Page 238 صفحة ٢٣٨

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.’

She made for him, and he would have succumbed to her if he had not seen evidence of his Lord- We did this in order to keep evil and indecency away from him, for he was truly one of Our chosen servants.

They raced for the door- she tore his shirt from behind- and at the door they met her husband. She said, ‘What, other than prison or painful punishment, should be the reward of someone who tried to dishonour your wife?’

but he said, ‘She tried to seduce me.’ A member of her household suggested, ‘If his shirt is torn at the front, then it is she who is telling the truth and he who is lying,

but if it is torn at the back, then she is lying and he is telling the truth.’

When the husband saw that the shirt was torn at the back, he said, ‘This is another instance of women’s treachery: your treachery is truly great.

Joseph, overlook this; but you [wife], ask forgiveness for your sin- you have done wrong.’

Some women of the city said, ‘The governor’s wife is trying to seduce her slave! Love for him consumes her heart! It is clear to us that she has gone astray.’