Part 79

toward them and be one (of those w ho commit s in and deserve

blame or those who do deeds) of the ignora nt fo lk." So his

Lord answe red hi s invocation and turned away fro m him their

plOL Verily, I-I e is the A II-Hearing, the A ll-Kn owing) (SoOl'ol1

Allah in fonn s liS about th e action s of th e women of the city,

the wives of the princes andlh e dau ghters oflhe powerful and

,\ fell/ioll oj fhr.! Pmgl'IIY (~r Ibralteelll

, influential , how they cri ti c ized, denounced a nd rev iled the w ife

l of 111- 'Azeez regard ing her atte mpt ed seducti on of her slave

and he r ex treme love fo r him; meaning thm he was not worthy

oril , sin ce he wa s a slave, and nor, they said, did any olher like

him deserve it. This is why they sa id, ( " verily we see her in

plain error," ) (SoOl'all Yoosuj 12:30) That is, by pl aci ng a thi ng

(i.e. her affec ti on) in a place that was unbcfltting . ( So when

she heard of thei r acc usation. ) That is, their denun ciation

and be liltlin g o f he r, their pointi ng accusing fing ers al her and

their ce nsure of her for lovin g her slave and hav ing passionate

fee li ngs for hi m. They displayed the ir co nde mn ati on of her,

but at th e sa me ti me, there was some excuse for he r. For thi s

reason, she wanted to make pl ai n to (hem that there was indeed,

some exc use for her a nd to show (he m that this young man

was not as they th ought, nor was he like th eir s laves. So she

sent th em an in vitat ion, gath ered them in her house and treatcd

the m with due hospita lity_ Amo ng the thi ngs that she presented

th em was somcthing that needed to be cut w ith a kn ife, li ke

ci tron and the li ke. ( She gave eac h oll e of th em a kni fe (to cut

the foodSl lt fTw ith) ) (Soora" )00su( 12 :3 1) She had prepared

Yoos llf ~ , dress ing him in the fines t clothes - w ho was at the

peak of hi s you th and beauty - and she orde red hi m to come

out to th em whil e dressed thu s. So he ca me out to th em and he

was, w ith out doubt, more beau tiful than a full 11100n. ( Th en,

when they saw him . they exa lted him (a t hi s beauty) ) (SoO/-ol1

}'oo.wf 12:3 1) T hat is, they exto lled him , re ve red hi m a nd they

cut their hands w ith the kni ves due to the ir distract ion, and

th ey did not notice the ir wo unds. ( Th ey sa id, " How perfect is

A ll ah (or A ll ah fo rbid)! N o man is this! T hi s is none other than

a noble ange l! " ) (SoO/-all Yoosuf 12:3 1) II was related in the

Iwdeeth of AI-Isra' th at the Messe nger of A Hah ;IIi sa id , "Th en

352 Mell/ioll oflhe Pmge/~I ' 0/ Ibmheelll ~

I passed by Yoosufand he had been given ha lfofall beauty." (27)

Ail ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( She said , "Thi s is he (the youn g

man) abou t whom you did bl amc mc ( fa r hi s love)." ) (Sooralt

Yoosu! 12:32) Then she pra ised him for his pe rfect chastity,

say ing, ( and I did see k to seduce him, but he resisted the

te mpta tion ) (Saara" YaaslI! 12:32) That is, he refused. ( ··And

now, if he refuses to obey my order, he shall ce rtai nly be cast

into pri son and he w ill be one orthose who nre di sgraced." )

(SoO/'all Yoosu! 12:32) The other wo men incited him to henr

nnd obey his mi stress, but he vehementl y re fused and remain ed

aloo f, beca use he was frol11 the stock of Pro ph ets; he invoked

the Lord of th e worl ds, say ing in his supplicat ion, ( 0 , my

Lord ! Prison is more to my liking tha n that to whic h they

in vit e me. Unless YOli tum away thcir plot from me, I w ill reel

inclincd toward [h cm and be one (of those who co mmit sin

and deserve blame or those who do deeds) of the ignorant. " )

(Saara" YOOSII! 12:33) That is, if You leave me to depend on

myse lf, I will be weak and unab le to resist. I possess not the

ability to benefit or haml, except as All ah wi ll s, because I am

weak, unless You strengt hen 111e, protect me and presc rve me

with Your Powe r and Your Strength . T his is why A ll ah , Most

High, says, ( So hi s Lord answered hi s in voca tion and tLirned

away from him their plot. Verily, li e is the A II -Hcaring, theA l! -

Kno wing. ) (Soorall Yooslif 12:34)

He, Most High, says, ( Thcn it appea red 10 thcm, aficr th ey

had scen th e proofs (of hi s innocence) to impri son him fo r a

timc. And there entcrcd wi lh him lwo young me n in th e prison.

On e of thcm sa id , ··Ve ril y. I saw myse lf (in a drea m) press ing

wi ne." Th e other said, "Verily, I saw mysdf (in a drcam)

carry ing bread on my hend and birds werc eating thereof':'

(27) Narrated by Muslim (162).

.\/ellliull orrlle Progel1Y ojlbmht,t:1II 353

(Thcy sai d), "Inform us of the intcrpreta tion of th is. Veri ly,

we think YO ll arc one o f th e M lflisil1ool1 (doe rs o f good)." li e

sa id. "No food will come to you (i n wa kcfuln css or in drea m)

as yo ur prov ision, but I wi ll inform (in wakefulness) of its

interpretati on beforc it (Ihe food) comcs. Thi s is o f th at whi ch

my Lord has taught I11 C. Vcril y. I have abandoncd the reli gion

ofa pcopl e that belicvc not in A ll ah and arc disbelicvcrs in the

Ilcreaftcr (i.e. thc K(II1'al1~)"()()1/ of Egypt who wc re po lyt heists

and used to worship th e sun and othe r fal sc dciti es). And I have

foll owed the Rel ig ion of my fat hers. - Ibra hcc m. Ishaq and

Ya' qoob, and neve r co ul d we <.l uri but e any pa rtne rs whatsoevc r

to Allah. Thi s is from th e Gra ce o f Allah to us ancilO mankind .

but mosl Illcn than k nol (i.e. they neilher beli evc in Allah, nor

wors hip Ili m). O. two co mpan ions of the pri son~ Are many

difTe rent lords (gods) better, or All ah, th e O ne, the Irresistible?

You do not worship besidcs I lim but onl y names whic h YO ll

have named (forgcd), you and your fat hers. for whic h A ll ah

has sent down no au th ority. The command (or the j udgment)

is fo r nonc but All ah. /-I e has commandcd th at YOll wors hi p

nonc but I lim (i.e. Il is Monoth eism), that is th c (tru e) strai ght

Relig ion, blll most men know no\. O. two companions of th e

priso n! As fo r onc of you. he (as a scn'a nl ) wi ll pou r out wine

for hi s lord (kin g or maslcr) to drin k; and as for the Dlher, he

will bc c ru cified and bi rds will ea l from hi s hcad. Th us is the

cascjudgcd conccrn ing whic h you bo th did inqui re." ) (Som'ali

Allah, Most Hi gh, tell s us that after it beca me obvious to thcm

th at Yoosuf ~ was innoce nt , AI- 'Azeez and his w ifc decided

to imprison him until suc h time as th c gossip abolH him and

AI- 'Azeez s wife di cd away. AI- 'Azeez suppressed the facts, in

order to make it appear thai it was Yoosuf ifiB who had tri ed 10

seducc her against her will and so he was imprisoncd because

354 ,\Ielllioll olllte Pm!:clty of Ihraheell1 ~

of it. So he was wrongfully and unjustly im prisoned. T his was

a part o f what A ll ah had orda ined for him and it was the mcans

by whi ch Hc protectcd hi m, for Hc removed hi m from their

co mpan y and the need to assoc iate w ith th elll. It was based on

thi s that some Sufi s c lnimed, accord ing to what Ash-S hafi ' i has

repo rted from them , that a part of chasti ty is to re move oneself

Allah, Most Hi gh, says, And there e nte red with him two

young men in the pri so n. (Saora" Yoosl!f 12:36) It was sa id

that one of them was the king 's cup bea rer, and it has bccn said

that hi s namc was Banll. The oth er was the king's baker, i. e.

the onc who prepared hi s food, and is known to the Turk s as

Jasha nkir, and accordi ng to what has been said, hi s name was

Mujallath. Bot h of them had been accused of so me thing by

the king, who had them thrown in ja il. Whe n they saw Yoosuf

~ in jail, they werc amazed by hi s characte r, his dignified

demea nor, his Fai th, hi s words and actions, his freque nt acts of

wo rship and his good condllcl lOward his fe ll ow-m an. Each of

the m had a dream appropriate to hi m.

The schola rs of tafseer sa id thaI they both had thei r dreams

on the same night. As for the cup-bearer, he saw three branches