Surah Yusuf >> Currently viewing Surah Yusuf Ayat 23 (12:23)

Surah Yusuf Ayat 23 in Arabic Text

وَرَٰوَدَتۡهُ ٱلَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيۡتِهَا عَن نَّفۡسِهِۦ وَغَلَّقَتِ ٱلۡأَبۡوَٰبَ وَقَالَتۡ هَيۡتَ لَكَۚ قَالَ مَعَاذَ ٱللَّهِۖ إِنَّهُۥ رَبِّيٓ أَحۡسَنَ مَثۡوَايَۖ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُفۡلِحُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ
Wa raawadat hul latee huwa fee baitihaa ‘an nafsihee wa ghallaqatil abwaaba wa qaalat haita lak; qaala ma’aazal laahi innahoo rabbeee ahsana maswaay; innahoo laa yuflihuz-zaalimoon

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 23

Sahih International
And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him. She closed the doors and said, “Come, you.” He said, “[I seek] the refuge of Allah. Indeed, he is my master, who has made good my residence. Indeed, wrongdoers will not succeed.”

Yusuf Ali
But she in whose house he was, sought to seduce him from his (true) self: she fastened the doors, and said: “Now come, thou (dear one)!” He said: “Allah forbid! truly (thy husband) is my lord! he made my sojourn agreeable! truly to no good come those who do wrong!”

Abul Ala Maududi
And it so happened that the lady in whose house Joseph was living, sought to tempt him to herself, and one day bolting the doors she said: “Come on now!” Joseph answered: “May Allah grant me refuge! My Lord has provided an honourable abode for me (so how can I do something so evil)? Such wrong-doers never prosper.”

Muhsin Khan
And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him (to do an evil act), she closed the doors and said: “Come on, O you.” He said: “I seek refuge in Allah (or Allah forbid)! Truly, he (your husband) is my master! He made my stay agreeable! (So I will never betray him). Verily, the Zalimun (wrong and evil-doers) will never be successful.”

Pickthall
And she, in whose house he was, asked of him an evil act. She bolted the doors and said: Come! He said: I seek refuge in Allah! Lo! he is my lord, who hath treated me honourably. Lo! wrong-doers never prosper.

Dr. Ghali
And she in whose home he was solicited him, (Literally: she solicited him about himself) and bolted the doors (on them), and said, “Come! Everything is ready for you.” (i.e., take me) He said, ” Allah be my refuge! Surely he is my lord (i.e., your husband is my lord) who has given me the fairest of lodging. Surely the unjust (ones) do not prosper.”

Abdel Haleem
The woman in whose house he was living tried to seduce him: she bolted the doors and said, ‘Come to me,’ and he replied, ‘God forbid! My master has been good to me; wrongdoers never prosper.’

Muhammad Junagarhi
اس عورت نے جس کے گھر میں یوسف تھے، یوسف کو بہلانا پھسلانا شروع کیا کہ وه اپنے نفس کی نگرانی چھوڑ دے اور دروازے بند کرکے کہنے لگی لو آجاؤ یوسف نے کہا اللہ کی پناه! وه میرا رب ہے، مجھے اس نے بہت اچھی طرح رکھا ہے۔ بے انصافی کرنے والوں کا بھلا نہیں ہوتا

Quran 12 Verse 23 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Yusuf ayat 23, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(12:23) And it so happened that the lady in whose house Joseph was living, sought to tempt him to herself, and one day bolting the doors she said: “Come on now!” Joseph answered: “May Allah grant me refuge! My Lord has provided an honourable abode for me (so how can I do something so evil)? Such wrong-doers never prosper.”[21]


21. Generally the commentators and translators are of the opinion that Prophet Joseph used Rabbi “My Lord” for the master of the house, and what he meant to imply by way of argument was this: My Lord has treated me very kindly and kept me well in the house. How can I, then, be so disloyal and ungrateful as to commit adultery with his wife? I, however, strongly differ with such a translation and commentary. Though the Arabic usage of rabb admits of such a meaning, I have two strong reasons against this here. First, it is far below the dignity of a Prophet to refrain from a sin because of the regard he had for some person other than Allah. Second, there is not a single instance in the Quran that a Prophet ever called anyone other than Allah his rabb. Prophet Joseph himself differentiates between his creed and that of the Egyptians making it plain that his rabb “Lord” was Allah, while they had made other human beings their rabb. Then this verse should be considered from another point of view: when rabbi may also mean My Lord, Prophet Joseph might have invoked Allah. Why should then one take the other meaning, my master, which most surely implies something that is against the right creed?

Ibn-Kathir

23. And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him (to do an evil act), and she closed the doors and said: “Come on, O you.” He said: “I seek refuge in Allah! Truly, he is my Rabb! He made my living in a great comfort! Verily, the wrongdoers will never be successful.”


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,

﴿وَقَالَتْ هَيْتَ لَكَ﴾

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

﴿قَالَ مَعَاذَ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ رَبِّى أَحْسَنَ مَثْوَاىَّ﴾

(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,’

﴿إِنَّهُ لاَ يُفْلِحُ الظَّـلِمُونَ﴾

(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,

﴿هَيْتَ لَكَ﴾

(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,

﴿هَيْتَ لَكَ﴾

(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’.

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surah yusuf ayat 23
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