Tafseer of Joseph · Yusuf · 12:29
Joseph, ignore this. And, [my wife], ask forgiveness for your sin. Indeed, you were of the sinful."
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 word of Allah, the Exalted: يُوسُفُ أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَذَا وَاسْتَغْفِرِي لِذَنْبِكِ إِنَّكِ كُنْتِ مِنَ الْخَاطِئِينَ (Yūsuf, turn away from this, and you — woman — ask forgiveness for your sin; verily, you are among the sinners.) [12:29]
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is — according to what is related from Ibn ʿAbbās — a notification from Allah, the Exalted, about what the witness said against the woman and against Yūsuf.
By His word يُوسُفُ He means: O Yūsuf. أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَذَا — he says: turn away from mentioning what she did toward you when she sought to seduce you, and do not speak of it to anyone, [see note 53] as in:
19136 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word يُوسُفُ أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَذَا : "Do not speak of it." وَاسْتَغْفِرِي — you, woman — your husband, he says: implore him not to punish you for the sin you committed and that he conceal it for you.
إِنَّكِ كُنْتِ مِنَ الْخَاطِئِينَ — he says: verily, you are among the sinners because of your seeking to seduce Yūsuf to depart from his honor.
One says of this: "khaṭiʾa" for the committing of sins (khaṭīʾa) — "yakhṭaʾu khiṭʾan wa-khaṭaʾan" [see note 54] — as Allah, the Praised, said: إِنَّ قَتْلَهُمْ كَانَ خِطْئًا كَبِيرًا (Verily, killing them is a great sin) [Sūrat al-Isrāʾ: 31]. And "al-khaṭaʾ" in matters.
It is also related that for "the correct" (al-ṣawāb) one also says "al-ṣawābu" and "al-ṣawbu," [see note 55] as the poet [Aws ibn Ghalfāʾ, note 56] said:
"Verily, both my errors and my correct deeds are charged to my own account; and all that I have squandered is my own possession." [note 57]
And one recites a verse of Umayya:
"Your servants sin, and You are the Lord — in Your hands lie death and the inescapable decrees." [note 58]
— derived from the verb "khaṭiʾa al-rajul" (the man sinned).
It has also been noted that it states إِنَّكِ كُنْتِ مِنَ الْخَاطِئِينَ and not "min al-khāṭiʾāt" (the female sinners), because the intent was not the notification about women as such, but the notification about whoever performs this act and thereby sins.
