238. Ibn Mahboub, from hanaan Bin Sudeyr, who has said: I said to Abu Ja’far , ‘Inform me about the words of Yaqoub to his sons: “[12:87] O my sons! Go and inquire respecting Yusuf and his brother”, Did he know that he was alive, and there was a separation of twenty years between them?’ He said: ‘Yes’. I said, ‘How did he know?’ He said: ‘He supplicated before dawn and asked Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic that he (azwj) should Send down to him the Angel of Death. So Biryaal descended unto him , and he is the Angel of Death. So Biryaal said to him : ‘What is your need, O Yaqoub ?’ He said: ‘Inform me about the souls. Do you capture them altogether or separately?’ He said, ‘But, I capture them separately, soul by soul’. He said to him: ‘So inform me, Did you come across the soul of Yusuf in what you have passed by?’ He said: ‘No’. Thus Yaqoub came to know that he was alive. So, due to that he said “[12:87] O my sons! Go and inquire respecting Yusuf and his brother”.