said, "May ALLAH protect me. He is my Lord, who gave me a good home. The transgressors never succeed."
12:24 She almost succumbed to him, and he almost succumbed to her, if it were not that he saw a proof from his
Lord. We thus diverted evil and sin away from him, for he was one of our devoted servants.
12:25 The two of them raced towards the door, and, in the process, she tore his garment from the back. They found
her husband at the door. She said, "What should be the punishment for one who wanted to molest your wife, except
imprisonment or a painful punishment?"
12:26 He said, "She (is the one) who tried to seduce me." A witness from her family suggested: "If his garment is torn
from the front, then she is telling the truth and he is a liar.
12:27 "And if his garment is torn from the back, then she lied, and he is telling the truth."
12:28 When her husband saw that his garment was torn from the back, he said, "This is a woman's scheme. Indeed,
your scheming is formidable.
12:29 "Joseph, disregard this incident. As for you (my wife), you should seek forgiveness for your sin. You have
committed an error."
12:30 Some women in the city gossiped: "The governor's wife is trying to seduce her servant. She is deeply in love
with him. We see that she has gone astray."
12:31 When she heard of their gossip, she invited them, prepared for them a comfortable place, and gave each of
them a knife. She then said to him, "Enter their room." When they saw him, they so admired him, that they cut their
hands. They said, "ALLAH forbid us for saying, this is not a human being; this is an honorable angel."
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12:32 She said, "This is the one you blamed me for falling in love with. I did indeed try to seduce him, and he refused.
Unless he does what I command him to do, he will surely go to prison, and will be debased."
12:33 He said, "My Lord, the prison is better than giving in to them. Unless You divert their scheming from me, I may
desire them and behave like the ignorant ones."
12:34 His Lord answered his prayer and diverted their scheming from him. He is the Hearer, the Omniscient.
12:35 Later, they saw to it, despite the clear proofs, that they should imprison him for awhile.
12:36 Two young men were in the prison with him. One of them said, "I saw (in my dream) that I was making wine,"
and the other said, "I saw myself carrying bread on my head, from which the birds were eating. Inform us of the
interpretation of these dreams. We see that you are righteous."
12:37 He said, "If any food is provided to you, I can inform you about it before you receive it. This is some of the
knowledge bestowed upon me by my Lord. I have forsaken the religion of people who do not believe in ALLAH, and
with regard to the Hereafter, they are really disbelievers.
12:38 "And I followed instead the religion of my ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We never set up any idols
beside ALLAH. Such is the blessing from ALLAH upon us and upon the people, but most people are unappreciative.
12:39 "O my prison mates, are several disputing (human) gods better, or ALLAH, the One, the Supreme?
12:40 "You do not worship beside Him except innovations that you have made up, you and your parents. ALLAH has
never authorized such idols. All ruling belongs to ALLAH, and He has ruled that you shall not worship except Him.
This is the perfect religion, but most people do not know.
12:41 "O my prison mates, one of you will be the wine butler for his lord, while the other will be crucified - the birds
will eat from his head. This settles the matter about which you have inquired."
12:42 He then said to the one to be saved "Remember me at your lord." Thus, the devil caused him to forget his Lord,
and, consequently, he remained in prison a few more years.
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The king's dream
12:43 The king said, "I saw seven fat cows being devoured by seven skinny cows, and seven green spikes (of wheat),
and others shriveled. O my elders, advise me regarding my dream, if you know how to interpret the dreams."
12:44 They said, "Nonsense dreams. When it comes to the interpretation of dreams, we are not knowledgeable."
12:45 The one who was saved (from the prison) said, now that he finally remembered, "I can tell you its
interpretation, so send me (to Joseph)."
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This is the same word used in 5:38 regarding the hand of the thief, and the sum of Sura and verse numbers (12+31 and 5+38) are the
same. Therefore, the thief's hand should be marked, not severed as practiced by the corrupted Islam (see footnote to verse 5:38).
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When Joseph begged his companion to intercede with the king on his behalf, he exhibited dependence on other than Allah to be
saved from the prison. This does not befit a true believer, and such a serious slip cost Joseph a few years in the prison. We learn from
the Quran that only Allah can relieve any hardship that might befall us. A true believer trusts in Allah and depends totally on Him alone
(see verses 1:5, 6:17, 8:17, 10:107).