نَّفْسِهِۦ

1267

Important Words:

موطأ (track) is derived from وطیء. They say وطئ الشیء he trod upon the thing with his feet or he trampled upon the thing. موطأtherefore, means, a place trod upon; a footstep or footprint (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse relates some of the great advantages which would have accrued to the laggards if they had accompanied the Holy Prophet to Tabuk.

1527

Important Words:

راودته (she sought to seduce him). راود is derived from راد which means, he or it came and went; he went to and fro; he was restless; it also means, he sought or desired a thing; راوده means, he endeavoured or sought to turn him to or from a thing. راوده عن الامر means, he endeavoured to turn him by blandishment or by deceitful arts from the thing. راوده علی الامرmeans, he endeavoured to turn him by blandishment, etc., to the thing. The Quranic expression سنراود عنه اباہ means, we will endeavour to turn his father from him by blandishment or artifice and to make him yield him to us; or we will strive to obtain him of his father. So the words راودته عن نفسه would mean, she desired or sought of him a sinful act using blandishment or artifice for that purpose; she tempted him to do the sinful act; she endeavoured to entice him and to make him yield himself to her; more literally, she endeavoured to turn him by blandishment, etc., from his disdainful noncompliance or from his purpose and will. الرود really signifies going about in search of a thing. المراودة means, seeking to make a person do a thing against his will (Lane & Mufradat).

ھیت لك (now come). ھیت is a word of exclamation denoting wonder. The Arabs say ھیت للحلم i.e. what forbearing mildness or clemency! The word is used in the sense of ھلم or تعال or اقبل meaning, "come or come forward." It is also used to signify "hasten" and "set forth journeying." The words therefore mean, "come thou" or "now come." The words also signify, "come, I am ready for thee, or I am ready to receive thee" (Lane & Mufradat).

معاذ الله (I seek refuge with God). معاذ is the noun-infinitive from عاذ. They say عاذ به من کذا i.e. he sought protection by him from that or sought refuge in him from that; or he put his trust in him, or relied upon him, for protection from such a thing. معاذ means, a refuge; a place to which one has recourse for protection or preservation; also the time at which one does so. The expressions معاذ الله and عیاذ الله and عیاذا بالله are all synonymous with اعوذ بالله معاذا i.e. I seek protection or preservation by God (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse clearly shows that the woman who sought to seduce Joseph failed in her efforts and that Joseph successfully resisted her temptation. The words, "He is my Lord," refer to God, and not to Joseph’s Egyptian master, as some commentators have wrongly supposed. It is difficult to imagine that a highly spiritual man like Joseph should have abstained from sin merely out of regard for the paltry favours of a human benefactor and not for the manifold Divine boons.

Whatever honour Joseph had received from his Egyptian master was really in fulfilment of God’s promises. So it was for the sake of his True Lord and Master that he followed the path of rectitude and refused to be seduced into sin, which would have amounted to an act of ingratitude far more towards God than to any human benefactor.

Joseph not only himself abstained from the heinous sin, but also warned his master’s wife against its evil consequences by saying that the wrongdoers never prosper. The expression راودته translated as "she sought to seduce him against his will," literally means, as shown under Important Words, "she endeavoured to turn him from his purpose or will by blandishment and artifice and make him yield to her against his disdainful noncompliance." This meaning shows that Joseph abhorred the evil deed to which she invited him and was determined not to yield.

1534

Important Words:

العزیز (The ‘Aziz) is derived from عز which means, he was or became mighty, potent, powerful or strong; or he was or became high or elevated in rank or condition or state; عزیز means, mighty, potent, powerful or strong; high or elevated in rank or condition or state; noble, honourable, glorious or illustrious; proud, disdainful; invincible; a mighty king or a glorious king. العزیز is one of the names of God signifying the Mighty, Who overcomes everything; or He Who resists or withstands so that nothing overcomes Him; or the Incomparable or Unparalleled. It also signifies "king," because he has the mastery over the people of his dominions and the word was especially used about the ruler of Egypt i.e. the valley of the Nile together with Alexandria. It is a surname like النجاشی (Negus) applied to the King of the Abyssinians and قیصر (Kaiser) applied to the Emperor of the Romans (Lane & Aqrab).

شغفھا (he has infatuated her with love). شغفه means, he or it struck or smote the pericardium of his heart. شغف بالشیء means, he was or became vehemently desirous of the thing. شغفه المال means, the property became embellished to him so that he loved it. The expression قد شغفھا حبا means, he has affected her so that love of him has entered beneath the pericardium of her heart; or, love of him has struck or smitten or has rent the شغاف (pericardium) or the حجاب (midriff) of her heart (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Al-‘Aziz stands here for Potiphar. According to modern technicality the rulers of Egypt are known by this title. But Potiphar was only the captain of the King’s guard. It seems that at the time of the Holy Prophet the chiefs and dignitaries of Egypt were also known by this title. It is also possible that those women might have used this high title for Potiphar merely by way of flattery.

It appears that the incident of the wife of ‘Aziz having made evil approaches to Joseph became public and the womenfolk of the locality began gossiping about it as is their wont.

1536

Commentary:

Having made the women admit that their suspicions were baseless and that the sinful act had not yet been committed, Potiphar’s wife made an open confession before her guests who were her friends that she had failed in her efforts to tempt Joseph into sin. This unqualified confession of Potiphar’s wife gives the direct lie to the absurd allegation of some commentators that Joseph had become almost inclined towards committing the foul deed.

Strange are the ways of God. The very way by which this woman sought to bring disgrace upon Joseph proved to be the means of his future greatness.

1555

Important Words:

ماخطبکن (what was the matter with you) خطب (khatbun) is the noun-infinitive from خطب (khataba). They say خطب القوم i.e. he addressed the people and delivered to them an exhortation or admonition. خطب المرأة means, he asked or demanded the woman in marriage. خطب means, a thing, an affair, or a business, small or great, that one seeks or desires to do or that may be a subject of discourse; a great thing or affair; or the cause or occasion of a thing or an event; or an affliction or calamity. They say ماخطبك i.e. what is the thing or affair or business that thou seekest or desirest to do; or, what is the cause of thy coming? (Lane).

Commentary:

This verse shows that the King had become so convinced of the righteousness of Joseph that, on hearing of the accusation against him, he at once believed it to be false. This is why the women, judging from the way in which the King questioned them, realized that he looked upon Joseph as a righteous man, and so they confessed the truth. But by so doing they only bore witness to the innocence of Joseph, without in any way accusing Potiphar’s wife. The latter, however, fearing lest after exonerating Joseph of all blame the women might proceed to testify to her misconduct, hastened to confess her guilt, although she had not yet been questioned by the King. She did this to escape the greater shame of being condemned out of the mouth of others and perhaps also to win some credit for speaking the truth without being questioned.

3816

Commentary:

The address in this verse is of general application. Miserliness is a deadly moral disease that eats into the vitals of man’s moral and spiritual well-being. Elsewhere the Quran has used very strong language about misers or niggardly people (9:35). When the Holy Prophet was once asked as to whom the words, "He will bring instead a people other than you," referred, he is reported to have said, "If Faith were to go up to the Pleiades, a man of Persian descent will bring it back to the earth" (Ruhul-Ma‘ani).