The Quran

وَلَقَد جاءَكُم يوسُفُ مِن قَبلُ بِالبَيِّناتِ فَما زِلتُم في شَكٍّ مِمّا جاءَكُم بِهِ ۖ حَتّىٰ إِذا هَلَكَ قُلتُم لَن يَبعَثَ اللَّهُ مِن بَعدِهِ رَسولًا ۚ كَذٰلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَن هُوَ مُسرِفٌ مُرتابٌ

Ali Unal

“And (reflect that) Joseph brought to you the manifest truths before, but you never ceased to doubt as to what he brought you. But when he finally died, you said that God would no longer send a Messenger after him.¹ Thus God leads astray one who (transgressing all bounds) is wasteful (of his God-given faculties), persistently doubting (without good reason) –

That is, the native Egyptians were not sincere in their attitude toward the Messengers. They did not believe in the Prophet Joseph, upon him be peace, during his lifetime; but when he died, at least they seemed, at the cost of contradicting themselves, to acknowledge his Messengership and paid him great respect. But later generations made this an excuse for their denial of any new Messenger sent by God.