The Egyptian who bought Yusuf (Alayhis salam) from the caravan gave
him a position of responsibility in his household. As Yusuf (Alayhis
salam) grew to full manhood he became extremely handsome and the wife
of his master fell hopelessly in love with him. One day, when she was
alone in a room with him, she approached him with sinful intentions.
As he attempted to flee from the room to avoid her advances, she
grabbed his shirt from behind and tore it.
At the door of the room they ran into the master ofthe household, who
demanded to know what was happening. The wife accused Yusuf of chasing
her and Yusuf denied it. One of the members of thehousehold suggested
a way to determine who was telling the truth. If Yusuf's (Alayhis
salam) shirt was torn in the front, then the wife had been resisting
Yusuf (Alayhis salam). But if the shirt were torn in the back, thenthe
wife had been pursuing Yusuf (Alayhis salam). Since the shirt had been
torn from behind, Yusuf (Alayhis salam) was shown to be telling the
truth.
The master told him to take no further notice of the matter, and he
reprimanded his wife for having done something wrong.
Despite the husband's attempt to hush up the whole affair, gossip was
soon spreading throughout the city that the wife had fallen in love
with her servant. When she heard the malicious talk, the wife invited
all the women of the town toa meal and gave each of them a knife to
use. She then called Yusuf (Alayhis salam) into the room. All the
women were so overcome by the sight of the handsome young man that
they cut their hands with the knives which theyheld. In this way the
mistress of the house showed them why she hadsought Yusuf (Alayhis
salam) and she vowed thatif he did not yield to her wishes she would
have him imprisoned.
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) was an upright young man, and with the help of
Allah he had been able to resist the advances of any woman. But he
realized the weakness of his human nature and he knew that if so many
women were pursuing him, he might very well yield to temptation. And
so he prayed to Allah that he would rather be imprisoned than accept
any of their invitations, but he needed Allah's help to turn away
their attentions. And Allah heardhis plea and turned their attentions
from him.
But the men of the city, although acknowledging Yusuf's (Alayhis
salam) innocence, feared the commotion which his presence caused, and
thus decided to have him imprisoned. There Yusuf (Alayhis salam)
remained for several years.
Two other young men entered the prison at about the same time as Yusuf
(Alayhis salam). While in prison each of thetwo men had a dream. One
dreamed that he was pressing grapes; the other that he was carrying
breadon his head from which the birds were eating. Eachwas puzzled
about the meaning of his dream, andasked Yusuf (Alayhis salam) if he
could interpretit.
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) promised to interpret their dreams before their
next meal was brought to them, but while he had their attention, he
took advantage of the opportunity to perform some dawa. He told them
about the supremacy of Allah and about belief in the Hereafter. He
told them about the futility of worshipping gods other than Allah. He
told them ofthe right religion about which many people do notknow.
Only after he had given hismessage about Islam did he interpret the
dreams. He said that the man who had dreamed that he was pressing
grapes would be released and would be serving wine to his master,while
the other man would be executed and the birds would eat from off his
head. It happened as Yusuf (Alayhis salam) had foretold, and Yusuf
(Alayhis salam) asked the man who was released to mention Yusuf
(Alayhis salam) to his master, in order that Yusuf (Alayhis salam)
might also be released. But the man forgot and Yusuf (Alayhis salam)
stayed in prison for a few more years.
The king of Egypt then hada dream, in which he saw seven fat cattle
being devoured by seven lean cattle. He also saw seven green ears of
corn and seven withered ears. None of the chiefs in his court could
interpret the dream for him. At this point the king's servant, who had
been Yusuf's (Alayhis salam) cell mate, remembered Yusuf's (Alayhis
salam) ability to interpret the meaning of dreams. So he went to see
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) to ask about the dream.
Yusuf (Alayhis salam) explained that for seven years the crops would
be good, and that much of what had been harvested would be stored
away. Theseven good years would be followed by seven hard years in
which most of what had been stored would be consumed. After that
seven-year period of poor harvests, things would improve again.
:->
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