Welcome to Joseph: A Beautiful Patience, the companion podcast to Harry Peter De La Savane's literary retelling of an ancient family story of betrayal, patience, and forgiveness. In this fifteenth episode, the caravan crosses the desert with a wrapped bundle held against Judah's chest.

Joseph's shirt. Canaan's hills rise on the horizon. Jacob, blind from years of weeping, stands at the threshold of his dwelling and tells the household something they cannot hear: he senses the smell of Joseph on this morning's wind. The household calls it old delusion. Jacob holds his ground. Say what you will. I know what I know.

The chapter walks the climax the whole book has been moving toward. The dust cloud. The hoofbeats. Judah unwrapping the shirt and casting it over his father's face. The transformation immediate. Light flooding back. Colors and shapes returning. Jacob's voice ringing across the compound: did I not tell you that I truly know from God what you do not know?

What follows is the long journey to Egypt and the hour the dream of Joseph's youth has been waiting to fulfill. The brothers' sincere request for forgiveness. Jacob's promise to seek God's pardon. The arrival in the great hall. Father and son meeting across the marble. The family raised to the throne and falling in prostration. And Joseph's voice trembling with the weight of divine truth: O my dear father, this is the interpretation of my old vision. My Lord has made it come true.

In this episode:

• "I sense the smell of Joseph," the household calling it old delusion, Jacob holding his ground
• The shirt cast on Jacob's face, his sight restored: "Did I not tell you?"
• The brothers' request for forgiveness, Jacob's promise to pray
• The journey to Egypt and the great hall prepared
• "Enter Egypt in safety, by the Will of God"
• The family raised to the throne, the prostration, the dream of Joseph's youth fulfilled
• Joseph's prayer at the height of his worldly power, asking only to depart this life among the righteous

About the book: Joseph: A Beautiful Patience is a literary retelling of the story of Joseph and his family: the dream, the betrayal by his brothers, the years in slavery and prison, and the unlikely path to forgiveness. Harry Peter De La Savane writes from Ottawa-Gatineau, Canada, between English, French, and Arabic. The book is the first in a planned trilogy; novels devoted to Mary and to Jesus are also in preparation.

Get the book: Order Joseph: A Beautiful Patience at hpdelasavane.com, the perfect companion to this audio series.

Next episode: the narrative is complete, but the surah itself extends past the reunion. The closing verses step back from one family's journey to address the universal themes embedded in it, and Harry's Afterword walks slowly through them.

Subscribe to follow Joseph's journey from the well to the palace, one chapter at a time.