The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 229
PT. 12 YUSUF CH. 12 قَالَتْ فَذَلِكُنَّ الَّذِي لُمْتُنَّنِي فِيْهِ وَلَقَدْ She said, “And this is he. 33 about whom you blamed me. I رَاوَدْتُهُ عَنْ نَّفْسِهِ فَاسْتَعْصَمَ وَلَبِنْ did seek to seduce him against his will, but he preserved himself لَّمْ يَفْعَلُ مَا أَمُرُهُ لَيُسْجَنَنَّ وَلَيَكُونَا from sin. And now if he do not what I bid him, he shall certainly be imprisoned and become one of the humbled. '1536 34. He said, 'O my Lord, would prefer prison to what مِّنَ الصُّغِرِينَ ADIOSJE يَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ وَإِلَّا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّي they invite me; and unless Thou كَيْدَهُنَّ أَصْبُ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَكُنْ مِّنَ الجهلِينَ turn away their guile from me I shall incline towards them and be of the ignorant. '1537 فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ فَصَرَفَ عَنْهُ ,So his Lord heard his prayer. 35 كَيْدَهُنَّ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيْمُ and turned away their guile from him. Verily, He is the All- Hearing, the All-Knowing. 1538 1536. Commentary: Having made the women admit that their suspicions were baseless and that the sinful act had not yet been committed, Potiphar's wife made an open confession before her guests who were her friends that she had failed in her efforts to tempt Joseph into sin. This unqualified confession of Potiphar's wife gives the direct lie to the absurd allegation of some commentators that Joseph had become almost inclined towards committing the foul deed. Strange are the ways of God. The very way by which this woman sought to bring disgrace upon Joseph proved to be the means of his future greatness. 1537. Commentary: It is extremely regrettable that although Potiphar's wife, who wanted to entice Joseph into sin, herself openly confessed to his innocence and her women-guests also bore witness to Joseph's piety, and though in the present verse Joseph himself says that through God's special grace he was saved from inclining to the commission of the evil deed, yet some commentators, writing long centuries after the event, do not hesitate to accuse Joseph of feeling inclined towards that evilly-disposed woman. 1437 1538. Commentary: God on the one hand made the women despair of Joseph and on the