Tafseer Ibn Kathir of YUSUF [50]

50. And the king said: ”Bring him to me.'' But when the messenger came to him, ﴿Yusuf﴾ said: ”Return to your king and ask him, `What happened to the women who cut their hands Surely, my Lord (Allah) is Well-Aware of their plot.''' 51. (The king) said (to the women): ”What was your affair when you did seek to seduce Yusuf'' The women said: ”Allah forbid! No evil know we against him!'' The wife of the `Aziz said: ”Now the truth is manifest (to all); it was I who sought to seduce him, and he is surely of the truthful. '' 52. ﴿Then Yusuf said: ”I asked for this inquiry﴾ in order that he may know that I betrayed him not in (his) absence.'' And, verily, Allah guides not the plot of the betrayers. 53. ”And I free not myself (from the blame). Verily, the self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His mercy (upon whom He wills). Verily, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'' Allah narrates to us that when the king was conveyed the interpretation of his dream, he liked Yusuf's interpretation and felt sure that it was true. He realized the virtue of Prophet Yusuf, recognized his knowledge in the interpretation of dreams and valued his good conduct with his subjects in his country. The king said,

(Bring him to me.) `Release him from prison and bring him to me.' When the king's emissary came to Yusuf and conveyed the news of his imminent release, Yusuf refused to leave the prison until the king and his subjects declare his innocence and the integrity of his honor, denouncing the false accusation that the wife of the `Aziz made against him. He wanted them to know that sending him to prison was an act of injustice and aggression, not that he committed an offense that warranted it. He said,

(Return to your lord (i.e. king...) The Sunnah of our Prophet praised Prophet Yusuf and asserted his virtues, honor, elevated rank and patience, may Allah's peace and blessings be on him. The Musnad and the Two Sahihs recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(We are more liable to be in doubt than Ibrahim when he said,)

(My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead. ..)

(And may Allah send His mercy on Lut! He wished to have powerful support! If I were to stay in prison for such a long time as Yusuf did, I would have accepted the offer.) In another narration collected by Ahmad from Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet said about Yusuf's statement,

(”...and ask him, `What happened to the women who cut their hands Surely, my Lord (Allah) is Well-Aware of their plot.''')

(If it was me, I would have accepted the offer rather than await my exoneration first.) Allah said (that the king asked),

(He said, ”What was your affair when you did seek to seduce Yusuf'') The king gathered those women who cut their hands, while being hosted at the house of the wife of the `Aziz. He asked them all, even though he was directing his speech at the wife of his minister, the `Aziz in particular. He asked the women who cut their hands,

(What was your affair...), what was your story with regards to,

(when you did seek to seduce Yusuf) on the day of the banquet

(The women said: ”Allah forbid! No evil know we against him!'') The women answered the king, `Allah forbid that Yusuf be guilty of this, for by Allah, we never knew him to do evil.' This is when,

(The wife of the `Aziz said: ”Now the truth has Hashasa...'') or the truth is manifest to all, according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and others. Hashasa also means, `became clear and plain',

(it was I who sought to seduce him, and he is surely of the truthful.) when he said,

(It was she that sought to seduce me.)

(in order that he may know that I betrayed him not in (his) absence. ) She said, `I admit this against myself so that my husband knows that I did not betray him in his absence and that adultery did not occur. I tried to seduce this young man and he refused, and I am admitting this so that he knows I am innocent,'

(And, verily, Allah guides not the plot of the betrayers. And I free not myself (from the blame).) She said, `I do not exonerate myself from blame, because the soul wishes and lusts, and this is what made me seduce him,' for,

(Verily, the (human) self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His mercy (upon whom He wills).) whom Allah the Exalted wills to grant them immunity,

(Verily, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) This is the most viable and suitable understanding for the continuity of the story and the meanings of Arabic speech. Al-Mawardi mentioned this in his Tafsir, in support of it, it was also preferred by Imam Abu Al-`Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah who wrote about it in detail in a separate work. It was said Yusuf peace be upon him is the one who said,

(in order that he (the `Aziz) may know that I betrayed him not) with his wife,

(in (his) absence).) until the end of Ayah (53) He said, `I sent back the emissary, so that the king would investigate my innocence and the `Aziz be certain that,

(I betrayed him not), with his wife,

(in (his) absence. And, verily, Allah guides not the plot of the betrayers.)' This is the only explanation presented by Ibn Jarir At-Tabari and Ibn Abi Hatim, but the first view is stronger and more obvious because it is a continuation of what the wife of the `Aziz said in the presence of the king. Yusuf was not present at all during this time, for he was released later on and brought to the king by his order.