Joseph
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[12:68]
But although they entered [Joseph’s city] in the way their father had bidden them, this proved of no avail whatever to them against [the plan of] God. [His request] had served only to satisfy Jacob’s heartfelt desire [to protect them]: for, behold, thanks to what We had imparted unto him, he was indeed endowed with the knowledge [that God’s will must always prevail]; but most people know it not.

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* v.68 : Lit., “when.”
* As is shown in the sequence, they and their father were to suffer severe distress before their adventures came to a happy conclusion.
* Lit., “it [i.e., his request that they should enter the city by different gates] had been but a desire in Jacob’s heart (nafs), which he [thus] satisfied.” In other words, when he gave his sons this advice, he followed only an instinctive, humanly-understandable urge, and did not really expect that any outward precaution would by itself help them: for, as he himself pointed out on parting, “judgment as to what is to happen rests with none but God.” This stress on man’s utter dependence on God – a fundamental tenet of Islam – explains why Jacob’s advice (which in itself is not relevant to the story) has been mentioned in the above Qur’anic narrative.
* This interpolated clause is based on Zamakhsharī’s interpretation of the above reference to Jacob’s having been “endowed with knowledge.”