إِنَّ هَٰذَا أَخِي لَهُ تِسْعٌ وَتِسْعُونَ نَعْجَةً وَلِيَ نَعْجَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ فَقَالَ أَكْفِلْنِيهَا وَعَزَّنِي فِي الْخِطَابِ (23)
(38:23) Behold, this is my brother; *23 he has ninety-nine ewes and I have only one ewe.' And yet he said: 'Give her into my charge,' and he got the better of me in argument. *24
*23) "Brother" dces not mean a real brother but a brother-in-faith and a member of one's own clan.
*24) To understand what follows one should note that the complainant did not say that the other person had taken away his only ewe and added it to his own ewes, but said that he was asking for it, and since he was a powerful person he had prevailed over him in the matter and he could not reject his demand, being a weak and poor man.