Surah Yusuf 12:90

Yusuf reveals His True Identity to His Brothers and forgives Them

Allah says, when Yusuf's brothers told him about the afflictions and hardship, and shortages in food they suffered from in the aftermath of the drought that struck them, and he remembered his father's grief for losing his two children, he felt compassion, pity and mercy for his father and brothers. He felt this way, especially since he was enjoying kingship, authority and power, so he cried and revealed his true identity to them when he asked them,

(Do you know what you did with Yusuf and his brother, when you were ignorant) meaning, `when you separated between Yusuf and his brother,'

(when you were ignorant) He said, `What made you do this is your ignorance of the tremendous sin you were about to commit.' It appears, and Allah knows best, that Yusuf revealed his identity to his brothers only then by Allah's command, just as he hid his identity from them in the first two meetings, by Allah's command. When the affliction became harder, Allah sent His relief from that affliction, just as He said He does,

(Verily, along with every hardship is relief. Verily, along with every hardship is relief.)94:5-6 This is when they said to Yusuf,

(Are you indeed Yusuf), in amazement, because they had been meeting him for more than two years while unaware of who he really was. Yet, he knew who they were and hid this news from them. Therefore, they asked in astonishment,

(Are you indeed Yusuf He said: "I am Yusuf, and this is my brother...") Yusuf said next,

`(Allah has indeed been gracious to us.) by gathering us together after being separated all this time,'

("Verily, he who has Taqwa, and is patient, then surely, Allah makes not the reward of the gooddoers to be lost." They said: "By Allah! Indeed Allah has preferred you above us.") They affirmed Yusuf's virtue above them, being blessed with beauty, conduct, richness, kingship, authority and, above all, prophethood. They admitted their error and acknowledged that they made a mistake against him,

(He said: "No reproach on you this day.") He said to them, `There will be no blame for you today or admonishment, and I will not remind you after today of your error against me.' He then multiplied his generosity by invoking Allah for them for mercy,

(may Allah forgive you, and He is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy!)

Setelah mendengar ucapan Yusuf, timbullah di hati mereka kesadaran bahwa yang di hadapan mereka itu adalah Yusuf. Untuk menguatkan dugaannya, mereka mengajukan pertanyaan dengan penuh rasa heran, "Apakah kamu ini benar-benar Yusuf?" Dua tahun lebih mereka bolak-balik bertemu Yusuf tetapi tidak mengenalinya. Sebaliknya, Yusuf mengenali mereka, namun ia sembunyikan dalam hati. Pertanyaan mereka dijawab oleh Yusuf dengan mengatakan, "Aku ini adalah Yusuf yang telah kalian aniaya dengan penganiayaan yang cukup berat. Allah swt telah menolongku dan memuliakanku sampai memberiku pangkat yang tinggi. Aku tidak berdaya sama sekali ketika kalian berencana untuk membunuh dan membuangku ke dasar sumur yang dalam. Dan ini adikku, Bunyamin, yang telah kalian pisahkan dari aku, yang kemudian Allah swt memberikan karunia kepadanya sebagaimana kalian lihat. Allah swt melimpahkan karunia-Nya kepada kami berdua, menyatukan kami kembali sesudah berpisah sekian lama, memuliakan kami sesudah dihina, dan menyelamatkan kami dari segala ujian dan cobaan.

Agama telah menetapkan dan pengalaman telah membuktikan bahwa orang yang bertakwa kepada Allah swt dengan mengerjakan segala perintah-Nya dan menjauhi segala larangan-Nya serta selalu sabar menghadapi ujian dan cobaan yang menimpanya serta tipu daya setan dan hawa nafsu yang selalu menggodanya, Allah tidak akan menyia-nyiakan balasan amalnya itu di dunia, lebih-lebih di akhirat. Di dunia diberi jalan keluar dari kesulitan yang dihadapinya serta diberi rezeki dari arah yang tidak diduga sebelumnya, dan di akhirat diberi pahala tanpa ada perhitungan. Firman Allah swt:

Barang siapa yang bertakwa kepada Allah, niscaya Dia akan membukakan jalan keluar baginya. Dan Dia memberinya rezeki dari arah yang tidak disangka-sangkanya. (ath-thalaq/65: 2-3)

Dan firman-Nya:

Hanya orang-orang yang bersabarlah yang disempurnakan pahalanya tanpa batas. (az-Zumar/39: 10)