The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Yūsuf – Verse 29

يوسُفُ أَعرِض عَن هٰذا ۚ وَاستَغفِري لِذَنبِكِ ۖ إِنَّكِ كُنتِ مِنَ الخاطِئينَ

Joseph, let this [matter] alone, and you [woman], plead for forgiveness for your sin, for you have indeed been erring.’

EXEGESIS

Istaghfirī (plead for forgiveness) is the feminine imperative of istaghfara, the tenth verbal form derived from ghafara which means to forgive, to pardon. Its primary signification is to cover, veil, conceal, or hide. Ghafara al-shayba bil-khiḍāb means ‘he covered or concealed the white hair with dye’.‎[1] And ghafara lahu dhanbuhu (He forgave his offence) is more literally ‘He (God) covered his offence’. Istighfār is to ask for forgiveness, to apologise (71:10). Thus, as an imperative, istaghfirī means ‘plead for forgiveness’. God is al-ghāfir (One who forgives) (40:3) and, in its intensified form al-ghafūr (39:53) and al-ghaffār (20:82, 38:66, 39:5, 40:42, 71:10), meaning ‘One who readily inclines to pardon, is much-forgiving’.

Dhanb (sin) literally means ‘the tail end of something’. This etymology suggests its conceptual meaning: any action with negative consequences that follows its perpetrator like a tail.‎[2] In religious contexts it specifically refers to sins, transgressions, or moral offences.‎[3]

While it is often used for sins (transgressions against God), it can also have the meaning of something that society considers wrong and criminal, even though in reality it is not, like in the verse, They have a charge (dhanb) against me, and I fear they will kill me (26:14).

Khāṭiʾīn (erring ones) is the masculine plural active participle of the verb khaṭīʾah, which literally means ‘to miss a target’ and figuratively signifies ‘to err or make a mistake’, whether in judgement, action, or speech.‎[4] It is the opposite of ṣawāb and can refer to both intentional and unintentional wrongs. It is said that khaṭiʾa khaṭīʾatan is used for intentional wrongdoings, while akhṭaʾa khaṭaʾan is used for unintentional errors. Accordingly, their active participles differ: khāṭiʾ (as in this verse) for deliberate sin and mukhṭiʾ for accidental mistakes.‎[5] Although the immediate addressee here is female, the masculine plural (khāṭiʾīn) is used because, in Arabic grammar, mixed gender groups default to the masculine plural form.

EXPOSITION

The governor then turned his attention to Joseph (a), saying, Joseph, let this [matter] alone, meaning: don’t pay this matter any mind. He was eager to leave this embarrassment behind, yet was unwilling to do away with Prophet Joseph (a) whom he had been fond of since the beginning and in whom he had placed great hopes. Others have said he meant that Prophet Joseph (a) should not talk about this matter to anyone.‎[6]

Then the governor turned to his wife and said, and you [woman], plead for forgiveness for your sin. It is possible that he meant that she should plead forgiveness from God or their deities.‎[7] It is also possible that he meant it in a non-religious way, and that sin here simply means a crime or transgression, as in ‘repent for your wicked ways’. Thus, khaṭīʾah here straddles ethical breach and divine offence, with the addressee’s intent shaping its meaning.

For you have indeed been erring: many have pointed out how the governor doesn’t seem too bothered by her attempt to cheat on him,‎[8] as is apparent from his lukewarm reaction, where everything should simply return to its status quo. This is suggestive of their marriage being one of social convenience and such affairs and such reactions are common amongst many of the aristocracy, who care most about appearances and not about the reality of affairs.‎[9]

We may surmise that she was probably from some important family and their marriage was for political or social purposes. It was all too common that a young girl should marry an older man whom she did not love, nor who loved her, simply for the sake of such purposes. It is quite likely that the witness who was present and who was a relative of hers was an influential man from such an influential family, and that is why he was accompanying the governor and why his word carried weight with him and his wife, and why he dared to give opinion at such a critical moment of domestic turmoil.

Furthermore, in Ancient Egypt, apparently divorcing a woman was not always a simple matter. Men had to pay women a financial settlement upon divorce, which disincentivised them from doing so.‎[10] As the sum of dowries is usually larger if a woman is of noble birth, hers would have probably been prohibitively expensive. These are all factors that may have figured into his lukewarm reaction.

One of the key lessons from this episode of the story is the peril of immoral conduct that can stem from unrestrained interaction between men and women.‎[11]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

The exegetes have offered many other suggestions as to why the governor had such a mild reaction:

  1. God tempered his jealousy, so that he should not bring about any harm to Prophet Joseph (a).‎[12]
  2. He did not want the news spreading and being embarrassed.‎[13] This is unlikely, as others were clearly present in the situation and there was no hope in stopping the news from spreading, and we know from the very next verse that it indeed did spread.
  3. He was a forbearing (ḥalīm) man.‎[14] We should not judge him too favourably, considering he still decided to wrongfully imprison Prophet Joseph (a) knowing he was innocent, but due to not wanting to be further inconvenienced in the matter.
  4. He was understanding, because Prophet Joseph (a) was so very handsome.‎[15]
  5. Such infidelity was commonplace at that time.‎[16] While infidelity may have occurred, it certainly was not socially acceptable in Ancient Egypt and laws and conventions were in place regarding such matters. Every society frowned upon infidelity, if for no reason other than making sure bloodlines were properly kept.‎[17]
  6. Like many rulers and the elite in power, he was so steeped in corruption and sins that such matters were not important to him.‎[18] This may be true to some extent, if by it we mean that he probably did not have strong moral or religious views about the matter. However, as we explained earlier, even in a marriage of convenience one still wishes to make sure their children are really theirs, and the social embarrassment of having one’s wife act in such a manner was unacceptable to a man such as the governor.

It has been claimed that this and the previous verse were the words of the witness,‎[19] and as such some have added that plead for forgiveness means ‘plead the forgiveness of your husband’.‎[20] This is incorrect, as it is not the place of the witness to pass judgement in this matter or to decide what should be done.‎[21] 

[1] Lane, gh-f-r.
[2] Raghib, p. 331, dh-n-b.
[3] Lisan, 1/389, dh-n-b.
[4] Tahqiq, 3/88.
[5] Al-Ifṣāḥ fī Fiqh al-Lughah, 1/253.
[6] Tabrisi, 5/347; Tabari, 12/117; Thalabi, 5/215; Qurtubi, 9/175.
[7] Tibyan, 6/127.
[8] See for example Tibyan, 6/127; Tabrisi, 5/348.
[9] Tantawi, 7/347; Qutb; Qaraati, 4/191; Munyah, 14/170; Sharawi, p. 6925.
[10] See Donald B Redford, ‘Family’ in The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt (Oxford 2001), 1/501, accessed at: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/3503/1/Feucht_Family_2001.pdf.
[11] Tantawi, 7/348.
[12] Tabrisi, 5/348.
[13] Nemuneh, 9/386.
[14] Zamakhshari, 2/461.
[15] Ibn Kathir, 4/329.
[16] Mudarrisi, 5/188.
[17] See Donald B Redford, ‘Family’ in The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt (Oxford 2001), 1/501, accessed at: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/3503/1/Feucht_Family_2001.pdf.
[18] Nemuneh, 9/388.
[19] Tabari, 12/117.
[20] Tabrisi, 5/348; Tabari, 12/117.
[21] Mizan, 11/144.