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wa-jāʾat sayyāratun fa-ʾarsalū wāridahum fa-ʾadlā dalwahū qāla yā-bushrā hādhā ghulāmun wa-ʾasarrūhu biḍāʿatan wa-llāhu ʿalīmun bi-mā yaʿmalūna
There came a caravan, and they sent their water-drawer, who let down his bucket. ‘Good news!’ he said. ‘This is a young boy!’ So they hid him as [a piece of] merchandise, and Allah knew best what they were doing.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Yusuf - Verse 19
19. “Then there came a caravan (of travelers). They sent their water-drawer (for water) and he let down his bucket. He said: ‘O’ good news! This is a youth.’ So they hid him as a merchandise; while Allah is aware of what they do.”
Allah never leaves his sincere servants alone and saves them whenever they are entangled in hardships. He guided Noah to safety on the surface of water, he rescued Yunus from underneath the water, and He rescued Yusuf from the bottom of the well, the same way He saved ’Ibrahim from within the fire. He guided Moses to safety through the middle of the sea, He protected Muhammad (S) in the cave, and Ali (as) during the night fixed for the execution of the conspiracy (Laylat-ul-Mabit), when he slept in place of the Prophet (S).
Whenever Allah wills, He acts and it is without the consent of man. For instance, Hadrat Musa (as) went to fetch a fire, and returned with prophetic revelations. The caravan also went to draw water to replenish their supply, in the process they saved Yusuf and returned with him. Due to Allah’s will, the ropes became a means for Yusuf to climb up from the bottom of the well and ascend the throne. From this one should heed the things that can happen through the rope of Allah.
When those near to one do not provide the support needed, Allah provides that support using others. His brothers abandoned him, but a caravan of strangers arrived and gave him help. Yusuf had a hard time down there at the bottom of the well in that terrible darkness, but his faith in Allah and the peace and comfort, which that faith provided, gave him a ray of hope that made him tolerate that awful loneliness and thus remain unshaken throughout the ordeal.
Allah knows how many days passed after this event, however, a caravan arrived and stopped there to draw water, a primary need for the caravan in that arid climate. They sent the man responsible for maintaining their water supplies to get the water and he let his bucket down the well with a rope. From the bottom of the well Yusuf saw the bucket with the rope coming down rapidly towards him, he seized this Divine opportunity and clung to the rope. The verse says:
“Then there came a caravan (of travelers). They sent their water-drawer (for water) and he let down his bucket...”
The water–carrier felt his bucket over weighted and quickly hauled it up. As soon as he brought it up, his eyes fell upon a handsome little boy. He exclaimed: “Good tidings,” instead of water, it was a beautiful boy. Some members of the caravan also took note but hid the news from the others in order to sell the boy as a slave in Egypt. They said that that beautiful boy was given by the owner of the well in order that they could sell him as a merchandise in Egypt. But Allah was well aware of what they were doing.
The verse continues saying:
“…He said: ‘O’ good news! This is a youth.’ So they hid him as a merchandise; while Allah is aware of what they do.”