When they said, "Surely better loved by our Father, than we, who are more in number, is Joseph and his brother; verily, our father hath clearly erred.
Slay ye Joseph! or drive him to some other land, and on you alone shall your father's face be set! and after this, ye shall live as upright persons."
One of them said, "Slay not Joseph, but cast him down to the bottom of the well: if ye do so, some wayfarers will take him up."
They said, "O our Father! why dost thou not entrust us with Joseph? indeed we mean him well.
Send him with us to-morrow that he may enjoy himself and sport: we will surely keep him safely."
He said, "Verily, your taking him away will grieve me; and I fear lest while ye are heedless of him the wolf devour him."
They said, "Surely if the wolf devour him, and we so many, we must in that case be weak indeed."5
And when they went away with him they agreed to place him at the bottom of the well. And We revealed to him, "Thou wilt yet tell them of this their deed, when they shall not know thee."
And they came at nightfall to their father weeping.
They said, "O our Father! of a truth, we went to run races, and we left Joseph with our clothes, and the wolf devoured him: but thou wilt not believe us even though we speak the truth."