Go and inquire respecting Yusuf and his brother...

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 . So a number of them went out, and he -as sent with them light provisions, and wrote a letter with them to the King of Egypt, and introduced himself -as and his -as sons, and bequeathed to his -as sons that they should begin by handing over his -as letter before the provisions.

So he -as wrote: – بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم: إلى عزيز مصر، و مظهر العدل و موفي الكيل، من يعقوب بن إسحاق بن إبراهيم خليل الله، صاحب نمرود الذي جمع لإبراهيم الحطب و النار ليحرقه بها، فجعلها الله عليه بردا و سلاما و أنجاه منها: أخبرك- أيها العزيز- إنا أهل بيت قديم، لم يزل البلاء إلينا سريعا من الله، ليبلونا بذلك عند السراء و الضراء، و أن مصائب تتابعت علي منذ عشرين سنة ‘In the Name of Allah -azwj , the Beneficent, the Merciful – To the King of Egypt, and the Manifester of the justice and the fulfiller of the measurement, from Yaqoub -as Bin Is’haq -as , Bin Ibrahim -as , a Friend of Allah -azwj , the adversary of Nimrod la who gathered the firewood for Ibrahim -as to be incinerated by the fire.

So Allah -azwj Made it to be a place of coolness and safety for him -as and Rescued him -as from it. I -as hereby inform you – O you king – We -as are an ancient Household. The afflictions never cease to come quickly upon us -as from Allah -azwj , in order to Test us by that during the prosperity and the adversity. And the difficulties have followed me -as for the last twenty years.

أولها: أنه كان لي ابن سميته يوسف، و كان سروري من بين ولدي، و قرة عيني و ثمرة فؤادي، و أن إخوته من غير امه سألوني أن أبعثه معهم يرتع و يلعب، فبعثته معهم بكرة، و أنهم جاءوني عشاء يبكون، و جاءوني على قميصه بدم كذب، فزعموا أن الذئب أكله فاشتد لفقده حزني، و كثر على‏ فراقه بكائي، حتى ابيضت عيناي من الحزن. Firstly – I -as had a son -as called Yusuf -as , and he -as was my -asws pleasure between my -as sons, and the delight of my -as eyes and the fruit of my -as heart.

And his -as brothers from another mother asked me -as that I -as should send him -as with them to enjoy himself and play. So I -as sent him -as along with them in the morning, and they came back to me -as in the evening crying, and came to me -as with false blood upon his -as shirt claiming that the wolf ate him -as . So my -as grief intensified due to his -as loss, and my wailing was frequent upon his -as separation, to the extent that my -as eyes have become white from the grief’.