. Sweet patience! It is to God alone that I turn for support in this misfortune that you have described.’” (Verses 16-18)
 
Their blindness meant their plot was imperfect. Had they taken a calmer approach, they would not have harmed Joseph the first time their father permitted them to take him with them. But they were impatient, fearing that they might not have another chance. We also see an aspect of their impatience in their choice of excuse, accusing the wolf. Their father warned them against this possibility only the night before, and they made the whole episode sound outrageous. It was just not plausible that they abandoned Joseph to the risk their father specifically warned them against. The same impatience is seen in the way they stained Joseph’s shirt with blood, without bothering to make it look real. The action was hasty, betraying their lies, so much so that the blood itself is described as lies, or false.
 
They did all this and then “At nightfall they came to their father weeping, and said: ‘Father, we went off racing and left Joseph behind with our belongings, and the wolf devoured him.” (Verses 16-17) As they said this, they seemed to realize it was all too thin. A liar often betrays himself. Hence they followed their false statement with this remark: “But you will not believe us even though we are saying the truth.” (Verse 17) You have your doubts and you do not trust us, so you will not believe us even when we say the truth.
 
With such strong indications, an with something in his heart telling him otherwise, Jacob felt that Joseph had not been eaten by a wolf, and that his brothers had ditched him somewhere. He realized that their story was concocted and what they described was plainly false. He faced them with this, saying that their minds had made something ghastly appear acceptable to them and urged them to commit it. He declared that he would be patient under this adversity. He would neither panic nor complain. He would seek only God’s support against their fabricated lies: “He said: No, but your minds have tempted you to evil. Sweet patience! It is to God alone that I turn for support in this misfortune that you have described.’” (Verse 18)
 
Now we quickly return to Joseph in the well to see the last scene of this first episode: “And there came a caravan; and they sent their water- drawer, and he let down his bucket into the well — [and when he saw Joseph] he cried: ‘What good luck. Here is a boy!’ They concealed him with a view to selling him; but God had full knowledge of what they were doing. And they sold him for a paltry price, a few silver coins. Thus low did they value him.” (Verses 19-20)
 
The well was by the side of the caravan route, and caravans always take water wherever they can find it, whether in wells or in pits where rain water gathers.
 
“There came a caravan.” The term used here to refer to the caravan is sayyārah, which derives from long travel. “They sent their water- drawer,” i.e. the person assigned the task of finding water for the caravan because he is experienced in such a vital matter. He does the normal thing, letting down his bucket into the well, to make sure that it is not dry, or to fill the bucket. The sūrah does not mention any details of Joseph’s reaction when he saw the bucket being lowered and his quick movement to attach himself to it, so as to keep it a surprise to reader and listener alike. When the water-drawer sees Joseph, he lets out a cry: “What good luck. Here is a boy!” Once again, all that follows is deleted: what was said, what action was taken, and how pleased Joseph was when he was pulled out of the well. Instead, the sūrah speaks immediately of his situation with the caravan: “They concealed him with a view to selling him.” (Verse 19) This means that they considered him secret merchandise and thereby something they could sell.
 
They realized that he was not a slave, which accounts for why they hid him. Then, they sold him on the cheap: “And they sold him for a paltry price, a few silver coins.” (Verse 20) That was their currency at the time. People only counted coins however when the price was low, and weighed them when the price was high. Here the sūrah speaks of counting the coins to indicate how cheaply they sold him.
 
“Thus low did they value him.” (Verse 20) They wanted rid of him quickly so that they did not have to account for enslaving and selling a free child.

 Thus the first trial in the life of this noble prophet is over.