(28) فَلَمَّا رَأى قَميصَهُ قُدَّ مِنْ دُبُرٍ قالَ إِنَّهُ مِنْ كَيْدِكُنَّ إِنَّ كَيْدَكُنَّ عَظيمٌ
28. " So when he(the 'Aziz)saw his shirt was torn from behind, he said: 'Verily it is of the guile of you women! Truly, your guile is great'. "
Commentary :
The Qur'anic terms/ kayda kunna/(your guile)here means: 'to accuse some guiltless people while hiding one's own guilt and swiftly dissociating it from oneself without having the slightest anxiety'. The Qur'an regards the Satan's tricks as weak, but the guile of women have been mentioned as great in this verse. According to the 'Tafsir- us- Safi', it is because the satanic guile is momentary, invisible and acted in a subtle way, whereas the guile of women is acted along with delicacy, and affection, which are both focused and continuous.
Allah sometimes accomplishes major tasks by means of some small things. For example: 'Abraha was defeated by the birds of 'Ababil; the life of the Prophet of Islam(p.b.u.h.) was saved because of a spider's web; a crow was used to instruct a human being(Cain)on how to bury a human being(Abel); the chastity of Mary was made manifest through the infant's talk, Yusuf's innocence was proved by the tear in his shirt; the faith of a country's people was known through the messages of a bird(Hoopoe); and finally, the People of the Cave were recognized through the kind of their money. All of these incidents are examples of great occurrences divinely fulfilled through objects and incidents that are otherwise seen as commonplace or insignificant.
The 'Aziz accepted the method proposed by the "witness" and gazed at Yusuf's shirt. He noticed that the shirt had been torn from the back, and he remembered that he had never heard Yusuf tell a lie, even once, he turned to his wife and said that this act was part of the guile of women, that their guile is indeed, very powerful. The verse says:
" So when he(the 'Aziz)saw his shirt was torn from behind, he said: 'Verily is of the guile of you women! Truly, your guile is great'. "
* * * *
(29) يُوسُفُ أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هذا وَ اسْتَغْفِري لِذَنْبِكِ إِنَّكِ كُنْتِ مِنَ الْخاطِئينَ
29. " O Yusuf! Overlook this matter; and you,(O my wife), ask forgiveness for your sin, for surely you are of the wrong- doers. "
Commentary :
At this moment, owing to his fear that the embarrassing event might come to light and damage his prestige, the 'Aziz saw it convenient to put an end to the whole affair by keeping it quiet. Turning to Yusuf, he told him to forget about it, and turning to his wife, he told her to repent and ask forgiveness for her sin, for she had definitely been the one who did wrong. The verse says:
" O Yusuf! Overlook this matter; and you,(O my wife), ask forgiveness for your sin, for surely you are of the wrong- doers. "
Another great lesson that this part of the story of Yusuf teaches us is that very support of Allah, Who assists man in the most difficult states. According to His statement which says: " whoever is in awe of Allah, He will make for him an outlet, " "And give him sustenance from whence he thinks not; "(1) , Allah caused Yusuf to be proved innocent by means of existence of the tear in his shirt as an evidence. Yusuf's shirt was also the same thing that one day manifested the lie of Yusuf's brothers before their father because of lack of tear in it, and again his shirt was put over the face of Jacob when he
(1) Sura At- Talaq, No. 65, verses 62 and 63
regained his eye sight, and it was brought from Egypt to Kan'an and gave the glad tidings to Jacob. However, Allah has some secret favours of which no one is aware. When the breeze of this favour blows the affairs may change in a way that it is not predictable for any one, even for the most intelligent members.
Some Explanations:
1. The 'Aziz of Egypt wanted to cover up the incident, but the people of the world in all centuries came to know about it in order for Yusuf's innocence to be maintained.
2. The 'Aziz, typical for those among the affluent classes, had a lenient attitude towards matters regarding chastity, and refrained from seriously chastising his wife.
3. Non- godly leaders are usually not able to take a decisive stand towards their own impure wives.
A woman's sexual relationship with any man other than her husband is illegitimate and indecent.
* * * *
Section 4
Yusuf prefers prison against
the Temptation
The chief's wife proves the irresistible attraction of Joseph's beauty - Joseph imprisoned
(30) وَ قالَ نِسْوَةٌ فِي الْمَدينَةِ امْرَأَتُ الْعَزيزِ تُراوِدُ فَتاها عَنْ نَفْسِهِ قَدْ شَغَفَها حُبًّا إِنَّا لَنَراها في ضَلالٍ مُبينٍ
30. " And some women in the city said: 'The wife of the 'Aziz has sought to seduce her slave from his(pure)self; he has affected her with love. Verily we see her in manifest error'. "
Commentary :
The term/ aqaf/ refers to the complications of the upper part of the heart, or of the pericardium. It is said that the Qur'anic phrase/ aqafaha hubban/ means that someone's love has intermingled with the heart of the beloved which, in turn, increases the intensity of the love.
The incident between the wife of the 'Aziz and Yusuf was a private affair, which the 'Aziz had sought to cover up, but such affairs do not remain undisclosed for long, especially when they occur in the palaces of kinds and dwellings of wealthy aristocrats where rumor and hearsay abound. So finally the secret leaked out of the palace. Some of the women of the city spread the rumor that the wife of 'Aziz had tried to seduce her slave, and that her love for him had overcome her
to the extent that it had conquered her entire heart. The verse says:
" And some women in the city said: 'The wife of the 'Aziz has sought to seduce her slave from his(pure)self; he has affected her with love. ..."
So they laid the blame squarely at her door, saying:
"... Verily we see her in manifest error'. "
Those women, who said this statement and blamed Zulaykha therewith, were a group of Egyptian aristocratical women that, from the point of sensuality, were not so far from her. Since they had not have Yusuf, idiomatically, they were hypocritically prudish and, because of that love, considered the wife of 'Aziz in manifest error.
* * * *
(31) فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ بِمَكْرِهِنَّ أَرْسَلَتْ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَ أَعْتَدَتْ لَهُنَّ مُتَّكَأً وَ آتَتْ كُلَّ واحِدَةٍ مِنْهُنَّ سِكِّيناً وَ قالَتِ اخْرُجْ عَلَيْهِنَّ فَلَمَّا رَأَيْنَهُ أَكْبَرْنَهُ وَ قَطَّعْنَ أَيْدِيَهُنَّ وَ قُلْنَ حاشَ لِلَّهِ ما هذا بَشَراً إِنْ هذا إِلاَّ مَلَكٌ كَريمٌ
31. " So when she heard about their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a repast for them. Then she gave each one of them a knife, and said to him(Yusuf): 'Come forth to them. ' When they saw him, they extolled him, and( in their amazement)cut their hands and said(exclaimed): 'Allah Blameless! This is not a human being. This is not other than a noble angel! '"
Commentary :
When the wife of 'Aziz became aware of the intrigue of the Egyptian women, she became very angry. Then she came up with an idea. She invited them to an elaborate party which she had organized for them and gave each person a sharp knife to peel the fruit served. The verse says:
" So when she heard about their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a repast for them. Then she gave each one of them a knife, ..."
From the sequence of events, one can readily infer that she did not care much for her husband and was not afraid of him, so she had not learnt anything from the previous scandal.
She then ordered Yusuf to come into the hall so that they could see his beauty for themselves and stop blaming her for what she did. The verse says:
"... and said to him(Yusuf): 'Come forth to them. ' ..."
According to several narrations, when the eyes of the Egyptian women fell upon him they were captivated by his unearthly beautiful stature and shining face. The verse says:
"... When they saw him, they extolled him, and(in their amazement)cut their hands ..."
They were so overwhelmed that they fell head over heels in love with him, which profoundly embarrassed him. As soon as they saw how abstinent and chaste he was, and his attractive eyes in his innocent face which had blushed from modesty and shame clearly illustrated these facts, they all exclaimed that that young man had never done anything wrong in his life, he was not an ordinary man, but was a sublime heavenly angel. The verse continues saying:
"... and said(exclaimed): 'Allah Blameless! This is not a human being. This is not other than a noble angel! '"
Explanations:
1. The Arabic term/ ha a/ means: 'excepting, with the exception'. It was a custom in that time that when they wanted to know a person exempted from an indecency, at first they exempted Allah and then that person.
2. The wife of 'Aziz was quite politically astute, through the banquet she had arranged she caught the women unawares and was able to expose the vulnerabilities of the rivals in that locality.
3. Talking about other people's problems is not always a show of compassion. It can be the result of jealousy, or part of a plot against them.
* * * *
(32) قالَتْ فَذلِكُنَّ الَّذي لُمْتُنَّني فيهِ وَ لَقَدْ راوَدْتُهُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ فَاسْتَعْصَمَ وَ لَئِنْ لَمْ يَفْعَلْ ما آمُرُهُ لَيُسْجَنَنَّ وَ لَيَكُوناً مِنَ الصَّاغِرينَ
32. " She said: 'This is before you he about whom you did blame me! And indeed I sought to seduce him from his(pure)self, but he proved continent. And(now), if he does not do what I command him, he shall certainly be imprisoned, and will certainly be of the humiliated! '"
Commentary :
At this moment, the wife of the 'Aziz turned to those women who used to criticize her for her intense love for Yusuf and said that although they had not seen him before, only getting a first glimpse of him caused them to lose their hearts. How could they possibly have blamed her, when she was exposed to looking at that beautiful face frequently day and night She also admitted that he was innocent indicating that she was the one who did the seducing. The verse says:
" She said: 'This is before you he about whom you did blame me! And indeed I sought to seduce him from his(pure)self, ..."
Thus while she was justifying her behavior, she explicitly confessed her culpability saying that she was the one who invited him to engage in an illicit act which he had refused to do. The verse continues saying:
"... but he proved continent. ..."
However, without expressing her remorse, she threatened him with imprisonment and humiliation if he did not acquiesce to her demands. She said:
"... And(now), if he does not do what I command him, he shall certainly be imprisoned, and will certainly be of the humiliated! "
Highlights:
1- Psychological and social conditions influence individual morality. When 'Aziz' wife was afraid of exposing her evil actions, she closed the doors to the room. However, when she found the Egyptian women on her side, she openly stated that "And indeed I sought to seduce him from his self" The same case applies to society. When people are no longer sensitive to evildoing, it becomes easier to commit sin.
It may be for this very reason that we invocate in the supplication of Kumayl: "O Allah! Forgive me for all the sins which prevent me from being chaste and break my abstinence", for at first, committing sins is difficult for man, but as soon as the barriers are broken, it becomes easy.
2- The liar is always exposed and scandalized. The one who claimed that Yusuf wanted to seduce her yesterday, and had had evil intentions towards him, today openly confesses that she herself had had the intention of gratifying her sexual desires towards him.
3- It is true, that at times the enemy also testifies to the honesty of the person he opposes.
4- Residing in palaces paves the way for the loss of one's chastity.(Although the 'Aziz realized that his wife had betrayed him and he asked her to repent of her guilt, they did not become alienated from each other and he did not distance between his wife and Yusuf.)
* * * *
(33) قالَ رَبِّ السِّجْنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَني إِلَيْهِ وَ إِلاَّ تَصْرِفْ عَنِّي كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَ أَكُنْ مِنَ الْجاهِلينَ
33. " He said: 'My Lord! The prison is dearer to me than that to which they invite me; and if You turn not their guile from me, I may incline towards them and become of the ignorant ones'. "
Commentary :
Interestingly, some commentators have narrated an astonishing subject and have said that some of the Egyptian women in the gathering supported the wife of the 'Aziz and, giving right to her, defended her behavior. They surrounded Yusuf and every one of them tried in her own way to persuade him to submit to the desires of the wife of 'Aziz or to her own, in other words, they all had the same intentions as Zulaykha had. It is in the face of this overwhelming temptation that Yusuf cries out to his Lord that he would welcome a life prison than the corruption to which those women were inviting him.
In a tradition attributed to Abou Hamzah al Thumali, it is narrated that Imam Ali- ibn- il- Hussein(a.s.) said that as soon as those women had parted company with Zulaykha, each one of them sent someone in private to Yusuf and requested an audience with him.
Yusuf had been surrounded by a series of difficulties from all sides. However, being already prepared for any mishap that might befall, he turned to Allah immediately without entering into any relationship with these passionate, promiscuous women and sought His help. The verse says:
" He said: 'My Lord! The prison is dearer to me than that to which they invite me; ..."
He was in the prime of his youth, and naturally, the lower aspect of his soul could have inclined towards them and he would have found himself among the ignorant. But, since he knew that in all cases, especially at the time of crises, there is no way to safety except relying on Allah, he trusted in Allah and asked Him help by saying:
"... and if You turn not their guile from me, I may incline towards them and become of the ignorant ones'. "
Points to remember:
1. Men of Allah prefer all the difficulties that come with a life of honor to a sinful life of luxury.
2. By seeking assistance from the Almighty, man can distance himself from any kind of sin and temptation under any kind of circumstance.
3. Hardship and suffering cannot provide man with the justification to commit sin.
4. Man's character depends on his soul and not on his body. If man's soul is free and he is in prison, it can be like a paradise for him. And if his soul is under pressure, even a palace may become a prison for him.
5. To please people at the expense of displeasing Allah is manifest ignorance.
6. As was said, the wife of 'Aziz and the other women employed various means to achieve their objectives. They showed intense love and desire, total submission and later profuse promises of great rewards, finally, when all of that failed, they started threatening Yusuf with imprisonment. This is the usual methodology that all dictators and despots resort to throughout the ages. It has even been experimented many times
that they usually at first show excessive moderation and leniency towards men of Allah to make them acquiesce to their designs, putting on a smiling face on one occasion, and, on the other, when they fail to achieve their objectives in this way, they resort to the cruelest of threats sometimes at the end of the same sitting that they had with together. It never occurs to them that they show contradictions and double standards in their behavior, illustrating an abhorring lack of integrity which deserves the utmost humiliation and kinds of censure.
The reason for this is obvious. They are only after their own objectives, and the means are not important for them, because for them, the ends justify the means. The weak and foolish, in this course, may submit themselves sooner or later to these attempts and thus get caught in their trap forever. But the men of Allah, who are enlightened by the light of faith, easily pass through all these trials showing their steadfastness and irreconcilabilit with evil. They go as far as courting their death, for victory is the ultimate aim. Victory here does not only mean their own victory but it also denotes the victory of their school of thought based on principle rather than caprice.
7. There are always some people like the whimsical and promiscuous women of Egypt who regard themselves as innocent and clean when they are not principal players on the scene always pretending to be more virtuous and innocent than some others. They would think the wife of the 'Aziz to be vulgar and seductive. But, as soon as the tables are turned, they immediately lose their hearts and prove that whatever virtues they had claimed had been utterly meaningless. Whereas Zulaykha had fallen in love with Yusuf after frequent meetings with him and after some years of life, these women fell into the very same situation, in the same meeting and after
one glance at him, cutting their own hands with knives instead of the fruit they were supposed to cut.
8. When we are facing the attacks of powerful evil forces, and we find ourselves teetering on the edge of the abyss of destruction, we must turn to Allah for protection. We must seek His support, for if His assistance is not there, nothing can be done for us. This is the lesson which the great Yusuf, the infallible one, has taught us. It is he who says to Allah if their evil plots are not averted from him, he would tend to incline towards them, and he would be left alone in his plight and will be no more. It is holy Allah Who is the Protector, not one's abilities, powers, or mere virtues.
This state of absolute dependence on Allah(s.w.t.) does not only provide man with a power and perseverance which is unlimited, but it also makes it possible for him to enjoy the hidden Divine favors as well, favors which are impossible to explain and can be only witnessed and accepted. Such people are they who are sheltered by Allah both in this world and the Hereafter.
