Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:25
And they both raced to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back, and they found her husband at the door. She said, "What is the recompense of one who intended evil for your wife but that he be imprisoned or a painful punishment?"
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَاسْتَبَقَا الْبَابَ وَقَدَّتْ قَمِيصَهُ مِنْ دُبُرٍ وَأَلْفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَى الْبَابِ قَالَتْ مَا جَزَاءُ مَنْ أَرَادَ بِأَهْلِكَ سُوءًا إِلا أَنْ يُسْجَنَ أَوْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (And they raced one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from behind; and they found her master at the door. She said: "What is the punishment of one who intended evil against your family, other than imprisonment or a painful torment?") (verse 25)
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah the Exalted says: Yūsuf and the wife of the ʿAzīz raced one another to the door of the chamber — Yūsuf to flee from the indecency (al-fāḥisha) after he had seen the proof of his Lord rebuking him from it, and the wife to overtake Yūsuf and satisfy the desire she had wished to impose upon him. She caught up with him and seized his shirt, pulling it toward herself to bar him from passing — and tore it from behind, that is to say: she tore it from behind and not from the front, because Yūsuf was the one fleeing and she was the one pursuing him. As:
19091. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (And they raced one another to the door) — he said: he and the wife raced one another to the door, (and she tore his shirt from behind).
19092. Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: When he saw the proof of his Lord, he managed to free himself from her and fled; she followed him and seized his shirt from behind and tore it.
Concerning His word: (and they found her master at the door) — Allah the Exalted says: they found her master — that is the husband of the wife — at the door, that is to say: near the door. As:
19093. Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: al-Thawrī related to us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid: (and they found her master) — he said: her master is her husband; (at the door) — he said: near the door.
19094. Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, who said: the "master" (al-sayyid) is the husband.
19095. Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (and they found her master at the door) — that is to say: near the door.
19096. Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: (and they found her master at the door) — he said: he was sitting at the door and his cousin (nephew) was with him. When she saw him, she said: "What is the punishment of one who intended evil against your family? He sought to seduce me, and I pushed him away from me, and I tore his shirt." Yūsuf said: "Rather, she sought to seduce me, and I fled from her, and she caught up with me and tore my shirt." The wife's cousin said: "The proof of this lies in the shirt: if the shirt is torn from the front, she has spoken the truth and he is of the liars; and if his shirt is torn from behind, she has lied and he is of the truthful." The shirt was brought and proved to be torn from behind. He said: إِنَّهُ مِنْ كَيْدِكُنَّ إِنَّ كَيْدَكُنَّ عَظِيمٌ * يُوسُفُ أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَذَا وَاسْتَغْفِرِي لِذَنْبِكِ إِنَّكِ كُنْتِ مِنَ الْخَاطِئِينَ (Truly, this is of your scheming — the scheming of women is great! O Yūsuf, turn away from this; and you, ask forgiveness for your sin — you were of the sinners.)
19097. Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: (and they found her master at the door) — Iṭfīr, standing at the door of the chamber. She was afraid of him and said: (What is the punishment of one who intended evil against your family, other than imprisonment or a painful torment?) And she accused him on the spot of the offense, out of fear that her husband would charge her with the evil. But he — Yūsuf — spoke the truth and said: هِيَ رَاوَدَتْنِي عَنْ نَفْسِي (She sought to seduce me).
Concerning His word: (She said: "What is the punishment of one who intended evil against your family?") — Allah the Exalted says: The wife of the ʿAzīz said to her husband, when they found him at the door and she feared that he would suspect her of indecency (zinā): "What is the reward of the man who intended evil against your wife — that he be put in prison, or a painful torment?" — that is to say: searingly painful.
The reason it was said (other than imprisonment or a painful torment) is that His word (other than that he be imprisoned) has the meaning of: other than imprisonment, and the torment is mentioned in conjunction with that. For "an" (the conjunctive particle) together with what it governs stands in the rank of a noun.
