12:30 Yusuf (Joseph)

يعني: أن الخبر اشتهر وشاع في البلد، وتحدث به النسوة فجعلن يلمنها، ويقلن: { امْرَأَةُ الْعَزِيزِ تُرَاوِدُ فَتَاهَا عَنْ نَفْسِهِ قَدْ شَغَفَهَا حُبًّا } أي: هذا أمر مستقبح، هي امرأة كبيرة القدر، وزوجها كبير القدر، ومع هذا لم تزل تراود فتاها الذي تحت يدها وفي خدمتها عن نفسه،.ومع هذا فإن حبه قد بلغ من قلبها مبلغا عظيما.{ قَدْ شَغَفَهَا حُبًّا } أي: وصل حبه إلى شغاف قلبها، وهو باطنه وسويداؤه، وهذا أعظم ما يكون من الحب، { إِنَّا لَنَرَاهَا فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ } حيث وجدت منها هذه الحالة التي لا تنبغي منها، وهي حالة تحط قدرها وتضعه عند الناس، وكان هذا القول منهن مكرا، ليس المقصود به مجرد اللوم لها والقدح فيها، وإنما أردن أن يتوصلن بهذا الكلام إلى رؤية يوسف الذي فتنت به امرأة العزيز لتحنق امرأة العزيز، وتريهن إياه ليعذرنها، ولهذا سماه مكرا، فقال: { فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ بِمَكْرِهِنَّ أَرْسَلَتْ إِلَيْهِنَّ }

يخبر تعالى أن خبر يوسف وامرأة العزيز شاع في المدينة وهي مصر حتى تحدث به الناس " وقال نسوة في المدينة " مثل نساء الكراء والأمراء ينكرن على امرأة العزيز وهو الوزير ويعبن ذلك عليها " امرأة العزير تراود فتاها عن نفسه " أي تحاول غلامها عن نفسه وتدعوه إلى نفسها " قد شغفها حبا " أي قد وصل حبه إلى شغاف قلبها وهو غلافه قال الضحاك عن ابن عباس: الشغف الحب القاتل والشغف دون ذلك والشغاف حجاب القلب "إنا لنراها فى ضلال مبين " أي في صنيعها هذا من حبها فتاها ومراودتها إياه عن نفسه.

The News reaches Women in the City, Who also plot against Yusuf

Allah states that the news of what happened between the wife of the `Aziz and Yusuf spread in the city, that is, Egypt, and people talked about it,

وَقَالَ نِسْوَةٌ فِى الْمَدِينَةِ

(And women in the city said...), such as women of chiefs and princes said, while admonishing and criticizing the wife of the `Aziz,

امْرَأَتُ الْعَزِيزِ تُرَاوِدُ فَتَـهَا عَن نَّفْسِهِ

(The wife of the `Aziz is seeking to seduce her (slave) young man,), she is luring her servant to have sex with her,

قَدْ شَغَفَهَا حُبًّا

(indeed she loves him violently;), her love for him filled her heart and engulfed it,

إِنَّا لَنَرَاهَا فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ

(verily, we see her in plain error.), by loving him and trying to seduce him.

فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ بِمَكْرِهِنَّ

(So when she heard of their accusation,) especially their statement, "indeed she loves him violently." Muhammad bin Ishaq commented, "They heard of Yusuf's beauty and wanted to see him, so they said these words in order to get a look at him. " This is when,

أَرْسَلَتْ إِلَيْهِنَّ

(she sent for them), invited them to her house,

وَأَعْتَدَتْ لَهُنَّ مُتَّكَئًا

(and prepared a banquet for them.) Ibn `Abbas, Sa'id bin Jubayr, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, As-Suddi and several others commented that she prepared a sitting room which had couches, pillows to recline on and food that requires knives to cut, such as citron. This is why Allah said next,

وَءَاتَتْ كُلَّ وَاحِدَةٍ مَّنْهُنَّ سِكِّينًا

(and she gave each one of them a knife), as a part of her plan of revenge for their plot to see Yusuf,

وَقَالَتِ اخْرُجْ عَلَيْهِنَّ

(and she said to Yusuf: "Come out before them."), for she had asked him to stay somewhere else in the house,

فَلَمَّآ

(Then, when) he went out and,

رَأَيْنَهُ أَكْبَرْنَهُ

(they saw him, they exalted him) they thought highly of him and were astonished at what they saw. They started cutting their hands in amazement at his beauty, while thinking that they were cutting the citron with their knives. Therefore, they injured their hands with the knives they were holding, according to several reports of Tafsir. Others said that after they ate and felt comfortable, and after having placed citron in front of them, giving each one of them a knife, the wife of the `Aziz asked them, "Would you like to see Yusuf" They said, "Yes." So she sent for him to come in front of them and when they saw him, they started cutting their hands. She ordered him to keep coming and going, so that they saw him from all sides, and he went back in while they were still cutting their hands. When they felt the pain, they started screaming and she said to them, "You did all this from one look at him, so how can I be blamed

وَقُلْنَ حَاشَ للَّهِ مَا هَـذَا بَشَرًا إِنْ هَـذَآ إِلاَّ مَلَكٌ كَرِيمٌ

(They said: "How perfect is Allah! No man is this! This is none other than a noble angel!") They said to her, "We do not blame you anymore after the sight that we saw." They never saw anyone like Yusuf before, for he, peace be upon him, was given half of all beauty. An authentic Hadith stated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by Prophet Yusuf, during the Night of Isra' in the third heaven and commented,

«فَإِذَا هُوَ قَدْ أُعْطِيَ شَطْرَ الْحُسْن»

(He was given a half of all beauty.) Mujahid and others said they said: "We seek refuge from Allah,"

مَا هَـذَا بَشَرًا

(No man is this!) They said next,

إِنْ هَـذَآ إِلاَّ مَلَكٌ كَرِيمٌقَالَتْ فَذلِكُنَّ الَّذِى لُمْتُنَّنِى فِيهِ

("This is none other than a noble angel!" She said: "This is he (the young man) about whom you did blame me...") She said these words to them so that they excuse her behavior, for a man who looks this beautiful and perfect, is worthy of being loved, she thought. She said,

وَلَقَدْ رَاوَدتُّهُ عَن نَّفْسِهِ فَاسَتَعْصَمَ

(and I did seek to seduce him, but he refused) to obey me. Some scholars said that when the women saw Yusuf's beauty, she told them about his inner beauty that they did not know of, being chaste and beautiful from the inside and outside. She then threatened him,

وَلَئِن لَّمْ يَفْعَلْ مَآ ءَامُرُهُ لَيُسْجَنَنَّ وَلَيَكُونًا مِّن الصَّـغِرِينَ

(And now if he refuses to obey my order, he shall certainly be cast into prison, and will be one of those who are disgraced.) This is when Prophet Yusuf sought refuge with Allah from their evil and wicked plots,

قَالَ رَبِّ السِّجْنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىَّ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَنِى إِلَيْهِ

(He said: "O my Lord! Prison is dearer to me than that to which they invite me...") illegal sexual acts,

وَإِلاَّ تَصْرِفْ عَنِّى كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ

(Unless You turn away their plot from me, I will feel inclined towards them) Yusuf invoked Allah: If You abandon me and I am reliant on myself, then I have no power over myself, nor can I bring harm or benefit to myself, except with Your power and will. Verily, You are sought for each and everything, and our total reliance is on You Alone for each and everything. Please, do not abandon me and leave me to rely on myself, for then,

أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَكُن منَ الْجَـهِلِينَفَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ

("I will feel inclined towards them and be one of the ignorant." So his Lord answered his invocation) Yusuf, peace be upon him, was immune from error by Allah's will, and He saved him from accepting the advances of the wife of the `Aziz'. He preferred prison, rather than accept her illicit call. This indicates the best and most perfect grade in this case, for Yusuf was youthful, beautiful and full of manhood. His master's wife was calling him to herself, and she was the wife of the `Aziz of Egypt. She was also very beautiful and wealthy, as well as having a great social rank. He refused all this and preferred prison, for he feared Allah and hoped to earn His reward. It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«سَبْعَةٌ يُظِلُّهُمُ اللهُ فِي ظِلِّهِ يَوْمَ لَا ظِلَّ إِلَّا ظِلُّهُ: إِمَامٌ عَادِلٌ، وَشَابٌّ نَشَأَ فِي عِبَادَةِ اللهِ، وَرَجُلٌ قَلْبُهُ مُعَلَّقٌ بِالْمَسْجِدِ إِذَا خَرَجَ مِنْهُ حَتَّى يَعُودَ إِلَيْهِ، وَرَجُلَانِ تَحَابَّا فِي اللهِ، اجْتَمَعَا عَلَيْهِ وَتَفَرَّقَا عَلَيْهِ، وَرَجُلٌ تَصَدَّقَ بِصَدَقَةٍ فَأَخْفَاهَا حَتَّى لَا تَعْلَمَ شِمَالُهُ مَا أَنْفَقَتْ يَمِينُهُ، وَرَجُلٌ دَعَتْهُ امْرَأةٌ ذَاتُ مَنْصِبٍ وَجَمَالٍ فَقَالَ: إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللهَ، وَرَجُلٌ ذَكَرَ اللهَ خَالِيًا فَفَاضَتْ عَيْنَاه»

(Allah will give shade to seven, on the Day when there will be no shade but His: A just ruler, a youth who has been brought up in the worship of Allah, a man whose heart is attached to the Masjid, from the time he goes out of the Masjid until he gets back to it, two persons who love each other only for Allah's sake and they meet and part in Allah's cause only, a man who gives charitable gifts so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given, a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for illicit intercourse with her and says: "I am afraid of Allah, and a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes are then flooded with tears.")

And some of the women in the city the city of Egypt said ‘The Court Officer’s wife has been seducing her boy her servant. Indeed he has smitten her heart with love hubban is for specification in other words ‘her love of him has entered her heart’s pericardium shaghāfa qalbihā that is its inner casing. Lo! we see her to be in plain aberration’ that is in error evident in her love of him.

So, after having pointed out to Zulaikha her error, the ` Aziz of Misr said to Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) : يُوسُفُ أَعْرِ‌ضْ عَنْ هَـٰذَا :'O Yusuf, ignore this matter' - that is, do not speak about it before others so there be no disgrace because of this. Then he addressed Zulaikha and said: وَاسْتَغْفِرِ‌ي لِذَنبِكِ ۖ إِنَّكِ كُنتِ مِنَ الْخَاطِئِين (and you [ 0 woman ] seek forgiveness for your sin. Surely, you were of the sinners). This obviously means that she should seek forgiveness from her hus-band. And it could also mean that she should seek forgiveness from Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) for it was she who made the error and put the blame on him.

Special Note

At this point, it is very surprising that a husband, who finds out an open proof of such immodesty and breach of trust on the part of his wife, would not be agitated, rather, go on talking with perfect peace of mind - unusual indeed, given the compulsion of human nature in such circumstances. Imam Al-Qurtubi has said that one of the reasons for this may be that the ` Aziz of Misr was someone lacking that kind of a sense of shame. And it is also possible that the way Allah Ta’ ala supernaturally arranged to save Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) first from sin and then from disgrace - in the same way, it was also a part of this arrangement that He did not let the ` Aziz of Misr become all agitated in anger. Otherwise, as customary, this would have been an occasion where one is likely to go to physical assault without bothering to investigate first, not to say much about verbal aggression, which would be rather elementary. If the ` Aziz of Misr, affected by common human response, were to be enraged, it is possible that he might have committed something, physically or verbally, something which would have been against the august status of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . These are the wonders of Divine Power which openly prove how those who stand steadfast in obedience to their most true Lord are protected at every step they take in His way. And the honour of creating what is there at its best goes only to Allah.

In the verses which will follow, mentioned there is another event which is connected with the story narrated earlier. There it has been said that this event, despite the effort to keep it concealed, spread around among women in the families of the courtiers. These women started blaming the wife of the ` Aziz of Misr. Some commentators have said that these were five women, all wives of officials close to the "Aziz of Misr. (Qurtubi, Mazhari)

These women were talking among themselves. They were saying: Look, how regrettable it is that the wife of the ` Aziz of Misr, despite enjoying a status so high, had become enamoured with her young slave and was looking for the fulfillment of what she wanted from him. In this, we think, she is in a grave error. The word used in the verse (30) is: فَتَاھَا (fate ha: translated as ` her youthful slave' ). Fata' denotes someone youthful. In customary usage, a boy slave when small is called a ghulam. If in his youth, the boy is called fata, and the girl, fata. Here, Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) has been referred to as the slave of Zulaikha either because that which is owned by the husband is also customarily called as that which is owned by the wife; and/or because Zulaikha had taken Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) from her husband as gift. (Qurtubi)