«Avanti a Dio solo mi lamento del mio tormento e del mio dolore» (Corano 12, 86): dell’amore e dolore di Giacobbe per suo figlio Giuseppe

The prophet Jacob is mentioned in several places in the Sūra of Joseph, the twelfth chapter of the Qurʾān. These Qur’anic verses are read here through the analysis of the materials transmitted by Muḥammad ibn Masʿūd al-ʿAyyāshī (d. 932) in al-Tafsīr, a pre-Buwayhid Shīʿī Qurʾanic commentary. One of the features of this commentary is, in fact, the explanation of the Word of God through the narration of the traditions recounted by the imams (tafsīr bi l-maʾthūr), as circulating in his time. Particular attention is given to the father-son bond and, in particular, to the emotional states that mark the different stages of separation between Jacob and Joseph, as well as the sensory and bodily experiences that accompany them. A very multifaceted profile of Jacob emerges: as a prophet tested by God and as a father intensely vulnerable to pain.