Surah Yusuf 12:23

Wife of the `Aziz loves Yusuf and plots against Him

Allah states that the wife of the `Aziz of Egypt, in whose house Yusuf resided and whose husband recommended that she takes care of him and be generous to him, tried to seduce Yusuf! She called him to do an evil act with her, because she loved him very much. Yusuf was very handsome, filled with manhood and beauty. She beautified herself for him, closed the doors and called him,

(and (she) said: "Come on, O you.") But he categorically refused her call,

(He said: "I seek refuge in Allah! Truly, he is my Rabb! He made my living in a great comfort!") as they used to call the chief and master a `Rabb', Yusuf said to her, `your husband is my master who provided me with comfortable living and was kind to me, so I will never betray him by committing immoral sins with his wife,'

(Verily, the wrongdoers will never be successful.) This was said by Mujahid, As-Suddi, Muhammad bin Ishaq and several others. The scholars differ in their recitation of,

(Hayta Laka), whereby Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and several other scholars said that it means that she was calling him to herself. Al-Bukhari said; "Ikrimah said that,

(Hayta Laka') means, `come on, O you', in the Aramaic language." Al-Bukhari collected this statement from `Ikrimah without a chain of narration. Other scholars read it with the meaning, `I am ready for you'. Ibn `Abbas, Abu `Abdur-Rahman As-Sulami, Abu Wa'il, `Ikrimah and Qatadah were reported to have read this part of the Ayah this way and explained it in the manner we mentioned, as `I am ready for you'.

Istri al-Aziz adalah seorang perempuan cantik, sangat dimuliakan oleh seluruh penghuni istana, karena di samping dia istri al-Aziz, dia juga berbudi tinggi, berakhlak mulia, bersih dari sifat-sifat congkak dan sombong, menjauhi segala hal yang akan menjatuhkan derajatnya. Tetapi setelah Yusuf tinggal di istana sebagai salah seorang keluarganya, istri al-Aziz mulai tertarik kepadanya karena akhlak dan ketampanannya. Suatu ketika, setelah mengunci semua pintu rumah, istri al-Aziz merayu Yusuf untuk berselingkuh. Yusuf sebagai seorang yang jujur dan berakhlak mulia sangat terkejut mendengar rayuan dan ajakan itu, apalagi yang mengajaknya itu adalah istri majikannya sendiri yang telah memberinya tempat berteduh dan memperlakukannya seperti anaknya sendiri. Selain dari itu, bila ia mematuhi ajakan demikian, berarti ia telah melakukan maksiat yang sangat dimurkai Allah. Karena itu dengan spontan ia menjawab, "Aku berlindung kepada Allah agar aku jangan terjerumus ke dalam perbuatan keji dan mungkar. Suamimu itu adalah tuanku, majikanku yang telah berbuat baik kepadaku, apakah kebaikannya aku balas dengan kekejian? Ini adalah suatu kezaliman dan aku tidak akan melakukannya karena tidak ada orang yang zalim yang sukses dan bahagia hidupnya."