12-50 And the king said: Bring him to me. So when the messenger came to him, he said: Go back to thy lord and ask him, what is the case of the women who cut their hands. Surely my Lord knows their device.a
وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱئْتُونِى بِهِۦ ۖ فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُ ٱلرَّسُولُ قَالَ ٱرْجِعْ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ فَسْـَٔلْهُ مَا بَالُ ٱلنِّسْوَةِ ٱلَّـٰتِى قَطَّعْنَ أَيْدِيَهُنَّ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى بِكَيْدِهِنَّ عَلِيمٌۭ (۵۰)
12-50a: بَالُ – Manner or condition that deserves attention. In hadith بال is described as کل امرذی (important affairs or matters). In adopting this word, the purport is to draw attention to the importance that Joseph attached to clarifying the matter regarding the women who cut their hands.
The Bible does not exonerate Joseph from the accusations: There is no mention of this matter in the Bible. In the Bible narrative, when Pharoah summoned Joseph to interpret the dream, he presented himself forthwith in the royal court. In contrast the Quran mentions this episode to show that worldly dignity has no meaning in the eyes of a man of God. Joseph knew that he would be honored by the king because of the interpretation of the dream but he had no desire to get out of the jail unless he was exonerated of the charges based on which he was jailed. The importance that Joseph attached to the incident of the women cutting their hands shows that this was the major testimony in his conviction.
In the explanation of this incident in Bukhari, it is stated that the Holy Prophet said: و لو لَبِثۡثُ فی السِّجۡن ما لَبِثَ یُوۡسُفُ لا جَبۡتُ الداعی (If I had stayed in the jail like Yusuf, I would have accepted the offer sent with the caller). The meaning of this is just to honor the action of Joseph in desiring to wash the slur on his chastity so intensely that he preferred to stay in jail rather than to keep on carrying the burden of the accusation. As far as the Holy Prophet’s statement above is concerned, there is a different angel to it, which is that the objective of the Holy Prophet’s mission is so much greater than that of Joseph’s mission that he would not have cared what people thought of him. The only magnificent objective before him was the social, moral and spiritual reformation of the people. If such a grand objective had been before Joseph, he too would not have worried about the accusation because the objective of reformation is greater than anything else. As far as false allegations are concerned, the Holy Prophet’s teaching is to avoid situations that will give people a chance to levy such accusations. Once when the Holy Prophet was standing with his wife in a public spot and a companion happened to pass by, the Holy Prophet called the Companion and told him that the lady with him was his wife and added that the devil whispers all kinds of evil in a person’s mind.
12-51 (The king) said: What was your affair when you sought to seduce Joseph? They said: Holy Allah! We knew of no evil on his part. The chief’s wife said:Now has the truth become manifest. I sought to seduce him and he is surely of the truthful.a
قَالَ مَا خَطْبُكُنَّ إِذْ رَٰوَدتُّنَّ يُوسُفَ عَن نَّفْسِهِۦ ۚ قُلْنَ حَـٰشَ لِلَّهِ مَا عَلِمْنَا عَلَيْهِ مِن سُوٓءٍۢ ۚ قَالَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْـَٔـٰنَ حَصْحَصَ ٱلْحَقُّ أَنَا۠ رَٰوَدتُّهُۥ عَن نَّفْسِهِۦ وَإِنَّهُۥ لَمِنَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ (۵۱)
12-51a: خَطْب – See 11-37a. خَطْب is said of a very important matter in which there are many addresses.
حَصْحَصَ – حَصّ means to sever, and accordingly حِصّه is that which is separated from the whole. The meaning of حَصَّ and حَصْحَصَ is that the matter has become manifest and the thing that had covered it has been removed (R).
Cutting of hands was a conspiracy against Joseph: Why did the king examine the women with the accusatory statement: What was your affair when you sought to seduce Joseph? There appear to be two reasons for this. First is the influence of Joseph’s righteousness brought about by listening to his travails and the impact of his knowledge exhibited in interpreting the king’s dream. This made him realize his greatness. Second, the message that Joseph sent to the king from the prison included the statement that the cutting of the hands was a کید or a stratagem that the women had used against him and although it was not manifest to the people at the time, but Allah knew about it. The message, conveyed in this manner, convinced the king that there was a conspiracy afoot against Joseph. Accordingly, the women realized that Joseph’s righteousness had now become manifest, and their secret could no longer remain hidden. So, they confessed that Joseph had shown no evil attention towards them. Finally, the chief’s wife also admitted that all the veils behind which she had tried to hide the truth had vanished and the truth had now become manifest. This shows that the cutting of the hands by the women was the way in which Joseph’s righteousness had been veiled.
12-52 This is that he might know that I have not been unfaithful to him in secret, and that Allah guides not the device of the unfaithful.a
ذَٰلِكَ لِيَعْلَمَ أَنِّى لَمْ أَخُنْهُ بِٱلْغَيْبِ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِى كَيْدَ ٱلْخَآئِنِينَ (۵۲)
12-52a: It appears as if the statement in this verse and in the next is a continuation of the statement of the chief’s wife, but the text contradicts this and shows that the statement is actually that of Joseph. Most commentators agree to this. The chief’s wife could not say that she had not been unfaithful in secret because it was her unfaithfulness that was the cause of Joseph landing in jail. It appears that since the investigation would necessarily take some time, people must have advised Joseph to accept the offer and not to unnecessarily stay in jail. Joseph’s response is given in this verse and the reason he gives is that the king may become aware that he had not been unfaithful to the chief behind his back. Another explanation is that the pronoun in أَخُنْهُ refers to the king but by unfaithfulness to the king would still mean unfaithfulness to the chief because unfaithfulness to a high-powered noble of the king is unfaithfulness to the king. By guidance here is meant reaching the desired goal for which see 1-5a.
12-53 And I call not myself sinless; surely (man’s) self is wont to command evil, except those on whom my Lord has mercy. Surely my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful.a
وَمَآ أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِىٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلنَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌۢ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّىٓ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ (۵۳)
12-53a: The way of the righteous: This verse also shows that this is not the statement of the chief’s wife. The stress with which Joseph asserted his innocence could lead one to think that he is claiming a status that no righteous person has claimed before, namely that his soul is so pure that it can never be disobedient. Hence, he draws attention to the fact that it is not the excellence of his soul but merely the blessing of Allah that enabled him to stay away from evil. The soul of every person is the same and its first stage is that it keeps prompting a person to commit evil. It is true however that the soul of those on whom Allah has mercy have already been set aright, such as the prophets who are sinless, some saints who are protected, and those who reform themselves later. The first stage of the soul which is akin to that of an animal is here named نفس امّارہ and in this stage the animal characteristics dominate a person’s personality. The second stage is called نفس لوّامہ (self-accusing spirit) and this is the stage in which if a person commits some evil, the conscience reprimands and does not agree with what has been done. The third stage is that of نفس مطمئنہ (the soul that is at rest) and this is the stage where the soul is fully reformed and walks only in the ways that pleases Allah.
12-54 And the king said: Bring him to me, I will choose him for myself. So when he talked with him, he said: Surely thou art in our presence today dignified, trusted.a
وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱئْتُونِى بِهِۦٓ أَسْتَخْلِصْهُ لِنَفْسِى ۖ فَلَمَّا كَلَّمَهُۥ قَالَ إِنَّكَ ٱلْيَوْمَ لَدَيْنَا مَكِينٌ أَمِينٌۭ (۵۴)
12-54a: أَسْتَخْلِصْ – اِسۡتَخۡلَصَ and اَخۡلَص have the same meaning. اَخۡلَصه‘ means اخۡتَارَہٗ that is: I have authority over him or I have selected him (LA). In خَلَصُوا۟ نَجِيًّۭا ۖ(conferred together privately) (12:80), the meaning of خَلَصُوا۟ is انفردوا خالِصِینَ عن غیرِھم that is to withdraw to confer privately (R).
مَكِينٌ – It means بَیِّن المکانَةِ (a person whose honorable status is manifest) (LA). In ذِى قُوَّةٍ عِندَ ذِى ٱلْعَرْشِ مَكِينٍۢ (The possessor of strength, established in the presence of the Lord of the Throne) (81:20) the meaning of مَكِينٍۢ is taken as مُتَمکّنٍ ذی قَدۡرٍ و مَنۡزِلَةٍ (Possessor of power and dignity).
12-55 He said: Place me (in authority) over the treasures of the land; surely I am a good keeper, knowing well.a
قَالَ ٱجْعَلْنِى عَلَىٰ خَزَآئِنِ ٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ إِنِّى حَفِيظٌ عَلِيمٌۭ (۵۵)
12-55a: Joseph takes over the financial management of Egypt: When the king honored Joseph, he requested to be put in charge of the country’s finances because in view of the looming crisis, it was necessary that the financial management of the country be in the hands of an intelligent and trustworthy person. The words good keeper (حَفِيظٌ ) and knowing (عَلِيمٌۭ ) draws attention to this. Righteousness and piety is not just isolating oneself from the world with a rosary. The discharge of the business of the world and performance of national duties in a trustworthy manner is also righteousness of a high degree. It is stated in the Bible that the king handed over all the powers of governance to Joseph. The Quran states ٱجْعَلْنِى عَلَىٰ خَزَآئِنِ ٱلْأَرْضِ (Place me in authority over the treasures of the land) to show that the control of finances is real governance. Today when the western powers desire to pressurize a country, their first weapon is to start interfering in the financial management of the country which begins by extending loans to them.
12-56 And thus did We give to Joseph power in the land — he had mastery in it wherever he liked. We bestow Our mercy on whom We please, and We waste not the reward of the doers of good.
وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَكَّنَّا لِيُوسُفَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يَتَبَوَّأُ مِنْهَا حَيْثُ يَشَآءُ ۚ نُصِيبُ بِرَحْمَتِنَا مَن نَّشَآءُ ۖ وَلَا نُضِيعُ أَجْرَ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ (۵۶)
12-57 And certainly the reward of the Hereafter is better for those who believe and guard against evil.
وَلَأَجْرُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ خَيْرٌۭ لِّلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَكَانُوا۟ يَتَّقُونَ (۵۷)
Bayan-ul-Quran 