12:97

قَالُواْ يَـٰٓأَبَانَا ٱسۡتَغۡفِرۡ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا خَٰطِـِٔينَ

Qaloo ya abana istaghfir lana thunoobana inna kunna khatieena

They said, "O our father, ask for us forgiveness of our sins; indeed, we have been sinners."

Word by word
  1. قَالُواْThey said
  2. يَـٰٓأَبَانَاO our father
  3. ٱسۡتَغۡفِرۡAsk forgiveness
  4. لَنَاfor us
  5. ذُنُوبَنَآ(of) our sins
  6. إِنَّاIndeed,we
  7. كُنَّاhave been
  8. خَٰطِـِٔينَsinners
Yusuf · 12:97Makkah

Father, ask forgiveness for us, we were wrong.

The sons' confession to the one they hurt most


Their request
the sonshumbled
ask
their fatherthe one they grieved
pray for uswe have been sinners
Who they turned to
avoid himtoo ashamed
ask himthe one they wronged

Once the truth was out and Ya'qub could see, Ibn Kathir says the brothers came to him with humbleness: O our father, ask forgiveness for our sins; we have been sinners. They went to the very person whose heart they had broken.

The parent you said hurtful things to as a teenager. The friend you ghosted. Shame makes you want to keep away. Going back and saying I was wrong, please pray for me, is hard and healing.

I am too ashamed to face the person I hurt.

Going back to the one I wronged and asking for their prayers is the way home.

Try this

Send one honest message today: I was wrong, please forgive me.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 12:96)

Then, when the bearer of the good news arrived, he cast it (the shirt) over his face, and his vision returned. He said: "Did I not say to you, 'I know from Allah that which you know not?' (96)They said: "O our father! Ask forgiveness (from Allah) for our sins, indeed we have been sinners. (97)He said: "I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you, verily, He! Only He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. (98)

Yahudha brings Yusuf's Shirt and Good News

Ibn 'Abbas and Ad-Dahhak said;

الْبَشِيرُ 

(good news) means information. Mujahid and As-Suddi said that the bearer of good news was Yahudha, son of Ya'qub. As-Suddi added, "He brought it (Yusuf's shirt) because it was he who brought Yusuf's shirt stained with the false blood. So he liked to erase that error with this good act, by bringing Yusuf's shirt and placing it on his father's face. His father's sight was restored to him." Ya'qub said to his children,

أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

(Did I not say to you, 'I know from Allah that which you know not'), that I know that Allah will return Yusuf to me and that,

إِنِّي لَأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ ۖ لَوْلَا أَن تُفَنِّدُونِ

(I do indeed feel the smell of Yusuf, if only you think me not senile.)

Yusuf's Brothers feel Sorry and Regretful

This is when Yusuf's brothers said to their father, with humbleness,

يَا أَبَانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا خَاطِئِينَ - قَالَ سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّي ۖ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

("O our father! Ask forgiveness (from Allah) for our sins, indeed we have been sinners." He said: "I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you, verily, He! Only He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.")

and He forgives those who repent to Him. 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Ibrahim At-Taymi, 'Amr bin Qays, Ibn Jurayj and several others said that Prophet Ya'qub delayed fulfilling their request until the latter part of the night.