قَالُوا۟ وَأَقْبَلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِم مَّاذَا تَفْقِدُونَ · قَالُوا۟ نَفْقِدُ صُوَاعَ ٱلْمَلِكِ وَلِمَن جَآءَ بِهِۦ حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ وَأَنَا۠ بِهِۦ زَعِيمٌ
"They turned towards them and said: 'What have you lost?' They said: 'We have lost the king's cup; whoever brings it shall have a camel-load, and I am guarantor for that.' They said: 'By God, you know we did not come to spread corruption in this land, and we are not thieves.' They said: 'And what is the penalty for it, if you prove liars?' They said: 'Its penalty is that he in whose load it is found shall himself be the penalty for it. Thus do we requite the wrongdoers.'"
The word was analysed at al-Qalam 68/34-41 (sal hum ayyuhum bi-dhālika zaʿīm) and this verse was cited there:
The Qurʾān uses the second sense plainly in one place: in the story of Joseph, of the missing measure it is said "and I am guarantor for it" (wa-ana bihi zaʿīm) (Yūsuf 12/72).
I rely on that treatment. The root ز-ع-م: to give a pledge, to take on a responsibility; and to claim without foundation. The word has two ends: surety and empty claim. And the negative end of the same root was treated at al-Qaṣaṣ 28/61-70 (alladhīna kuntum tazʿumūn).
I record this as an observation: the same root is in one place the name of an undertaking and in another the name of a groundless claim. The common core is to take something upon oneself; what is decisive is whether there is any ground behind it.
And the knot of the scene is here. I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the order of the verses:
| Step | Verse | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The accusation | The crier (70) |
| 2 | Denial and oath | The brothers (73) |
| 3 | "And what is its penalty?" | The officials (74) |
| 4 | The determining of the penalty | The brothers (75) |
That is, the verdict comes out of the brothers' own mouths. And the ground of this will be stated plainly in verse 76: mā kāna li-yaʾkhudha akhāhu fī dīni'l-malik — under the king's law there is no such detention.
That is, the plan operates not by that society's own law but by the rule the other party itself accepts. This is something the text says plainly (76) and is not an interpretation.
In Arabic an oath is made with three particles: wāw, bāʾ, tāʾ. The lexicographers record that the oath made with tāʾ is the least used and generally carries astonishment or strong emphasis.
And this particle occurs most often in this sūra: 73, 85, 91, 95. All four come from the mouths of the brothers or of those with them. This is a countable weave within the sūra.
مَا جِئْنَا لِنُفْسِدَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ — and the form of the defence is worth recording: first the intention is denied (mā jiʾnā li-nufsida), then the act (wa-mā kunnā sāriqīn). That is, the defence covers a wider ground than a single incident.