So patience is most fitting, and Allah is the one whose help is sought.
“So patience is most fitting, and Allah is the one whose help is sought.”
They confirmed their story with a trick. They brought the shirt of Joseph stained with the blood of something else, giving the impression that it was a sign of the wolf’s having eaten him. Jacob realised that they were lying, because the shirt was not torn, and he said to them: The matter is not as you have said.
The plain meaning, from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir
وَجَآءُو عَلَىٰ قَمِيصِهِۦ بِدَمٍ كَذِبٍ ۚ قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا ۖ فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ
And they brought upon his shirt false blood. Jacob said, "Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. And Allah is the one sought for help against that which you describe."
What does Quran 12:18 mean?
Ya‘qub (peace be upon him) says this having just been handed a shirt with false blood on it. The commentators note the detail that gave the brothers away: the shirt was not torn, so it could not have come off a wolf. He knows he is being lied to, says so, and then chooses this. The phrase is “beautiful patience” — which the commentators define as patience without complaint to anyone but Allah.
Written from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir