When they presented themselves before Joseph, he took his brother aside to himself and said: "Verily I am your own brother Joseph; so do not grieve over the manner they have treated you." 69 At length when he had furnished them forth with provisions (suitable) for them, he put the drinking cup into his brother's saddle-bag. Then shouted out a crier: "O ye (in) the caravan! behold! ye are thieves, without doubt!" 70 They said, turning towards him, "What is it that you have lost?" 71 They were told, "The King's drinking cup is missing and whoever brings it will receive a camel's load of grain. I promise you that". 72 They said: by Allah! assuredly ye know that we came not to work corruption in the land, nor we have been thieves. 73 They said, 'And what shall be its recompense if you are liars?' 74 They said, “The punishment for it is that he in whose bag it shall be found, shall himself become a slave for it; this is how we punish the unjust.” 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: 'Mighty prince, his father is old, advanced in years, take one of us instead of him. We can see you are amongst the gooddoers' 78 "May God forgive us," he said, "if we hold any one but him with whom we found our property, or else we would be unjust." 79