قَالُوٓا۟ أَءِنَّكَ لَأَنتَ يُوسُفُ قَالَ أَنَا۠ يُوسُفُ وَهَٰذَآ أَخِى قَدْ مَنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْنَآ إِنَّهُۥ مَن يَتَّقِ وَيَصْبِرْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
“They said: Is it indeed thou who art Joseph? He said: I am Joseph and this is my brother. Allah hath shown us favour. Lo! he who wardeth off (evil) and endureth (findeth favour); for lo! Allah loseth not the wages of the kindly.” — M. M. Pickthall
Taberî9-10. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Taberî, this verse is explained as a person abstaining from opposing Allah and fulfilling their religious duties while avoiding prohibitions, and also restraining oneself from the words and deeds that Allah has forbidden when faced with hardship, and persevering. Patience here is interpreted in the sense of a person not violating religious prohibitions when faced with difficulties that befall them (such as imprisonment).
من يتق الله فيراقبه بأداء فرائضه واجتناب معاصيه ويصبر، يقول: ويكف نفسه، فيحبسها عما حرم الله عليه من قول أو عمل عند مصيبة نزلت به من الله
Fahreddin er-Râzî12-13. c.✓ Citation verified
In this section, Râzî examines the grammatical structure and purpose of Yusuf's words to his brothers: 'I am Yusuf, and this is my brother.' He points out that the explicit mention of the name is intended to emphasize the magnitude of the injustice his brothers committed against him and the superiority and exalted station that Allah had granted him. He also includes a report from Ibn Abbas regarding the fact that his brothers recognized him through a distinguishing mark that appeared when he removed his crown, which was also present in his father Isaac and Jacob.
أنه إنما صرح بالاسم تعظيما لما نزل به من ظلم إخوته وماعوضه الله من / الظفر والنصر ؛ فكأنه قال : أنا الذي ظلمتموني على أعظم الوجوه والله تعالى أوصلني إلى أعظم المناصب
Kurtubî13. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Kurtubî, in this expression the person did not directly introduce themselves by saying 'I am,' but rather spoke of themselves as a wronged and desired-to-be-killed person in order to emphasize the magnitude and gravity of the event. It is also stated that what is meant by deliverance and kingdom/sovereignty is a person's fear of Allah, their patience with calamities, and their avoidance of sins.
أي أنا المظلوم والمراد قتله ولم يقل أنا هو تعظيما للقصة أي بالنجاة والملك أي يتق الله ويصبر على المصائب وعن المعاصي
İbn Kesîr14. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Ibn Kesîr, this expression conveys the astonishment and wonder of the brothers at the situation that, although they had been meeting with him for a long time, they did not recognize him, whereas he recognized them and kept this hidden. The interrogative here is not a real question, but rather an expression of amazement at the magnitude of the event. The statement uttered is an expression of wonder regarding their reunion after separation and a long period of time.
لأن الإستفهام يدل على الإستعظام أي أنهم تعجبوا من ذلك أنهم يترددون إليه من سنتين وأكثر وهم لا يعرفونه وهو مع هذا يعرفهم ويكتم نفسه
Beydâvî13. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Beydâvî, the brothers' question 'Are you Yusuf?' is not a real question, but rather one aimed at confirmation; he deduces this from the use of 'inna' and the emphatic particle lam. He reports three different traditions regarding how the brothers recognized Yusuf: they recognized him from his face and manner while he was speaking, they recognized him from his teeth when he smiled, or they recognized him from the distinguishing mark on his head (the white spot that was also found in Sarah and Jacob) when he removed his crown. He interprets Yusuf's words 'I am Yusuf, and this is my brother' as self-introduction and elevation of his status, while also making his brother a participant in this elevation. He explains the substitution of 'muhsinîn' (the doers of good) in place of the pronoun in the phrase 'does not waste the reward of the doers of good' as a rhetorical subtlety to draw attention to the fact that the one who does good is only the person who combines patience with piety.
قالوا أإنك لأنت يوسف استفهام تقرير ولذلك حقق بأن ودخول اللام عليه. وقرأ ابن كثير على الإيجاب. قيل عرفوه بروائه وشمائله حين كلمهم به، وقيل تبسم فعرفوه بثناياه.
Comparison
Common ground
The common emphasis of the scholars is that the mention of piety and patience together means that a person abstains from opposing Allah, fulfills their duties, and endures by keeping themselves away from forbidden words and deeds in the face of calamities. Furthermore, the shared approach of drawing attention to rhetorical subtleties (such as the interrogative not being a real question but carrying the purpose of wonder or confirmation) in the scene of Yusuf introducing himself and his brothers recognizing him is also a common methodology among them.
Differences
While Taberî addresses the verse in a simpler linguistic and semantic framework and interprets patience directly in the context of adherence to religious prohibitions, later exegetes such as Râzî and Beydâvî turned to detailed linguistic and rhetorical analyses (grammatical analysis, interrogative of confirmation, emphatic particles, substitution of explicit nouns for pronouns) and gathered together different reports regarding the recognition scene (the distinguishing mark, smiling, demeanor). While Kurtubî focuses on the purpose of emphasizing the gravity of the event, Ibn Kesîr highlights that the interrogative carries an expression of wonder and emphasizes the differences in readings. These differences can be associated with the gradually increasing importance given to linguistic and rhetorical subtleties in the exegetical method of their respective periods.
Historical context
In the earliest exegete Taberî, the verse is explained more directly based on the literal meaning, focusing on the moral content of patience and piety, whereas in later periods (Râzî, Kurtubî, Ibn Kesîr, Beydâvî), linguistic and rhetorical analyses, abundance of reports, and detailed interpretations deepened the understanding. The emphasis on patience and piety remained constant throughout all periods, but the method of interpretation gradually shifted more toward the literary and rhetorical aspects of the text.