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fa-lammā ʾan jāʾa l-bashīru ʾalqāhu ʿalā wajhihī fa-rtadda baṣīran qāla ʾa-lam ʾaqul lakum ʾinnī ʾaʿlamu mina llāhi mā lā taʿlamūna
When the bearer of good news arrived, he cast it on his face, and he regained his sight. He said, ‘Did I not tell you, ‘‘I know from Allah what you do not know?’’ ’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Yusuf – Verse 96
96. “Then, when the bearer of the good news came, he cast it (the shirt) on his (Jacob’s) face and (forthwith) he regained his sight. He said: ‘Did I not tell you I know from Allah what you do not know?’”
After a number of difficult nights and days, one day Ya‘qub heard a loud voice proclaiming that the caravan of Kan‘an had just arrived from Egypt. Unlike the previous occasion, the brothers arrived in joyous spirits and went straight to their father’s house. Before anybody else, Bashir, ‘the bearer of good news’, came up to the old grieving man and placed the shirt over his face. Ya‘qub was unable to see the shirt, but just before it was placed on his face, he sensed the familiar scent of his Yusuf.
A wonderful excitement overwhelmed the old man, the scent intensified when the shirt fell on his face, and suddenly he felt his eyes were opened and he was able to see. The world, with all its beauties, was once again before his eyes; as the Qur’an says:
“Then, when the bearer of the good news came, he cast it (the shirt) on his (Jacob’s) face and (forthwith) he regained his sight...”
The brothers and their entourage burst into tears of joy and he, with a decisive tone, told them:
“…‘Did I not tell you I know from Allah what you do not know?’”
If the purpose of the Qur’an that says ‘his eyes turned white’ is a decrease and diminishing of the eyesight, then the term /basiran/ means illumination, and it indicates that sadness and joy both leave an impact on one’s sense of vision. However, if the intent of the verse is a complete blindness, which can be inferred from the literal view of the verse, then the Qur’anic phrase which says ‘and (forthwith) he regained his sight’ would imply that the return of his eyesight was a miracle that the Qur’an proves it.
Explanations
1. The knowledge of the prophets has its origin in the Divine knowledge.
2. The prophets trust the promises of the Almighty as the Divine Will rules over all natural laws.
3. The clothing and the belongings of men of Allah can have an impact over some other beings.