Yusuf (Joseph)

29. “O Yusuf! Overlook this matter; and you, (O my wife), ask forgiveness for your sin, for surely you are of the wrong-doers.”

At this moment, owing to his fear that the embarrassing event might come to light and damage his prestige, the ‘Aziz saw it convenient to put an end to the whole affair by keeping it quiet. Turning to Yusuf, he told him to forget about it, and turning to his wife, he told her to repent and ask forgiveness for her sin, for she had definitely been the one who did wrong.

The verse says:

“O Yusuf! Overlook this matter; and you, (O my wife), ask forgiveness for your sin, for surely you are of the wrong-doers.”

Another great lesson that this part of the story of Yusuf teaches us is that very support of Allah, Who assists man in the most difficult states. According to His statement which says:

“…whoever is in awe of Allah, He will make for him an outlet,” “And give him sustenance from whence he thinks not;…”1 ,

Allah caused Yusuf to be proved innocent by means of existence of the tear in his shirt as an evidence.

Yusuf’s shirt was also the same thing that one day manifested the lie of Yusuf’s brothers before their father because of lack of tear in it, and again his shirt was put over the face of Jacob when he regained his eye sight, and it was brought from Egypt to Kan‘an and gave the glad tidings to Jacob.

However, Allah has some secret favours of which no one is aware. When the breeze of this favour blows the affairs may change in a way that it is not predictable for any one, even for the most intelligent members.

Some Explanations

1. The ‘Aziz of Egypt wanted to cover up the incident, but the people of the world in all centuries came to know about it in order for Yusuf’s innocence to be maintained.

2. The ‘Aziz, typical for those among the affluent classes, had a lenient attitude towards matters regarding chastity, and refrained from seriously chastising his wife.

3. Non-godly leaders are usually not able to take a decisive stand towards their own impure wives.

A woman’s sexual relationship with any man other than her husband is illegitimate and indecent.