Transliteration:( Wa raawadat hul latee huwa fee baitihaa 'an nafsihee wa ghallaqatil abwaaba wa qaalat haita lak; qaala ma'aazal laahi innahoo rabbeee ahsana maswaay; innahoo laa yuflihuz-zaalimoon )
"And she in whose house [47] he was, tried to seduce him, and she bolted [48] the doors and said, 'Come to me.' He said, 'May Allah protect me! He is my Lord [49], who has made my stay agreeable. Indeed, the wrongdoers will never succeed.'"
The wife of Aziz of Egypt was a beautiful young woman, the daughter of a West African king. She had fallen in love with Hazrat Yusuf (on whom be peace) after seeing him in a dream. In her dream, she had seen that she would be able to meet him in Egypt, and for that reason, she had married Aziz of Egypt. Her father’s name was Taymoos.
This verse describes the high state of chastity maintained by Hazrat Yusuf (on whom be peace), even though he was young, handsome, and living in her house, and despite her being inclined towards him. He remained chaste and virtuous, demonstrating resilience against temptation and faith in his Lord’s protection.
The verse refers to Zuleikha locking seven doors to conceal her actions. This does not imply that Hazrat Yusuf (on whom be peace) willingly went to her house, but rather that Zuleikha took all the steps to seduce him. The act of bolting the doors and attempting to seduce him was entirely her doing, which is why she is referred to as the subject or doer of the action in the verse.
When Hazrat Yusuf (on whom be peace) says, "He is my Lord", the word "lord" here refers to his patron and nourisher. The Holy Qur’an often uses the term "Lord" to denote nourishers and protectors, as in the verses: “As they both brought me up in my childhood” (S17:V24) and “Return to your Lord” (S12:V50). Hazrat Yusuf (on whom be peace) refers to Allah Almighty as his protector, showing that his faith and reliance on Allah kept him steadfast in the face of temptation.
23. And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him (to do an evil act), and she closed the doors and said: “Come on, O you.” He said: “I seek refuge in Allah! Truly, he is my Rabb! He made my living in a great comfort! Verily, the wrongdoers will never be successful.”
Allah states that the wife of the `Aziz of Egypt, in whose house Yusuf resided and whose husband recommended that she takes care of him and be generous to him, tried to seduce Yusuf! She called him to do an evil act with her, because she loved him very much. Yusuf was very handsome, filled with manhood and beauty. She beautified herself for him, closed the doors and called him,
(and (she) said: “Come on, O you.”) But he categorically refused her call,
(He said: “I seek refuge in Allah! Truly, he is my Rabb! He made my living in a great comfort!”) as they used to call the chief and master a `Rabb’, Yusuf said to her, `your husband is my master who provided me with comfortable living and was kind to me, so I will never betray him by committing immoral sins with his wife,’
(Verily, the wrongdoers will never be successful.) This was said by Mujahid, As-Suddi, Muhammad bin Ishaq and several others. The scholars differ in their recitation of,
(Hayta Laka), whereby Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and several other scholars said that it means that she was calling him to herself. Al-Bukhari said; “Ikrimah said that,
(Hayta Laka’) means, `come on, O you’, in the Aramaic language.” Al-Bukhari collected this statement from `Ikrimah without a chain of narration. Other scholars read it with the meaning, `I am ready for you’. Ibn `Abbas, Abu `Abdur-Rahman As-Sulami, Abu Wa’il, `Ikrimah and Qatadah were reported to have read this part of the Ayah this way and explained it in the manner we mentioned, as `I am ready for you’.
(12:23) And it so happened that the lady in whose house Joseph was living, sought to tempt him to herself, and one day bolting the doors she said: “Come on now!” Joseph answered: “May Allah grant me refuge! My Lord has provided an honourable abode for me (so how can I do something so evil)? Such wrong-doers never prosper.”[21]
21. Generally the commentators and translators are of the opinion that Prophet Joseph used Rabbi “My Lord” for the master of the house, and what he meant to imply by way of argument was this: My Lord has treated me very kindly and kept me well in the house. How can I, then, be so disloyal and ungrateful as to commit adultery with his wife? I, however, strongly differ with such a translation and commentary. Though the Arabic usage of rabb admits of such a meaning, I have two strong reasons against this here. First, it is far below the dignity of a Prophet to refrain from a sin because of the regard he had for some person other than Allah. Second, there is not a single instance in the Quran that a Prophet ever called anyone other than Allah his rabb. Prophet Joseph himself differentiates between his creed and that of the Egyptians making it plain that his rabb “Lord” was Allah, while they had made other human beings their rabb. Then this verse should be considered from another point of view: when rabbi may also mean My Lord, Prophet Joseph might have invoked Allah. Why should then one take the other meaning, my master, which most surely implies something that is against the right creed?
[591]- Her husband, al-ʿAzeez.
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