Al-Qur'an Surah Yusuf Verse 23

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And she, in whose house he was, seduced him towards herself, and bolted the doors, and said, “come on!” He said, “I seek refuge with Allah. Surely, he (your husband) is my master. He has given me a good lodging. Indeed, the wrongdoers do not prosper.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And the lady, in whose house he lived, tried to seduce him. She locked the doors ˹firmly˺ and said, “Come to me!” He replied, “Allah is my refuge! It is ˹not right to betray˺ my master, who has taken good care of me. Indeed, the wrongdoers never succeed.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

But the woman in whose house he was living tried to seduce him. She bolted the doors and said, “Come here to me!” He said, “I seek refuge with Allah! My master has made my stay good. Indeed, the wrongdoers will never succeed.”

A. J. Arberry

Now the woman in whose house he was solicited him, and closed the doors on them. 'Come,' she said, 'take me!' 'God be my refuge,' he said. 'Surely my lord has given me a goodly lodging. Surely the evildoers do not prosper.

Abdul 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.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And she in whose house he was, solicited him against himself; and she fastened the doors, and said: come on, O thou! He said: Allah be my refuge: verily he is my lord; he hath made me a goodly dwelling; verily the wrong-doers fare not well.

Abdullah 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."

Ahmed Ali

But she in whose house he resided wished to seduce him and, closing the doors, said: "Come into me. "God forbid!" he said; "he is my master who has approved my stay. Surely those who act wrongly do not prosper."

Ahmed Raza Khan

And the woman in whose house he was, allured him not to restrain himself and she closed all the doors – and said, “Come! It is you I address!”; he said, “(I seek) The refuge of Allah – indeed the governor is my master – he treats me well; undoubtedly the unjust never prosper.”

Ali Quli Qarai

The woman in whose house he was, solicited him. She closed the doors and said, ‘Come!!’ He said, ‘God forbid! Indeed He is my Lord; He has given me a good abode. Indeed the wrongdoers are not felicitous.’

Ali Ünal

And the woman in whose house he was living sought to enjoy herself by him. She bolted the doors and said, "Come, please!" He said: "God forbid! My lord (your husband) has given me honorable, good lodging. Assuredly, wrongdoers never prosper."

Amatul Rahman Omar

Now the woman in whose house he was (putting up) sought to seduce him against his will and she bolted the doors well and said, `Now come, I am ready to receive you.´ He (- Joseph) said, `(How can it be possible,) I seek refuge with Allâh, He alone is my Lord. He has made my stay (with you) honourable. Verily, the wrong doers never flourish.´

English Literal

And who (F) he is in her house/home seduced/enticed him from himself, and she closed/shut the doors/entrances, and said: "Come/come here ." He said: "I seek protection (of) God, that He is my Lord, He did good/beautified my residence/home , that He does not make the unjust/oppressive succeed/win."

Faridul Haque

And the woman in whose house he was, allured him not to restrain himself and she closed all the doors - and said, "Come! It is you I address!"; he said, "(I seek) The refuge of Allah - indeed the governor is my master - he treats me well; undoubtedly the unjust never prosper."

Hamid S. Aziz

And when he had reached maturity We gave him judgment (or wisdom or power) and knowledge, for thus do We reward those who do good and right.

Hilali & 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."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when he attained his maturity, we gave him wisdom and knowledge. And thus do We reward the doers of good.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And she in whose house he was sought to make himself yield (to her), and she made fast the doors and said: Come forward. He said: I seek Allah's refuge, surely my Lord made good my abode: Surely the unjust do not prosper.

Mohammed Marmaduke William 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.

Muhammad Sarwar

His master's wife then tried to seduce him. She locked the doors and said to him, "Come on." He said, "I seek refuge in God who has given me a good place of shelter. The unjust will certainly have no happiness."

Qaribullah & Darwish

And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him and closed the doors saying: 'Come' 'In Allah is my refuge' he replied. 'My Lord has made my dwelling a good one. Harmdoers never prosper'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

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."

Wahiduddin Khan

However, the woman in whose house he lived, wanted to seduce him. One day she bolted the doors and said, "Come!" He replied, "God forbid! Truly [your husband] is my master and has treated me honourably. Wrongdoers certainly never prosper."

Talal Itani

She in whose house he was living tried to seduce him. She shut the doors, and said, “I am yours.” He said, “God forbid! He is my Lord. He has given me a good home. Sinners never succeed.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And she, in whose house he was -- namely Zulaykh -- attempted to seduce him, that is, she asked him to lie with her, and she closed the doors, of the house. And she said, to him; `Come!' (hayta laka; the lm [of laka] is for clarification; a variant reading has hta laka or haytu laka). `God forbid!', I seek refuge with God from this, he said. `Truly he, who bought me, is my lord, my master, who has given me an honourable place, [an honourable] residence, and so I cannot betray him with regard to his family. Truly, evildoers, fornicators, never prosper'.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Wife of the `Aziz loves Yusuf and plots against Him

Allah tells;

وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا عَن نَّفْسِهِ وَغَلَّقَتِ الَابْوَابَ

And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him (to do an evil act), and she closed the doors,

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 اللّهِ إِنَّهُ رَبِّي أَحْسَنَ مَثْوَايَ

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 لَا يُفْلِحُ الظَّالِمُونَ



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'