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irjiʿū ʾilā ʾabīkum fa-qūlū yā-ʾabānā ʾinna bnaka saraqa wa-mā shahidnā ʾillā bi-mā ʿalimnā wa-mā kunnā li-l-ghaybi ḥāfiẓīna
Go back to your father, and say, ‘‘Father! Your son has indeed committed theft, and we testified only to what we knew, and we could not have forestalled the unseen.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Yusuf – Verse 81
81. “Go back to your father and say: ‘O’ father! Verily your son has committed theft, and we did not bear witness except to what we knew, and we were not guardians of the Unseen’.”
Then the elder brother told other brothers that they would return to the Father and say that his son (Benjamin) committed theft and that the testimony they would present to their father could only be based on the amount of the truth that they were aware of. They saw the king’s cup discovered and taken out from their brother’s load which proved that he had committed theft. Nevertheless, they started to become aware that the hidden truth of the matter rested with Allah.
The verse says:
“Go back to your father and say: ‘O’ father! Verily your son has committed theft, and we did not bear witness except to what we knew, and we were not guardians of the Unseen’.”