(529) Likewise, He—exalted be his glory—said: "Most of this surah consists of the words of Lord Jacob—exalted be his glory," as we explained.
As for the saying of the brothers of Yusuf: {Kill Yusuf or cast him out to [another] land; the face of your father will [then] be only for you, and you will be after that a righteous people}1. "Killing" here is Recognition; meaning: kill him in knowledge. Ask your father regarding what you have seen of his preference of him over you and his magnification of him to your exclusion, which is their saying regarding him: {When they said, "Yusuf and his brother are more beloved to our father than we, while we are a clan. Indeed, our father is in manifest error"}2. If that action [of the father] was because he [Yusuf] is the Meaning, we would recognize him and worship him and not doubt him; and if it were otherwise, we would be certain of his [the father's] obedience and recognition.
{And you will be after that a righteous people}3. If we know from Jacob the reality of recognition, that which we are in of doubt will be rectified.
{Said a speaker among them, "Do not kill Yusuf but throw him into the bottom of the well; some travelers will pick him up - if you are to do [something]"}4. The "speaker" to them of these words was Judas, and he is here a Seeker; it was also said he is Ja'far al-Tayyar. Its meaning: Indeed Yusuf is better than you, and you do not know that. The "Well" is the Occultation, the concealment, and the incapacity which the Meaning manifests in the manifestations. His saying: "some travelers will pick him up": the "Travelers" (al-sayyara) are the Nakibs who travel with the science of the Veil and excavate (yunnaqibun) in search of it from the Gate. "If you are to do [something]": meaning, if you are seekers of recognition, then return to the Nakibs in that matter.