Yusuf 31: When the woman heard their gossip, she sent an inviter to them. She prepared for them pillows they could rest on and gave each of them a knife. (When the women were peeling the fruits) she said, “appear before them.” When the women saw him, they understood his exaltedness. (Out of astonishment) they cut their fingers and said, “no, by our Lord! This is not a human, this is only an exalted angel.”
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Explanation
Translation
When the woman heard their gossip, she sent an inviter to them. She prepared for them pillows they could rest on and gave each of them a knife. (When the women were peeling the fruits) she said, “appear before them.” When the women saw him, they understood his exaltedness. (Out of astonishment) they cut their fingers and said, “no, by our Lord! This is not a human, this is only an exalted angel.”
Tafsir
When Zeliha, the wife of the saint of Egypt, somehow heard in the city that Hazrat Yusuf 'alaihis-salâm' had taken his wife's soul, Zeliha sent messengers to the women, who were disapproving of the wife of the saint of Egypt. She invites them. She prepares pillows for them to lean back on. When the invited women arrive, she places fruits in front of them and puts a knife in their hands. While the invited women were peeling the fruits, Zeliha said to Hadrat Yusuf 'alaihis-salâm', "Come out in front of these women. When Hazrat Yusuf 'alaihis-salâm' appeared before the women, the women cut their hands with the fruit knives they had peeled in their astonishment.
When the women saw Hazrat Yusuf 'alaihis-salâm', they realized his greatness. The meaning of greatness here is that besides the beauty of Yusuf, he was a friend of Allah and had a characteristic that was different from human beings. The women realized the greatness of Yusuf 'alaihis-salâm' and said: This is not a human being, but a superior angel.
Here, Zeliha wanted to show these women whom she was in love with, so that they would give rights to her ego. In addition to this, he invited women to his house in order to show the beauty of Yusuf to the women, to reduce the gossip about him, to turn the conversations to the beauty of Yusuf 'alaihis-salâm', and to make them forget his shame by lightening it.
What is said in the video
The 31st noble verse.
Yes, now, how dishonorable mankind is, how beautiful mankind is, and that Allah Almighty, because He gave man of His spirit, that (?) — Lekad halakne'l-insâne fî ahseni takvîm, and the verses where He says "We created man in the finest form" — how nicely people confirm them with their tongues. Yes, as Zuleikha, our Aziz's wife, seeking to seduce Joseph (peace be upon him) had somehow become known in the city, Zuleikha sends to the women who disapproved of our Aziz's wife messengers. She invites them. She prepares cushions for them to lean back on. When the invited women arrive, she places fruit before them.
And she gives each of them a knife. Yes.
While the invited women are peeling the fruit, Zuleikha says to Joseph (peace be upon him): Come out before these women. When Joseph (peace be upon him) comes out before the women, the women, in their astonishment, cut their hands with the fruit knives they were peeling with. When the women saw Joseph (peace be upon him), they understood his greatness.
What is meant by greatness here is that, besides Joseph's beauty, he was a friend of Allah and possessed a nature far from evil. Understanding the greatness of Joseph (peace be upon him), the women said: God forbid, our Lord! This is no human being; this is nothing but a noble angel. So Zuleikha, by showing these women whom she was in love with, wanted her nafs to be justified. Now in this situation, where are these commentators, these scoundrels, these dishonorable ones — I have no more words — as if she had done it at the Aziz's side, as if he had lost his manhood, as if the woman had given her nafs to someone else — repentance, astaghfirullah.
I mean, to disparage people this much or to vilify them, to side with the woman by disregarding Allah's verses, to bring things to where she is justified — it truly stirs up the conscience of anyone who calls himself a human being. These are not commentators. These are people who deliberately write commentary, and the verses they write about, Allah's verses, they pull toward kufr; poor wretches swimming in ignorance, (?) people who are enemies of Allah. Because I cannot say anything other than this. If they had feared Allah, they would not have interpreted the verses this way.
So Zuleikha, by showing these women whom she was in love with, wanted her nafs to be justified. Besides, by showing Joseph's beauty to the women, reducing the gossip about herself, turning the talk to the beauty of Joseph (peace be upon him), to lessen her disgrace and make it forgotten, she invited the women to her home. Yes.