Overview (Verse 23)

A Trial of Temptation

At this point Joseph experiences the second trial in his life. It is much more severe and profound than the first one. It comes when he has been given wisdom and knowledge as a gesture of God’s grace. Hence, he faces it squarely, and he is saved from it as a reward for doing good. This trial takes the form of temptation, and the sūrah paints a very charged picture of the whole encounter, when Joseph was vulnerable to great risks.

She in whose house he was living tried to seduce him. She bolted the doors and said, ‘Come.’ He said: ‘God protect me. Goodly has my master made my stay here. Those who do wrong come to no good.’ She truly desired him, and he desired her. [He would have succumbed] had he not seen a clear sign from his Lord. Thus We averted from him evil and indecency. He was truly one of Our faithful servants. And they both rushed to the door. She tore his shirt from behind. And at the door they met her husband. She said: ‘What ought to be the punishment of someone who had evil designs on your wife other than that he should be thrown in prison or some grievous punishment.’ [Joseph] said: It was she who sought to seduce me.’ One of her own household testified: ‘If his shirt has been torn from the front, then she is speaking the truth and he is lying. But if it has been torn from behind, then she is lying, and he is speaking the truth.’ When [her husband] saw that Joseph’s shirt was torn from behind, he said to her: ‘This is indeed [an instance] of the guile of you, women. Your guile is awesome indeed!’ Joseph, let this pass! And you, woman, ask forgiveness for your sin. You have been seriously at fault.’ (Verses 23-29)

The sūrah does not mention the ages of Joseph and the woman at the time. So let us consider the matter and estimate their respective ages. Joseph was in early adolescence at the time the caravan picked him up and sold him in Egypt. He must have been around 14, or maybe less, but certainly no more than that. He was at an age when the Arabic term, ghulām, may be applied to him. After that he would be described as a youth, then as a man. At that time, the woman was already married, and apparently neither she nor her husband had had any children. This is implied by her husband’s words, “We may adopt him as a son”. (Verse 21) The thought of adoption does not normally occur unless the one who entertains it is childless, and has practically given up hope of having a child. This means that she must have been married for quite a long time, which was sufficient for them to realize that they would not have a child. Moreover, the man who was Egypt’s chief minister must have been at least 40 years of age, and she, his wife, around 30.

Furthermore, we expect that at the time of this event, she must have been at least 40, and Joseph probably 25 or near to that. We imagine that this was her age because her behaviour during the event and subsequently shows that she was a woman of intelligence, self-possessed but bold, scheming and infatuated at the same time. Further evidence to support this is found in the words of those women who talked about her, saying: “The Chief Minister’s wife is trying to seduce her slave lad.” (Verse 30) Although the Arabic word, fatā, rendered here as ‘slave lad’ stresses the sense of his slavery, it would not have been said unless Joseph’s age supported it. This is more likely, weighing up all the evidence in the text.

We have discussed all this in order to arrive at the conclusion that Joseph’s trial was not merely about resisting temptation. His real trial was that he spent all his adolescent years in this palace, with this woman who was between 30 and 40 years of age, with all that goes on in palaces and in an environment which may be best described by the husband’s attitude when he saw his wife with Joseph. All that he had to say was: “Joseph, let this pass! And you, woman, ask forgiveness for your sin. You have been seriously at fault.” (Verse 29)

It is a social environment in which women speak ill of the chief minister’s wife, and her reply is to invite them to a sumptuous banquet during which she orders Joseph to walk in front of them. They, in turn, are all infatuated with him, and make their feelings public. She then admits to what she had done: “Indeed I have tried to seduce him, but he guarded his chastity. Now, however, if he does not do what I bid him, he shall certainly be thrown in prison, and shall indeed be humiliated.” (Verse 32)

A social environment which allows these attitudes is a special one. It is that of affluent aristocracy. Joseph was a slave lad who spent his adolescent years in such an environment. That is indeed the long trial which he endured. He resisted its influences, temptations, frivolity and wicked designs. His age and that of the woman under whose roof he had lived for such a long period are significant in estimating the pressure he was under, the gravity of his trial and his long resistance. As for this particular incident, it would not have been particularly difficult for Joseph to resist, had it come suddenly, without long preparation. It would have been made easier by the fact that he was the target of temptation, not the seeker. For a man may find a woman who throws herself at him not very appealing.

Let us now examine the text as it describes the situation: “She in whose house he was living tried to seduce him. She bolted the doors and said, ‘Come.’” (Verse 23) This time it was a bold attempt at seduction, with an open invitation to go the full course. The bolting of the doors only comes at the last moment. The woman was already at the point when desire is at its strongest. Hence, she calls out to him, ‘Come’. This bold, crude invitation is never the first one made by a woman. Indeed, it is of the ultimate type which may never be used unless the woman is forced to resort to it. The young man was living in her house and his growth, strength and development were all there for her to see, just as her own femininity was at its optimum. There must, therefore, have been earlier attempts at gentle persuasion before she resorted to this crude and sudden invitation.

“He said: ‘God protect me. Goodly has my master made my stay here. Those who do wrong come to no good.’“ (Verse 23) First he appeals to God to protect him against doing such a grave and sinful act: “God protect me’ (Verse 23) He then refers to God’s grace when He saved him from the well and placed him in a home where he was secure and treated kindly: “Goodly has my master made my stay here.” (Verse 23) He then expounds a clear principle: “Those who do wrong come to no good.” (Verse 23) The ‘wrong’ intended here is the one which she wants him to do, but it represents a trespass over what God has forbidden.

The sūrah makes it absolutely clear that Joseph’s reply to the open attempt at seduction was a straightforward refusal, coupled with remembrance of the grace God had bestowed on him, as well as remembrance of the limits which no one should violate. There was no initial compliance when she invited him openly after bolting the doors and speaking in crude terms of what she wanted him to do. This last point is given in the sūrah in a much milder form which hints at what actually took place. This is what we understand from the unusual Arabic expression which we have rendered here as, ‘Come’.