“So when she heard about their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a repast for them. Then she gave each one of them a knife, and said to him (Yusuf): ‘Come forth to them.’ When they saw him, they extolled him, and (in their amazement) cut their hands and said (exclaimed): ‘Allah Blameless! This is not a human being. This is not other than a noble angel!’”
Tafseer
When the wife of ‘Aziz became aware of the intrigue of the Egyptian women, she became very angry. Then she came up with an idea. She invited them to an elaborate party which she had organized for them and gave each person a sharp knife to peel the fruit served.
The verse says:
“So when she heard about their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a repast for them. Then she gave each one of them a knife…”
Allah (swt) specifically mentions that she gave each one a knife to bring our attention to the fact that even this was part of her plan. She wanted them to see Yusuf (AS) and cut themselves. She knew that this was what would happen and they would cut themselves.
This also shows that how severe tests, temptations, and trails Zulaykha must be going through for many years while Yusuf was present in front of her day and night.
From the sequence of events, one can readily infer that she did not care much for her husband and was not afraid of him, so she had not learnt anything from the previous scandal.
She then ordered Yusuf to come into the hall so that they could see his beauty for themselves and stop blaming her for what she did.
The verse says:
“…and said to him (Yusuf): ‘Come forth to them.’…”
Just at that moment when all of the women were cutting their fruit with the knives that was when she tells Yusuf (AS) to come out. The word “come out” gives the meaning of something that has been hidden is being brought out. So this suggests that in all of this time Yusuf (AS) had been kept hidden not only from the women on that particular evening, but he (AS) had been hidden from everyone throughout his entire life. No one has ever seen him before that evening.
The verse says:
“…When they saw him, they extolled him, and (in their amazement) cut their hands...”
They were so overwhelmed that they fell head over heels in love with him, which profoundly embarrassed him.
As soon as they saw how abstinent and chaste he was, and his attractive eyes in his innocent face which had blushed from modesty and shame clearly illustrated these facts, they all exclaimed that that young man had never done anything wrong in his life, he was not an ordinary man, but was a sublime heavenly angel.
The verse continues saying:
“…and said (exclaimed): ‘Allah Blameless! This is not a human being. This is not other than a noble angel!’”
Explanations
- The Arabic term /haša/ means: ‘excepting, with the exception’. It was a custom in that time that when they wanted to know a person exempted from an indecency, at first they exempted Allah and then that person.
- The wife of ‘Aziz was quite politically astute, through the banquet she had arranged she caught the women unawares and was able to expose the vulnerabilities of the rivals in that locality.
- Talking about other people’s problems is not always a show of compassion. It can be the result of jealousy, or part of a plot against them.
Plot
In this ayah Allah (swt) tells us what was the response of Zulaykha to what the women in the city had spoken in the previous ayah. Notice how Allah (swt) refers to what these women had spoken as a “plot.” That was indeed what it was.
They did not speak these words against Zulaykha only for their entertainment, but rather this was a deliberate plot to bring her down. They were jealous of her. Even if they claimed to be her friends, deep down inside they hated her. She had more beauty and more power and more wealth than them.
So they would do anything to bring her down and to bring themselves up in the process. That was why they spoke these words against her. It was all a part of their plot to bring her down. So Zulaykha wanted to make them pay for the words that they had spoken against her, so she made a great effort to plan and prepare her revenge.
Reflections
- And when she heard about their plots, she understood them. ‣ “I know what you want. I’ll show you.”
- She chose fruits that need to be cut for
dessert - She ordered prophet Yusuf to come out• When he comes out, they’re cutting their hands and didn’t realize it• They cut it until their hands were bleeding
- The wife of the Aziz is watching this whole incident in front of her, and she’s smiling
Lessons
- Yusuf was beautiful both externally and internally. As for his external beauty, it made the king’s wife did what she did, and it made the other women cut their hands while proclaiming, “How perfect is Allah (or Allah forbid)! No man is this! This is none other than a noble angel!” His internal beauty was because of his great chastity and self-restraint in spite the many enticement there were to commit sin. This is why the king’s wife said, “I did seek to seduce him, but he refused
- Inner beauty is more attractive than outer beauty. Yusuf (AS) had great inner qualities. Wife of Aziz acknowledged that when she said, “He stayed chaste.”
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