And when they entered upon Joseph, he took his brother to himself; he said, "Indeed, I am your brother, so do not despair over what they used to do [to me]." 69 And when he had furnished them with their furnishing; he placed the drinking-cup in his brother's pack. Thereafter a crier cried: O caravan! verily ye are thieves. 70 Turning towards the herald and his companions, the brothers asked: "What is it that you miss?" 71 They said, 'We are missing the king's goblet. Whoever brings it shall receive a camel's load; that I guarantee.' 72 They said: by Allah! assuredly ye know that we came not to work corruption in the land, nor we have been thieves. 73 The officials said: "If you are lying, what will be the penalty for him who has stolen?" 74 They replied, "The penalty should be that he in whose saddlebag it is found, should be held [as bondman] to atone for the crime. That is how we punish the wrongdoers." 75 So he [Yusuf (Joseph)] began (the search) in their bags before the bag of his brother. Then he brought it out of his brother's bag. Thus did We plan for Yusuf (Joseph). He could not take his brother by the law of the king (as a slave), except that Allah willed it. (So Allah made the brothers to bind themselves with their way of "punishment, i.e. enslaving of a thief.") We raise to degrees whom We please, but over all those endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allah). 76 ۞ [As soon as the cup came to light out of Benjamin's bag, the brothers] exclaimed: "If he has stolen - well, a brother of his used to steal afore-time!" Thereupon Joseph said to himself, without revealing his thought to them: "You are far worse in this respect, and God is fully aware of what you are saying. 77 They said: Aziz! verily he hath a father, an old man very aged; so take one of us in his stead; verily we behold thee to be of the well-doers. 78 He replied, "God forbid! How could I take someone in place of the thief? In doing so I would be committing injustice." 79