AL ASHARI SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

 *Hazrat Yusuf (Peace be upon him) – Part 2*

Then a caravan came, and they sent their water drawer. He let down his bucket into the well, and Yusuf (peace be upon him) clung to it. He said: “What good luck! This is a very handsome boy!” And they hid him, taking him as valuable merchandise. But Allah knew well what they were doing. And they sold him for a low price — a few dirhams — and they had no desire for him.

And the man from Egypt who bought him said to his wife: “Treat him with honor. Perhaps he will benefit us, or we will adopt him as a son.” Thus We established Yusuf in the land of Egypt, and it was Our purpose to teach him the interpretation of dreams. And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know. And when he reached maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. Thus do We reward the doers of good.

Now the woman in whose house he lived sought to seduce him. She bolted the doors and said: “Come here, Yusuf!” He said: “Allah forbid! Indeed, your husband is my master, who has treated me well. I cannot commit such wrong. Indeed, wrongdoers do not succeed.” And she certainly desired him, and he would have desired her if he had not seen the sign of his Lord. Thus it was, that We might avert from him evil and immorality. Indeed, he was one of Our chosen servants.

And they both raced to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back, and they found her husband at the door. She said: “What is the punishment for one who intended evil toward your wife except that he be imprisoned or given a painful torment?” Yusuf said: “It was she who sought to seduce me.” And a witness from her family testified: “If his shirt is torn from the front, then she is truthful and he is a liar. But if his shirt is torn from the back, then she is lying and he is truthful.” So when he saw his shirt torn from the back, he said to Zulaikha: “Indeed, this is from your deceit. Indeed, your deceit is great. O Yusuf, ignore this. And you, Zulaikha, ask forgiveness for your sin. Indeed, you were of the sinful.”

And women in the city began to talk: “The wife of Al-‘Aziz of Egypt is seeking to seduce her slave. Love for him has pierced her heart. Indeed, we see her in clear error.” So when the wife of Al-‘Aziz heard of their gossip — which was really a scheme out of their love for Yusuf — she sent for them and prepared a banquet for them, and gave each one of them a knife to cut fruit. And she said to Yusuf: “Come out before them.” When they saw him, his beauty overwhelmed them so much that they cut their hands while cutting the fruit, and they exclaimed: “Glory be to Allah! This is not a man; this is none but a noble angel.” Then she said: “This is the one about whom you blamed me. And I did seek to seduce him, but he remained chaste. And if he does not do what I command him, he will surely be imprisoned and will be of the humiliated.” 

He prayed: “O my Lord, prison is more beloved to me than that to which they invite me. And unless You turn away their plot from me, I might incline toward them and be among the ignorant.” So Allah responded to his prayer and averted from him their deceit. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.