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Ayah
Word by Word
وَقَالَ
And said
ٱلَّذِي
the one who
ٱشۡتَرَىٰهُ
bought him
مِن
of
مِّصۡرَ
Egypt
لِٱمۡرَأَتِهِۦٓ
to his wife
أَكۡرِمِي
Make comfortable
مَثۡوَىٰهُ
his stay
عَسَىٰٓ
Perhaps
أَن
that
يَنفَعَنَآ
(he) will benefit us
أَوۡ
or
نَتَّخِذَهُۥ
we will take him
وَلَدٗاۚ
(as) a son
وَكَذَٰلِكَ
And thus
مَكَّنَّا
We established
لِيُوسُفَ
Yusuf
فِي
in
ٱلۡأَرۡضِ
the land
وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُۥ
that We might teach him
مِن
(the) interpretation of
تَأۡوِيلِ
(the) interpretation of
ٱلۡأَحَادِيثِۚ
the events
وَٱللَّهُ
And Allah
غَالِبٌ
(is) Predominant
عَلَىٰٓ
over
أَمۡرِهِۦ
His affairs
وَلَٰكِنَّ
but
أَكۡثَرَ
most
ٱلنَّاسِ
(of) the people
لَا
(do) not
يَعۡلَمُونَ
know
وَقَالَ
And said
ٱلَّذِي
the one who
ٱشۡتَرَىٰهُ
bought him
مِن
of
مِّصۡرَ
Egypt
لِٱمۡرَأَتِهِۦٓ
to his wife
أَكۡرِمِي
Make comfortable
مَثۡوَىٰهُ
his stay
عَسَىٰٓ
Perhaps
أَن
that
يَنفَعَنَآ
(he) will benefit us
أَوۡ
or
نَتَّخِذَهُۥ
we will take him
وَلَدٗاۚ
(as) a son
وَكَذَٰلِكَ
And thus
مَكَّنَّا
We established
لِيُوسُفَ
Yusuf
فِي
in
ٱلۡأَرۡضِ
the land
وَلِنُعَلِّمَهُۥ
that We might teach him
مِن
(the) interpretation of
تَأۡوِيلِ
(the) interpretation of
ٱلۡأَحَادِيثِۚ
the events
وَٱللَّهُ
And Allah
غَالِبٌ
(is) Predominant
عَلَىٰٓ
over
أَمۡرِهِۦ
His affairs
وَلَٰكِنَّ
but
أَكۡثَرَ
most
ٱلنَّاسِ
(of) the people
لَا
(do) not
يَعۡلَمُونَ
know
Translation
The man in Egypt who bought him, said to his wife: "Make his stay (among us) honourable: may be he will bring us much good, or we shall adopt him as a son." Thus did We establish Joseph in the land, that We might teach him the interpretation of stories (and events). And Allah hath full power and control over His affairs; but most among mankind know it not.
Tafsir
And he of Egypt who purchased him, Potifar, the Court Officer (Qitfeer al-'azeez), said to his wife, Zulaikha (Zulaykhaa), 'Give him an honourable place, [an honourable] residence with us. Maybe he will be useful to us, or we may adopt him as a son' - for he was chaste. Thus, just as We delivered him from being killed and from the well, and softened the Court Officer's heart for him, We established Joseph in the land, the land of Egypt, until he attained what [status] he attained, that We might teach him the interpretation of events, the interpretation of visions (wa-li-nu'allimahu min ta'weeli'l-ahaadeeth is a supplement to an implied [missing part] connected to makkannaa, 'We established', in other words, [an implied] li-numallikahu, 'so that We might give him kingship'; or else the waaw [of wa-li-nu'allimahu, 'that We might teach him'] is [to be understood as being] extra). God's way [always] prevails, exalted be He, nothing being beyond Him, but most people - and they are the disbelievers - do not know, this.
"Wife of the `Aziz loves Yusuf and plots against Him
Allah tells:
وَرَاوَدَتۡهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيۡتِهَا عَن نَّفۡسِهِ وَغَلَّقَتِ الَابۡوَابَ
And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him (to do an evil act), and she closed the doors,
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,
وَقَالَتۡ هَيۡتَ لَكَ
and (she) said:""Come on, O you.""
But he categorically refused her call,
قَالَ مَعَاذَ اللّهِ إِنَّهُ رَبِّي أَحۡسَنَ مَثۡوَايَ
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,'
إِنَّهُ لَا يُفۡلِحُ الظَّالِمُونَ
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,
هَيۡتَ لَكَ
(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,
هَيۡتَ لَكَ
(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'
Allah tells:
وَلَقَدۡ هَمَّتۡ بِهِ وَهَمَّ بِهَا لَوۡلا أَن رَّأَى بُرۡهَانَ رَبِّهِ
And indeed she did desire him, and he would have inclined to her desire, had he not seen the evidence of his Lord.
This is about the thoughts that cross the mind, according to Al-Baghawi who mentioned this opinion from some of the analysts.
Al-Baghawi next mentioned here a Hadith that he narrated from Abdur Razzaq, from Ma`mar, from Hammam, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of Allah,
يَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى
إِذَا هَمَّ عَبۡدِي بِحَسَنَةٍ فَاكۡتُبُوهَا لَهُ حَسَنَةً فَإِنۡ عَمِلَهَا فَاكۡتُبُوهَا لَهُ بِعَشۡرِ
أَمۡثَالِهَا وَإِنۡ هَمَّ بِسَيِّيَةٍ فَلَمۡ يَعۡمَلۡهَا فَاكۡتُبُوهَا حَسَنَةً فَإِنَّمَا تَرَكَهَا مِنۡ جَرّايِي فَإِنۡ عَمِلَهَا فَاكۡتُبُوهَا بِمِثۡلِهَا
Allah the Exalted said,
`If my slave intends to perform a good deed, then record it for him as one good deed; if he performs it, then record it for him multiplied ten folds.
If he intends to commit an evil act but did not commit it, then record it for him as one good deed, if he left it for My sake. But if he commits it, then write it as one evil deed.'
This Hadith was also collected in the Two Sahihs using various wording, this is one of them.
It was also reported that the Ayah means that;
Yusuf was about to beat her.
As for the evidence that Yusuf ﷺ at that moment, there are conflicting opinions to what it was.
Ibn Jarir At-Tabari said,
""The correct opinion is that we should say that he ﷺ an Ayah from among Allah's Ayat that repelled the thought that crossed his mind. This evidence might have been the image of Yaqub, or the image of an angel, or a divine statement that forbade him from doing that evil sin, etc.There are no clear proofs to support any of these statements in specific, so it should be left vague, as Allah left it.
Allah's statement next,
كَذَلِكَ لِنَصۡرِفَ عَنۡهُ السُّوءَ وَالۡفَحۡشَاء
Thus it was, that We might turn away from him evil and immoral sins.
means, `Just as We showed him the evidence that turned him away from that sin, We save him from all types of evil and illegal sexual activity in all his affairs,'
because,
إِنَّهُ مِنۡ عِبَادِنَا الۡمُخۡلَصِينَ
Surely, he was one of Our Mukhlasin servants.
meaning, chosen, purified, designated, appointed and righteous. May Allah's peace and blessings be on him.
Allah tells:
وَاسُتَبَقَا الۡبَابَ وَقَدَّتۡ قَمِيصَهُ مِن دُبُرٍ وَأَلۡفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَى الۡبَابِ
So they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back. They both found her master (i.e. her husband) at the door.
Allah says that Yusuf and the wife of the Aziz raced to the door, Yusuf running away from her and her running after him to bring him back to the room. She caught up with him and held on to his shirt from the back, tearing it so terribly that it fell off Yusuf's back. Yusuf continued running from her, with her in pursuit. However, they found her master, her husband, at the front door. This is when she responded by deceit and evil plots, trying to exonerate herself and implicate him,
قَالَتۡ مَا جَزَاء مَنۡ أَرَادَ بِأَهۡلِكَ سُوَءًا
She said:""What is the recompense (punishment) for him who intended an evil design against your wife...,
in reference to illegal sexual intercourse,
إِلاَّ أَن يُسۡجَنَ
except that he be put in prison,
أَوۡ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
or a painful torment.
tormented severely with painful beating.
Yusuf did not stand idle, but he declared the truth and exonerated himself from the betrayal she accused him of
قَالَ
He (Yusuf) said, (in truth and honesty),
هِيَ رَاوَدَتۡنِي عَن نَّفۡسِي
It was she that sought to seduce me,
and mentioned that she pursued him and pulled him towards her until she tore his shirt.
وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّنۡ أَهۡلِهَا إِن كَانَ قَمِيصُهُ قُدَّ مِن قُبُلٍ
And a witness of her household bore witness (saying):""If it be that his shirt is torn from the front..."",
not from the back,
فَصَدَقَتۡ
then her tale is true,
that he tried to commit an illegal sexual act with her.
Had he called her to have sex with him and she refused, she would have pushed him away from her and tore his shirt from the front,
وَهُوَ مِنَ الكَاذِبِينَ
and he is a liar!
وَإِنۡ كَانَ قَمِيصُهُ قُدَّ مِن دُبُرٍ فَكَذَبَتۡ وَهُوَ مِن الصَّادِقِينَ
But if it be that his shirt is torn from the back, then she has told a lie and he is speaking the truth!
Had Yusuf run away from her, and this is what truly happened, and she set in his pursuit, she would have held to his shirt from the back to bring him back to her, thus tearing his shirt from the back.
There is a difference of opinion over the age and gender of the witness mentioned here.
Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Ibn Abbas said that,
وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّنۡ أَهۡلِهَا
(and a witness of her household bore witness),
""was a bearded man,"" meaning an adult male.
Ath-Thawri reported that Jabir said that Ibn Abi Mulaykah said that Ibn Abbas said,
""He was from the king's entourage.""
Mujahid, Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, As-Suddi, Muhammad bin Ishaq and others also said that;
the witness was an adult male.
Al-Awfi reported that Ibn Abbas said about Allah's statement,
وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّنۡ أَهۡلِهَا
(and a witness of her household bore witness),
""He was a babe in the cradle.""
Similar was reported from Abu Hurayrah, Hilal bin Yasaf, Al-Hasan, Sa`id bin Jubayr and Ad-Dahhak bin Muzahim, that;
the witness was a young boy who lived in the Aziz's house.
Ibn Jarir At-Tabari preferred this view.
Allah's statement
فَلَمَّا رَأَى قَمِيصَهُ قُدَّ مِن دُبُرٍ
So when he ﷺ his (Yusuf's) shirt torn at the back,
indicates that when her husband became certain that Yusuf was telling the truth and that his wife was lying when she heralded the accusation of betrayal at Yusuf,
قَالَ إِنَّهُ مِن كَيۡدِكُنَّ
he said:""Surely, it is a plot of you women!...""
He said, `This false accusation and staining the young man's reputation is but a plot of many that you, women, have,'
إِنَّ كَيۡدَكُنَّ عَظِيمٌ
Certainly mighty is your plot!
The Aziz ordered Yusuf, peace be upon him, to be discrete about what happened
يُوسُفُ أَعۡرِضۡ عَنۡ هَـذَا
O Yusuf ! Turn away from this!
do not mention to anyone what has happened,
وَاسۡتَغۡفِرِي لِذَنبِكِ
And ask forgiveness for your sin,
addressing his wife.
The Aziz was an easy man, or gave excuse to his wife because she ﷺ in Yusuf an appeal she could not resist. He said to her, `Ask forgiveness for your sin, the evil desire that you wanted to satisfy with this young man, and then inventing false accusations about him,'
إِنَّكِ كُنتِ مِنَ الۡخَاطِيِينَ
verily, you were of the sinful."
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