وَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا۟ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَهُمْ أَبُوهُم مَّا كَانَ يُغْنِى عَنْهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ مِن شَىْءٍ إِلَّا حَاجَةً فِى نَفْسِ يَعْقُوبَ قَضَىٰهَا ۚ وَإِنَّهُۥ لَذُو عِلْمٍ لِّمَا عَلَّمْنَـٰهُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
Wa lammaa dakhaloo min haisu amarahum aboohum maa kaana yughnee 'anhum minal laahi min shai'in illaa haajatan fee nafsi Ya'qooba qadaahaa; wa innahoo lazoo 'ilmil limaa 'allamnaahu wa laakinna aksaran naasi laa ya'lamoon
A chociaż weszli tak, jak nakazał im ich ojciec, to nie posłużyło im w niczym wobec Boga. Było to bowiem tylko pragnienie w duszy Jakuba, które on wypowiedział. On przecież posiadał wiedzę, ponieważ My mu ją daliśmy. Lecz większość ludzi nie wie.
And when they entered as their father had instructed, it did not avail them against God in the least; it was only a concern in Yaʿqub's heart that he thus settled. He was indeed possessed of knowledge because we had taught him, but most people do not know.
Yaʿqub's instruction is honoured and its power denied in the same sentence: the sons obey, and the text states plainly that entering by separate gates changed nothing. What it was, the verse says, is a ḥāja in his self that he settled — a father's need to have done something, discharged. Early commentary took the gates as a precaution against the envious eye, and read the closing clause as knowledge that taking such measures never displaces what God decides.