Surah Yusuf (12) — Ayah 31

(Ayah 31) {فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ بِمَكْرِهِنَّ اَرْسَلَتْ اِلَيْهِنَّ …:} Most, in fact almost all, commentators have interpreted this verse in this way, and wherever an interpretation was needed, they provided it. The details are as follows: When the incident became famous in the city, the women began to shoot arrows of taunt, reproach, and blame, saying that the wife of the Aziz of Egypt is seducing her slave and has become so madly in love with him, which is against her status. When the wife of the Aziz heard their reproach (the word in the Quran is that when she heard their "makr"—the straightforward meaning of "makr" is "deceit, plot, secret plan," but our commentators, to correct it, said that outwardly they were reproaching her, but in reality, they wanted to see Yusuf's beauty; by their "makr" is meant this)—anyway, when she heard their reproach, in response, to justify her action and to make them witness the reason for her being overpowered, she invited a few select women and arranged a gathering for them. Now, when the gathering was in full swing, and meat and fruit were being cut with knives, she said to Yusuf (peace be upon him), "Come before them." When they saw Yusuf (peace be upon him), they were so overwhelmed by his beauty that they forgot whether they were cutting fruit or their own hands; they just kept looking at him, and the knives ran over their hands, causing them to cut their hands badly ({قَطَّعْنَ } is for emphasis in the causative form), and in their absorption, they did not even feel the pain and said, "God forbid! This is not a human being; this is a noble angel." (That is, they called him an angel in beauty, just as in ugliness one is called a devil.) The wife of the Aziz said, "This is the one about whom you reproached me..." This is the summary of the common commentaries, but the real situation seems to be something else. The first thing is that Yusuf (peace be upon him) was a child when he came to their house as a slave. A slave, for service, has general access to all the houses related to his master for errands or delivering messages. After several years, when he became fully mature, this incident occurred. Now, is it possible that for so many years, the closest friends of the wife of the Aziz of Egypt had never seen Yusuf (peace be upon him), and the wife of the Aziz arranged for them to see him only now? I have read dozens of commentaries, by great and insightful scholars whose knowledge and virtue I sincerely acknowledge, and I am their humble student, but they have passed by this question in silence and have continued to attribute the cutting of hands solely to being overwhelmed by Yusuf's beauty. However, a few have paid attention to this and have crafted the answer that the wife of the Aziz of Egypt always kept Yusuf (peace be upon him) veiled so that no one could see him. I was surprised that some commentators, while mentioning the beauty of Yusuf, wrote that when he walked in the streets of Egypt, the reflection of his beauty and light would fall on the walls. Now, where is the veil, and where is the reflection of his beauty and light on the walls? {’’ضِدَّانِ مُفْتَرِقَانِ أَيَّ تَفَرُّقٍ ‘‘} The straightforward matter is that Allah Almighty placed Yusuf (peace be upon him) in the house of the Aziz of Egypt so that, as a servant in the councils of consultation or as the son of the Aziz, he could participate and learn the secrets of governance. Allah said: «{ وَ لِنُعَلِّمَهٗ مِنْ تَاْوِيْلِ الْاَحَادِيْثِ }» [ یوسف : ۲۱ ] "And so that We may teach him the interpretation of matters." In that society, men and women sitting together without veils was a common thing, just as is the case today in the parliaments and other institutions and homes of Muslims; the state of non-Muslims is beyond description. In such circumstances, it is not understandable that, despite their efforts, those women would not have had the opportunity to see Yusuf (peace be upon him) for so many years. The real matter, which is clearly apparent, was that when this inside news somehow reached those few women, they reproached the wife of the Aziz, saying, "Look at her foolishness, she has become infatuated with her slave and, despite continuous efforts and seduction, has failed to achieve her goal." Along with this, they also claimed their own beauty and expertise in making anyone fall in love, saying, "We have such tricks that no one can escape our deceit and cunning, let alone a slave." «{ فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ بِمَكْرِهِنَّ }» So when the wife of the Aziz of Egypt heard their claims of cunning and trickery, she invited them, saying, "You too try your skills; if he falls for even one of you, it will be a justification for me as well." After hearing the details of their plan, she invited each woman with the necessary arrangements, especially giving each one a knife. Now, at the behest of the wife of the Aziz, Yusuf (peace be upon him) came before the selected beauties of the city, and each of them tried to impress him with her beauty and charm. When none of their attempts succeeded, they tried the last resort of helpless lovers: "If you break our hearts, we will commit suicide." This is a stage where a person gets trapped by feelings of pity. Many girls have been ruined this way, and many boys too. It is not necessary that all the women did this, but in any case, some of them badly injured their hands and threatened to commit suicide. This embodiment of chastity and modesty, along with beauty, did not care for even this, so they said, "God forbid! This person does not have a human heart in his chest; he is a noble angel, who has nothing to do with the temptations of love and beauty, who has no connection with matters of love; even our threat of suicide has no effect on him." A Persian poet has said:
"You have not become a lover, nor have you borne the hardship of love,
What tale of separation can anyone open before you?"
It is a fact that the comparison to angels is given for purity, not for beauty, just as an Urdu poet has boasted:
"O Sheikh, do not go by our sinfulness,
If we wring our garment, even angels would perform ablution with it."
There are several proofs of this coming in the following verses, which I will mention in order: (1) Yusuf (peace be upon him) prayed: «{ رَبِّ السِّجْنُ اَحَبُّ اِلَيَّ مِمَّا يَدْعُوْنَنِيْۤ اِلَيْهِ }» [ یوسف : ۳۳ ] "O my Lord! Prison is dearer to me than what they are inviting me to." It is clear that those women did not come just to see Yusuf (peace be upon him), but to invite him to sin. (2) Yusuf (peace be upon him) further prayed: «{ وَ اِلَّا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّيْ كَيْدَهُنَّ اَصْبُ اِلَيْهِنَّ وَ اَكُنْ مِّنَ الْجٰهِلِيْنَ }» [یوسف: ۳۳ ] "And if You do not turn away their (makr) deceit from me, I may incline towards them and become of the ignorant." It is clear that all those women came to entrap Yusuf (peace be upon him) in their deceit and cunning, not just to see the beauty of Yusuf. (3) Allah Almighty said: «{ فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهٗ رَبُّهٗ فَصَرَفَ عَنْهُ كَيْدَهُنَّ }» [ یوسف : ۳۴ ] "So his Lord accepted his prayer and turned away their plot from him." Allah Almighty also called the whole affair the deceit and cunning of those women. (4) When Yusuf (peace be upon him) interpreted the king's dream and the king summoned him, Yusuf (peace be upon him) said to his messenger, "Go back to your master and ask him: «{ مَا بَالُ النِّسْوَةِ الّٰتِيْ قَطَّعْنَ اَيْدِيَهُنَّ اِنَّ رَبِّيْ بِكَيْدِهِنَّ عَلِيْمٌ }» [ یوسف : ۵۰ ] 'What was the matter with those women who cut their hands? Surely my Lord knows well their plot.'" This verse is especially worth considering. Those who say that wherever the plot of women is mentioned, it refers only to the wife of the Aziz of Egypt, and the mention of other women is only because they were her companions—now consider this verse: the wife of the Aziz did not cut her hands; it was the other women who did, and Yusuf (peace be upon him) is calling their cutting of hands their plot and cunning. (5) The king summoned all those women and asked: «{ مَا خَطْبُكُنَّ اِذْ رَاوَدْتُّنَّ يُوْسُفَ عَنْ نَّفْسِهٖ }» [ یوسف : ۵۱ ] "What was your affair when you tried to seduce Yusuf from himself?" It is clear that the king also considered their cutting of hands not as being overwhelmed by Yusuf's beauty, but as a premeditated plot to seduce him.
If someone says that you have interpreted this on your own, the answer is that where there is no explicit text from the Quran or Hadith regarding the interpretation, the wonders and subtleties of the Quran will continue to be revealed until the Day of Judgment. By the way, before me, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (may Allah have mercy on him) has given this very interpretation, Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi (regardless of the uniqueness of his methodology in his commentary) has given this very interpretation, and the author of Tafsir Mawahib al-Rahman, Allama Amir Ali Malihabadi (may Allah have mercy on him), has also written this interpretation along with other commentaries. His words are: "And perhaps (the wife of the Aziz) sought the help of those women for her own purpose, in such a way that the Prophet (Yusuf) (peace be upon him) said: «{ مَعَاذَ اللّٰهِ اِنَّهٗ رَبِّيْۤ اَحْسَنَ مَثْوَايَ }» meaning, if he (Yusuf) would not do this act with the wife of the Aziz of Egypt, his guardian, then these women would desire him, and after their involvement, the matter would become easier. Thus, some commentators have narrated the story that each of those women, by the trickery and hint of Zuleikha, expressed this desire to the Prophet (Yusuf) (peace be upon him) in private, and after exhausting all kinds of adornment, cunning, persistence, and trickery, and the subsequent speech also points to this. Thus, when this situation appeared, Yusuf (peace be upon him) prayed, 'O my Lord! Prison is dearer to me,' meaning, 'That is what I prefer «{ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ }» over what these women are inviting me to.'" This interpretation of the verse may have been given by many other commentators, but among the earlier commentators from whom I have found this interpretation are Sultan al-Ulama, Shaykh al-Islam Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam (may Allah have mercy on him). Thus, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that in the illness in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, the incident is that the time for prayer came, the call to prayer was given, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Tell Abu Bakr to lead the prayer." It was said to him, "Abu Bakr is a sorrowful man; when he stands in your place, he will not be able to lead the people in prayer." He gave the same order again, and they said the same thing again. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the order a third time, so he said: [ إِنَّكُنَّ صَوَاحِبُ يُوْسُفَ مُرُوْا أَبَا بَكْرٍ فَلْيُصَلِّ بِالنَّاسِ ] [ بخاری، الأذان، باب حد المریض أن یشھد الجماعۃ : ۶۶۴ ] "You are like the women with Yusuf; tell Abu Bakr to lead the prayer." In another narration of Sahih Bukhari (679), it is stated that the first two times Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said this, and the third time, according to her, Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her) said it.
In the explanation of this hadith, Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), after explaining {’’ إِنَّكُنَّ صَوَاحِبُ يُوْسُفَ‘‘} according to the general commentators, wrote at the end: { ’’ وَ وَقَعَ فِيْ أَمَالِي ابْنِ عَبْدِ السَّلَامِ أَنَّ النِّسْوَةَ أَتَيْنَ امْرَأَةَ الْعَزِيْزِ يُظْهِرْنَ تَعْنِيْفَهَا وَ مَقْصُوْدُهُنَّ فِي الْبَاطِنِ أَنْ يَدْعُوْنَ يُوْسُفَ إِلٰي أَنْفُسِهِنَّ‘‘ كَذَا قَالَ وَلَيْسَ فِيْ سِيَاقِ الْآيَةِ مَا يُسَاعِدُ مَا قَالَ‘‘} [ فتح الباری 153/2، ح : ۶۶۵ ] "In the Amali of Ibn Abd al-Salam, it is mentioned that those women came to the wife of the Aziz, outwardly reproaching and being harsh with her, while their real intention inwardly was to invite Yusuf to themselves." Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Ibn Abd al-Salam said this, although there is nothing in the context that supports him."
It is clear that Shaykh al-Islam Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) does not agree with Sultan al-Ulama, because in his view, the context does not support him, but this humble servant has presented five proofs from the context of the Quran for the authenticity of this interpretation, and the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) {’’صَوَاحِبُ يُوْسُفَ‘‘ } also supports it. ({والله اعلم وعلمه اتم})

31. 1 The absent conversations and reproaches of the women of Egypt have been described as "makr" (deceit/plot), due to which some commentators have stated that these women had already received reports of Yusuf's unparalleled beauty and charm. Thus, they wished to see this embodiment of beauty, and so they succeeded in their secret scheme. And the wife of Aziz arranged this gathering to show that the one whom I am infatuated with is not just a slave or an ordinary man, but is adorned with such inner and outer beauty that losing one's heart and soul upon seeing him is not something impossible. Therefore, she arranged a feast for these women and invited them to a meal.

31. 2 That is, she arranged such seating places where cushions were placed, just as even today such floor seating arrangements are common among Arabs. Even in hotels and restaurants, such arrangements are made.

31. 3 That is, Yusuf (AS) was kept hidden at first. When all the women had knives in their hands, the wife of Aziz (Zuleikha) ordered Yusuf (AS) to appear in the gathering.

31. 4 That is, upon witnessing the manifestation of Yusuf's (AS) beauty, firstly, they acknowledged his greatness and majesty, and secondly, they were so overwhelmed with ecstasy that they cut their own hands with the knives. As a result, their hands were wounded and bloodied. It is mentioned in a hadith that Yusuf (AS) was given half of all beauty (Sahih Muslim).

31. 5 This does not mean that angels are better or superior to humans in form or appearance, because humans have never seen angels. Moreover, regarding humans, Allah Himself has clearly stated in the Noble Quran that We created him in the best stature (ahsan taqweem). These women denied his humanity only because they saw such an embodiment of beauty and charm that had never appeared before their eyes in human form, and they called him an angel because common people think that angels possess such forms that are superior to human form. From this, it is understood that due to the extraordinary characteristics and distinctions of the Prophets, it has always been the practice of such people in every era, who are unfamiliar with prophethood and its status, to declare them as a luminous creation instead of human.

31. When she (Zulaikha) heard their cunning [29] talk, she sent for them and prepared a cushioned banquet for them, and gave each woman a knife [30], and said to Yusuf: Come out before them. When the women saw him, they were so struck by his beauty that they cut their hands (while cutting fruit), and exclaimed: This is not a human being; this is but a noble angel!

[29]
The Gossip of the City Women and Taunts to Zulaikha:

What the Aziz of Egypt feared eventually happened. Gradually, the matter spread among the women of the city that the wife of the Aziz of Egypt, Zulaikha, had fallen in love with her slave. She had tried to ensnare him in her web of deceit, but he did not fall into her trap. This much was true, and then, especially among women, it is common to comment on such matters. They criticized Zulaikha in several ways. One was that she was such a lowly woman that she fell in love with her own slave, and secondly, that she was so foolish that even if she was infatuated with Yusuf, she could not attract him to herself. After all, for a young woman, it is not a big deal to attract a young man.

[30]
The Arrangement of the Banquet:

Zulaikha was greatly distressed by the talk of the city women, yet she considered herself excused in this matter. She thought that there could be no woman who, upon seeing a handsome and beautiful young man like Yusuf, would not become infatuated with him. Secondly, she was also convinced that no matter how much a woman adorned herself before Yusuf, he was such a great and pious man that he could not be inclined towards her. Now, to test both these things and to establish proof against the women who were gossiping and to prove them false, she devised a plan. She arranged a lavish banquet, provided fruits, and also placed knives for peeling and cutting the fruits, and invited all those women who had been making such remarks. When the women arrived and became engaged in eating and drinking, Zulaikha called Yusufؑ into the gathering. The women, upon seeing the beauty and elegance of Yusufؑ, became so absorbed and entranced that instead of cutting the fruits, their knives cut their own hands. And it is mentioned in the Hadith that during the narration of the event of Mi'raj, the Prophetﷺ said: When the door of the third heaven was opened, there he met Sayyiduna Yusufؑ. Allah had granted him half of all beauty. [مسلم، كتاب الايمان، باب الاسراء برسول الله الي السموات وفرض الصلوات]

The Testimony of the Commenting Women:

Then they themselves saw with their own eyes that despite all their allure and charm, Yusufؑ did not even raise his eyes to look at any of them, so they spontaneously exclaimed that this is not a human being but a noble angel. It is impossible for a young man to be so far above sexual desires that he would not even look towards us.