Part 78

that whi ch was inappropriate to hi s situation and sta tion ; she

was a woma n of great beau ty, possess ing wea lth, hi gh ran k

Alel/liol/ o/the Progen)' o/Ibraileem 347

and youthfulness. He desc ribes how she loc ked the doors on

him and herself, then prepared herse lf for him , hmv she made

herself up and donned her fin est and most splendid garm ents,

in spite of th e fact that she was the wife of AI- ·Azeez. Ibn Ishaq

sa id, "She was the niece of Ar-Rayya n Ibn AI-Waleed, the king

and rul er of Egypt. In addition to all of this, Yoosu f was an

ex tremely handsome, youn g man ; howeve r, he was a Prophet,

descended from a line of Prophets and his Lord pro tected him

from co mmitting ev il deeds and from the pl ots of women; he

was the master o f the seven nobl e and God-fearing masters,

ment ioned in th e authen tic hadeel", on the authority of the Seal

of the Prophets, who reported the Words o f the Lord o f the

heave ns and the Earth: "Allah wi ll give shade, to seve n, on the

day when there will be no shade but Hi s. (These seven perso ns

are) a j ust ru ler, a youth who has been brought up in th e worship

of Allah (i. e. wors hips Allah sincerely fr0111 chi ldh ood), a

man whose heart is attached to th e mosques (i. c. to pray ing

the compulsory prayers in the mosque in congrega ti on), two

persons who love each other onl y for All ah's sake and they

meet and part in Allah's cause onl y, a man who refuses the call

of a charmi ng woman o f nobl e birth for illi cit intercourse with

her and says: ' I am afraid of Allah,' a man who gives charitab le

gifts so sec retl y that hi s left hand does not know what hi s righ t

hand has given (i.e. nobody kn ows how much he ha s give n in

chari ty) , and a person who remembers All ah in sec lus ion and

his eyes are th en flooded with tears." OS)

Wha t is meant is that she ca ll ed him to her (i.e. she tried to

seduce him) and she coveted that greatly; but he said, (" I seek

refuge in All ah (or All ah forbid)! Truly, he is my master!" )

(Sooralt Yoosuf 12 :23) That is, her husband was th e owner o f

the house and hi s master. (" li e made my stay agreeable !" )

(25) Narr;lIcd by Al-Bukhari (660) and Muslim (1031).

348 Melllioll olllte Proge/~\, (~FI!Jra"(!(!/Il ~

That is, he has bec n kind and hospita bl c to me. ( Veril y, the

=alimool1 will ncver be sll ccess ful. ) And we havc discussed

previou sly I-li s Words : ( And indt:cd she d id des ire him and he

wou ld have inclin ed to her des ire had he no t seen th e evidence

of hi s Lord . ) (Soorah Yooslif 12 :24) - in a manner whic h is

suffic ient and co nvincing in the Tt~rs eer.

Most of the sayings of the scho lars here are tak en from the

books of the Peo ple of the Scrip ture, but is more appropri ate

fo r us 10 avo id th eln . Wha t is inc um bent upon us is to beli eve

that AJl ah , Most Hi gh, pro tected hi m and declared him

innoce nt o f co mmitting an y wrongdoin g and I-I e guarded hi m

and preserved him from it. Thi s is wh y He, Most High, says, (

Thus it was, that We m ighl tu rn away from him ev il and ill ega l

sex ual imcrcoll rsc. Sure ly, he was one o f QUI' choscn, gu ided

slaves. So they raced wi th one anot her 10 the door ) (Soora"

Yoos III 12:24 ,25) That is, he ran from her, see king to open the

door and fl ee frol11 the roo m and she chased a fter him. ( T hey

both fo und he r lord. ) T hat is, her husband ( at the door ) an d

she has tened to speak to her husband be fore Yoosll f ~ could

do so, and in c ited him aga inst him : ( She said , "What is th e

recompense (punishment) for him who in tended an ev il design

aga inst your wife, excc pt thm he be pu t in pri son or a pa infu l

torment?'" ) (50orah YOOS1!! 12:25 ). She accllscd him, whil e in

fac t, shc wa s Ihe guilt y onc an d she prOi ec ted her reputation and

acqu itted herse lf of any blame. T his is why Yoos u f ~ said, (

He (Yoos uf) sa id. " It was she Ihal sough t 10 seduce me ." ) . II

was necessary for him to speak the truth and defend him self,

due to the need to protect hi s own honor. ( And a witness of

her household bore w itncss. ) It was sai d tha I he was a child

in his crib ; thi s was the op ini on o f ' Abdull ah Ibn ' Abbas ?

Ibn Jareer At-Taba ri pre fe rred thi s say ing and he narrated an

auth ent ic hadeelh to thaI e ffec t, on th e auth ority of ' Abdul lah

,\ f{,lIliml flllfll! PIYJK"IlY 01 filralt(!('111 349

Ibn' Abbas ~ . Olhers claimed Ihat the narration could on ly

be asc ribed 10 'A bdullah Ibn ' Abbas .i;o (Ihal is, Ih ey did nOI

ascribe it 10 th c Prophet ~), ( 26) It was al so said tha t he wa s a

man of approxima tcly the same age as 'A tfee r, her hu sband.

And it was also said that his age was close to that of Zulai kha.

Among those who said th ai he was a man were' Abdullah Ibn

'Abbas 4:. ' Ikrimah, Mujhaid, AI· Hasan AI-Bas ri , Qmadah,

As-S uddi , Mu hammad Ibn Ishaq and Za id Ibn As lam. Th e

wi lness said, ( "Ifit be that hi s shirt is 10m fromlhe frollt. then

her tal c is truc and he is a liar! ) (SoO/'ali }ooslljI2:26) That is,

beca use it will mca n that he tried to sedu ce her and she de fended

herse lf, lea ring the front of his shirt. ( "But ifil be that hi s shirt

is lOrn from Ih e back. then she has told a li l! and he is spe'lking

thc lruth! " ) (Soorah }oosllj I2:27) Thai is because, ifh e had

fled from her and she had chased after him and grabbed him

from behi nd, his shirt woul d be torn from the back - and sueh

proved to be the case, which is why All ah , Most High, says, (

So wh en he (her husband) saw hi s (Yoosuf"s) shirt tom at the

back , he (h er husband) said , "Surel y, it is a plot Of YOll wom en!

Certain ly mighty is your pial! " ) (Soorall }oosl({ 12:28 ). That

is, this is from you women's plolli ng: you seduced him against

his wi ll, and then yo u fa lsely acc used him. Then her hu sba nd

{umcd away and said, ( O. Yoosuf! Turn away from thi s! )

(Soorah Yoosllf 12:27). Tha i is, do not mention it to anyone,

beca use keeping sllch matters sec ret is more approprialc and

superior. He ordered his wi fe to seek forgi ve ness forthe s in that

she had commi tt ed and tllm in repentance to her Lord. This is

beca use when a slave repents to Allah, Allah forgi ves him. And

(26) Ibn Jareer At-Tabari narrated il in a 111l111'qoof ronn (i.c. as a narration or

'Abdullah Ibn 'Abbas ~) in his Tafseer ( 121 193) and he also narrated it

in a marroo' ronn (i.e. as a narnltion rrom the Prophc1ll) in his uifseer

whil e the people o f Egypt used to worship idol s, they knew

that the On e Who forg ives sin s and pu nishes the perpetrator

of them is Allah , A lone, and I-Ie has no partn ers in that. Thi s is

why her hu sband spoke to her thus and pardoned he r in so me

respects, becau se she had see n something that it was diffi cult to

remain pati ent over. However, he wa s a virtuou s and honorable

man and so he said, ( "Ask fo rgi veness fo r your s in. Verily, you

we re of the sin ful.") (SoO/'ail Yoosl!f I2:29)

He, Most Hi gh, says, ( And wom en in the c it y said , "Th e

wife of AI- 'A=ee= is see king to sedu ce her (s la ve ) young man.

ind eed she loves him vio lently; veri ly we see ht:: f in plai n error. "

So w hen she heard of thei r accu satio n, she sent for them and

prepared a banquet for th em; she gave each one o f them a knife

(to cut the foodstuff with), and she sa id (to Yoosuf). "Co me out

before them ." Then, when they saw him , th ey exalt ed him (at

his beauty) and (in their astonishment) Cllt their hands. They

sa id , " How perfect is A llah (or Allah forbid)1 No man is thi s!

This is none oth er th an a noble angel! " She said , "T his is he (the

young man) about whom you did blame me (for hi s love), and

I did see k to seduce him , but he refused. And now ifh e refuses

to obey my order, he shall certa inly be cast into prison, and

wi ll be one o f those who are disgraccd. " I-I e said , " 0 , my Lord!

Prison is marc to my liking tha n that to whic h they invite me.

Unless You turn away the ir plot from me. I w ill feel incl ined