سورة يوسف

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): There are three verses concerning the shirt of Yusuf (peace be upon him): وَ جَاؤُوا عَلَی قَمِیصِهِ بِدَمٍ کَذِبٍ [And they brought his shirt (stained) with false blood (to their father)] (Yusuf/18), and إِنْ کَانَ قَمِیصُهُ قُدَّ مِنْ قُبُلٍ [If his shirt is torn from the front] (Yusuf/26), and this word of Allah: اذْهَبُوا بِقَمِیصِی هَذَا [Take this my shirt].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: "Do you know what the shirt of Yusuf (peace be upon him) was?" I said: "No." He said: "When they kindled the fire for [burning] Ibrahim (peace be upon him), Jibra'il brought him a garment from the garments of Paradise and clothed him in it, and with that garment neither heat nor cold could harm Ibrahim (peace be upon him). When the time of Ibrahim's (peace be upon him) death drew near, he placed it in a case and [gave it] to Ishaq (peace be upon him), and Ishaq (peace be upon him) [passed] it to Ya'qub (peace be upon him), and when Yusuf (peace be upon him) was born, Ya'qub (peace be upon him) hung it on him, and it remained on his arm until those events happened to Yusuf (peace be upon him). When Yusuf (peace be upon him) took the shirt out of its case in Egypt, Ya'qub (peace be upon him) sensed its scent [in Canaan]; as He says in the Qur'an: إِنِّی لَأَجِدُ رِیحَ یُوسُفَ لَوْ لا أَنْ تُفَنِّدُونِ [Indeed I sense the scent of Yusuf, if you do not accuse me of foolishness and weak-mindedness!] (Yusuf/94). And that was the very shirt which Allah had sent down from Paradise." I said: "May I be your ransom! In the end, to whom did that shirt pass?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "It passed to its rightful people." Then he said: "Every prophet who inherited knowledge or anything else, it ultimately reached the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). And when the caravan set out from the land of Egypt, Ya'qub (peace be upon him) was in Palestine and sensed the scent of Yusuf (peace be upon him), and that scent was from the very shirt that had been brought from Paradise; and we (the Ahl al-Bayt) have inherited it."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The shirt which was sent down from Paradise for Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was in a silver reed, and when someone put it on, it became large and wide.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): When the wife of al-Aziz (Zulaykha) fell into poverty and need, she was told: "If only you would go to Yusuf (peace be upon him)! Why do you not do so?" She consulted with some of those close to her, and they said: "We fear he may cause you harm." That woman said: "Never, I do not fear one who fears Allah." When the wife of al-Aziz entered upon Yusuf (peace be upon him) and saw him in such splendour, rank and authority, she said: "Praise and thanks belong to Allah, who has raised slaves to kingship through obedience to Him, and has reduced kings to humiliation and slavery through disobedience to Him." Then Yusuf (peace be upon him) married her and found her a virgin. Yusuf (peace be upon him) said to her: "Is this not better? Is this not more beautiful?" That woman said: "I was tried through you with four qualities: I was the most beautiful of the people of my time, and you too were the most beautiful of the people of your time; I was a virgin, and my husband was impotent in matters of marital relations." When those events befell the brothers of Yusuf (peace be upon him), Yaqub (peace be upon him) — who still did not know that al-Aziz of Egypt was his own son Yusuf (peace be upon him) — wrote him a letter as follows: "بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful]. From Yaqub ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, Khalil Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to al-Aziz of the family of Pharaoh: peace be upon you. Indeed, I praise before you the Allah beside whom there is no deity. To proceed: we are a household in whom the causes of trials are firmly rooted. My grandfather Ibrahim (peace be upon him), because he obeyed the One Allah, was cast into the fire; but Allah the Blessed and Exalted made the fire a garden for him. Allah the Exalted commanded my forefather Ibrahim to sacrifice my father, and when he was about to slaughter him, the Lord sent that sacrifice in his place. I also had a son who was the dearest person to me in this world. I lost him, and grief and sorrow at his separation took away the light of my eyes and the vision of my sight. He had a brother from his mother, and whenever I remembered my lost son, I would press his brother to my chest so that some of my love and longing for Yusuf (peace be upon him) would ease. He is now imprisoned with you on a charge of theft. I call you to witness that I have never soiled my hand with theft, nor has any of my children been tainted with theft." When Yusuf (peace be upon him) read the letter of Yaqub (peace be upon him), he wept and cried out and said: "اذْهَبُوا بِقَمِیصِی هَذَا فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَی وَجْهِ أَبِی یَأْتِ بَصِیرًا وَ أْتُونِی بِأَهْلِکُمْ أَجْمَعِینَ [Take this my shirt and cast it on my father's face, he will (again) be able to see, and come to me with all your families]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): [Yusuf] said: "لا تَثْرِیبَ عَلَیْکُمُ الْیَوْمَ یَغْفِرُ اللهُ لَکُمْ وَ هُوَ أرحَمَ الرّاحِمینَ [Today there is no blame upon you! Allah will forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful!] (Yusuf/92). اذْهَبُوا بِقَمِیصِی هذا [Take this shirt of mine] — the shirt which has been soaked with the tears of my eyes — and فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلی وَجْهِ أَبِی یَرْتَدَّ بَصِیراً [cast it on the face of my father, and his sight will be restored], if he smells my scent from it, وَ أْتُونِی بِأَهْلِکُمْ أَجْمَعِینَ [and bring me all your families]." Then Yusuf (peace be upon him), that very day, sent them all off toward Yaqub (peace be upon him) and gave them everything they needed. When their caravan left Egypt and set out, Yaqub (peace be upon him) said to those who were present with him from among his sons: "Indeed I sense the scent of Yusuf (peace be upon him). إِنِّی لَأَجِدُ رِیحَ یُوسُفَ لَوْ لا أَنْ تُفَنِّدُونِ [I indeed sense the scent of Yusuf, if you would not attribute me to foolishness and weakness of mind!] (Yusuf/94). The sons of Yaqub (peace be upon him), with joy and delight and happiness at the station of Yusuf (peace be upon him), and at the kingdom which Allah had given him, and rejoicing at the honor and rank they had seen at the court of Yusuf (peace be upon him), hurried the shirt of Yusuf (peace be upon him) toward Yaqub (peace be upon him). From Egypt to the land of Yaqub (peace be upon him) was a journey of nine days. When the glad tidings of the sons' arrival came, and after it the caravan entered, they cast the shirt of Yusuf (peace be upon him) upon Yaqub (peace be upon him). Sight returned to the eyes of Yaqub (peace be upon him). Yaqub (peace be upon him) asked his sons: "What did you do with Binyamin?" They said: "We left him with his righteous and worthy brother, that is Yusuf (peace be upon him)." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Then Yaqub (peace be upon him) offered thanks to Allah the Exalted and prostrated in prostration of thanks to the sacred Essence. His sight returned to him and the bent of his back also straightened, and he said to his children: This very day, all of you pack for the journey toward Yusuf (peace be upon him). So they all set out together with Yaqub (peace be upon him) and 'Yamil', the maternal aunt of Yusuf (peace be upon him), toward Yusuf (peace be upon him). They hurried with joy and happiness toward Egypt, and nine days later they were in Egypt."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): After the events that took place for the brothers of Yusuf (peace be upon him), Yaqub (peace be upon him) wrote to Yusuf (peace be upon him) — without knowing that he was Yusuf (peace be upon him) — as follows: "بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحیم [In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful]; from Yaqub son of Ishaq son of Ibrahim Khalilullah (peace be upon him), to the ʿAziz of the family of Firʿawn! Peace be upon you! I praise Allah, other than whom there is no deity. We are a household to whom kinds of afflictions are drawn; my grandfather Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was cast into the fire in obedience to his Lord, and Allah made the fire cool and safe for him; and Allah commanded my grandfather to sacrifice my father, and [in the end] He ransomed him with a ram in his place; and I had a son who was the dearest of people to me, whom I have lost, and my grief over him took away my sight; he had a brother from his mother, and whenever I remembered my lost one I would embrace this brother of his, and it would take away some of my grief — and he is the one now imprisoned with you on account of theft. And I take you as witness that I have never stolen nor fathered a thief." When Yusuf (peace be upon him) read the letter, he wept and cried out and said: إِذْهَبُوا بِقَمِیصِی هَذَا فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَی وَجْهِ أَبِی یَأْتِ بَصِیراً [Take this my shirt and cast it upon my father's face, he will (again) be able to see].