Yaqoob (a.

Yaqoob (a.s.) fell down in a swoon and when he regained consciousness he said, “O Bedouin, do you have wish from Allah?” The man said, “I am an affluent person and my wife is the daughter of my paternal uncle. But I don’t have a son from her. I request you to pray that I may have a son. The narrator says that Yaqoob (a.s.) performed ablution, prayed two units of prayer and then supplicated to Allah, the Mighty and Sublime. This man’s wife gave birth to twins, four times.

Thus Yaqoob (a.s.) knew that Yusuf was alive and comfortable and that the Almighty Allah will bring him out after his occultation. He used to say the same thing to his sons: إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ I know from Allah what you do not know? [^1] His family members and relatives used to criticize him for remembering Yusuf (a.s.).

Till the time he perceived the fragrance of Yusuf (a.s.) he said: وَلَمَّا فَصَلَتِ الْعِيرُ قَالَ أَبُوهُمْ إِنِّي لَأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ ۖ لَوْلَا أَنْ تُفَنِّدُونِ قَالُوا تَاللَّهِ إِنَّكَ لَفِي ضَلَالِكَ الْقَدِيمِ فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاءَ الْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَاهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِ فَارْتَدَّ بَصِيرًا ۖ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ Most surely I perceive the fragrance of Yusuf, unless you pronounce me to be weak in judgment.

They said: By Allah, you are most surely in your old error. So when the bearer of good news came he cast it on his face, so forthwith he regained his sight. He said: Did I not say to you that I know from Allah what you do not know?

[^2] 2 - Narrated to us Muhammad bin Ali Majilaway (r.a.) that: Narrated to us Muhammad bin Yahya al-Attar who said: Narrated to us Husain bin Hasan bin Aban, from Muhammad bin Uramiya from Muhammad bin Ismail bin Bazee from Ismail Sarraj from Bashir bin Ja’far from Mufaddal - (perhaps) al-Jofi - from Abi Abdullah (a.s.) that he said: “Do you know what the garment of Yusuf was? ‘No,’ replied I.

He said, “When fire was lit for (burning) Ibrahim (a.s.) Jibraeel brought a garment of Paradise for him and dressed him in it. That garment protected him from heat and cold and when his death approached, he made it into an arm band and tied it to Ishaq; Ishaq in turn tied it to Yaqoob and when Yusuf was born Yaqoob tied it on him. And it was tied to his arm till those circumstances befell him.

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