On the Occultation of Yusuf (as)

Kamāl al-Dīn wa Tamām al-Niʿma|Volume 1|Book 2|Chapter 5

Kamāl al-Dīn wa Tamām al-Niʿma

Book 2, Chapter 5

On the Occultation of Yusuf

Hadith #3

والدليل على أن يعقوب عليه السلام علم بحياة يوسف عليه السلام وأنه إنما غيب عنه لبلوى واختبار: أنه لما رجع إليه بنوه يبكون قال لهم: يا بني لم تبكون وتدعون بالويل؟ ومالي ما أري فيكم حبيبي يوسف؟ " قالوا يا أبانا إنا ذهبنا نستبق وتركنا يوسف عند متاعنا فأكله الذئب وما أنت بمؤمن لنا ولو كنا صادقين "هذا قميصه قد أتيناك به، قال: ألقوه إلى، فألقوه إليه وألقاه على وجهه فخر مغشيا عليه، فما أفاق قال لهم: يا بنى ألستم تزعمون أن الذئب قد أكل حبيبي يوسف؟ قالوا: نعم، قال: ما لي لا أشم ريح لحمه؟! ومالي أري قميصه صحيحا؟ هبوا أن القميص انكشف من أسفله أرأيتم ما كان في منكبيه وعنقه كيف خلص إليه الذئب من غير أن يخرقه، إن هذا الذئب لمكذوب عليه، وإن ابني لمظلوم " بل سولت لكم أنفسكم أمرا فصبر جميل والله المستعان على ما تصفون " وتولى عنهم ليلتهم تلك لا يكلمهم وأقبل يرثي يوسف ويقول: حبيبي يوسف الذي أوثره جميع أولادي فاختلس منى حبيبي يوسف الذي كنت أرجوه من بين أولادي فاختلس منى، حبيبي يوسف الذي أوسده يميني وأدثره بشمالي فاختلس منى، حبيبي يوسف الذي كنت أونس به وحدتي فاختلس منى، حبيبي يوسف ليت شعري في أي الجبال طرحوك، أم في أي البحار غرقوك، حبيبي يوسف ليتني كنت معك فيصيبني الذي أصابك.
ومن الدليل على أن يعقوب عليه السلام علم بحياة يوسف عليه السلام وأنه في الغيبة قوله: " عسى الله أن يأتيني بهم جمعيا " وقوله لبنيه " يا بني اذهبوا فتحسسوا من يوسف وأخيه ولا تيأسوا من روح الله إنه لا ييأس من روح الله إلا القوم الكافرون " . وقال الصادق عليه السلام: إن يعقوب عليه السلام قال لملك الموت: أخبرني عن الأرواح تقبضها مجتمعة أو متفرقة؟ قال: بل متفرقة قال: فهل قبضت روح يوسف في جملة ما قبضت من الأرواح؟ قال: لا، فعند ذلك قال لبنيه: " يا بني اذهبوا فتحسسوا من يوسف وأخيه " فحال العارفين في وقتنا هذا بصاحب زماننا الغائب عليه السلام حال يعقوب عليه السلام في معرفته بيوسف وغيبته وحال الجاهلين به وبغيبته والمعاندين في أمره حال أهله وأقربائه الذين بلغ من جهلهم بأمر يوسف وغيبته حتى قالوا لأبيهم يعقوب: " تالله إنك لفي ضلالك القديم ". وقول يعقوب - لما ألقى البشير قميص يوسف على وجهه فارتد بصيرا -:
وقول يعقوب - لما ألقى البشير قميص يوسف على وجهه فارتد بصيرا :" ألم أقل لكم إني أعلم من الله مالا تعلمون " دليل على أنه قد كان علم أن يوسف حي وأنه إنما غيب عنه للبلوي والامتحان.

And what proves that Yaqoob was aware that Yusuf was alive and had disappeared as a divine test is that when the other sons returned in the evening weeping and wailing he asked them: «Why are you crying and wailing? And why don’t I see my dear Yusuf among you? They said: O our father! surely we went off racing and left Yusuf by our goods, so the wolf devoured him, and you will not believe us though we are truthful» (12:17) This is his shirt that we have brought back for you. Yaqoob told them to throw the shirt to him and they handed it over to Yaqoob . He rubbed it on his face and immediately became unconscious. After regaining consciousness he told his sons, “O my sons, do you think that the wolf has eaten up my dear Yusuf?” When they replied in the positive he said, “Then tell me why I cannot perceive the smell of Yusuf’s flesh? And why do I find his shirt undamaged? Even if you grant that the shirt is open from below, did the wolf not need to tear it in order to reach to the shoulders and neck of Yusuf? It is only an allegation on the wolf and indeed my son is oppressed. Nay, your souls have made the matter light for you, but patience is good and Allah is He Whose help is sought for against what you describe. That night Yaqoob kept away from them and he did not speak to them. He began to recite an elegy for Yusuf and said again and again: O my dear Yusuf whom I preferred over all my sons; he has been taken away from me! O my dear Yusuf! Of all my children I had hope only in him. And he is snatched from me. O my dear Yusuf! I used to make him sleep on my right and left arm. He is taken away from me. O my dear Yusuf! By whom I filled the emptiness of my loneliness. He is taken away from me. O my dear Yusuf! On whom have you left me or where shall I search for you? O my dear Yusuf! If only I had been with you, so that I could have also borne what you had to bear. O my dear Yusuf! If only I had known on which mountain they have abandoned you or in which river they have thrown you. O my dear Yusuf! If only I had been with you and had suffered the same calamities that you had to suffer.”
Among the points proving that Yaqoob was aware that Yusuf was alive and in occultation is that he said: «Maybe Allah will bring them all together to me» (12:83) And he said: «O my sons! Go and inquire respecting Yusuf and his brother, and despair not of Allah’s mercy; surely none despairs of Allah’s mercy except the unbelieving people» (12:87). Imam Ja’far Sadiq said: Prophet Yaqoob asked the Angel of death: Tell me whether you capture the souls together or you capture each of them separately? He replied: Separately. Then Yaqoob asked: Is the soul of Yusuf there among the souls that you have captured? “No,” said the angel. Thus after this Yaqoob told his sons, “O my sons, go out and search for Yusuf and his brother.’ Thus the condition of the people of our time who know about the Master of the Time living in concealment and those who have his recognition is the same as the condition of Yaqoob regarding Prophet Yusuf and his concealment. And those who are ignorant and foolish, they behave in the same way as did the family members and relatives of Yaqoob . They were so ignorant about Yusuf and his occultation that they used to tell their father: “By Allah, you are most surely in your old error."
And the saying of Yaqoob when the bringer of good news rubbed the shirt of Yusuf on his face and he regained his eyesight that: “Did I not say to you that I know from Allah what you do not know?” This proves that he knew that Yusuf was alive and that he had to go into occultation by way of test.