قالَ رَبِّ السِّجنُ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِمّا يَدعونَني إِلَيهِ ۖ وَإِلّا تَصرِف عَنّي كَيدَهُنَّ أَصبُ إِلَيهِنَّ وَأَكُن مِنَ الجاهِلينَ

He said: ‘My Lord! The prison is dearer to me than to what they invite me. If You do not turn away their schemes from me, then I will incline towards them and become one of the senseless.’

EXEGESIS

Kaydahunna (their schemes); as mentioned in verse 5, the term kayd refers to a deliberate plan or scheme designed to achieve a particular end. While it can be used in both positive and negative contexts, it most commonly carries a negative connotation, implying cunning or deceitful strategising.[1]

Aṣbu (incline) is a first person imperfect verb from ṣabw, which originally means gentle, affectionate leaning, often with longing.[2] A gentle breeze is called ṣabā because people enjoy it and desire it.[3] Also, a child is called ṣabī because of the inherent lack of strength, but also because they incline towards (sometimes inappropriate) things such as playing, or being naughty.[4] The usage of the word is most appropriate here then, as the fear is that such inclinations will gradually take hold of a believer, weakening his resolve, due to the ceaseless whisperings of immoral people.

Jāhilīn (senseless) is a plural active participle from jahl, meaning to be ignorant and unaware, or to believe something is the opposite of what it actually is, or to behave contrary to how one should.[5]

Tabatabai argues that the phrase wa illā taṣrif ʿannī (If You do not turn away … from me) suggests that the divine aid granted to Prophet Joseph (a) was not merely a one-time response to his supplication, but rather a continuous support sustaining him. Had it been temporary, the conditional phrasing would logically have taken the form wa in lam taṣrif ʿannī (and if You did not turn away from me).[6] This subtle grammatical distinction – though exceedingly difficult to render precisely in English – highlights the permanence of God’s protection in Prophet Joseph’s (a) ordeal.

EXPOSITION

He said: upon witnessing the reaction of the women, Prophet Joseph (a) had likely withdrawn behind a curtain or partition where he could hear the governor’s wife addressing her guests – the very words recounted in the preceding verse. Profoundly disturbed by her brazen demand, he turned inward to commune with his Lord in supplication.

My Lord! The prison is dearer to me than to what they invite me: this statement is a very significant one and should give every reader pause. It is a great testament to the faith, determination, purity, and morality of Prophet Joseph (a). For so many, difficulties and hardships are a convenient excuse to stoop to immoral behaviour. Prophet Joseph (a) was faced with immense pressures from all different directions, yet he held steadfastly to his honour and ethics.

Prophet Joseph’s (a) invocation beginning with My Lord! should not be understood merely as a supplication, but rather as a profound declaration of his true intentions and spiritual priorities.[7] As previously established in our commentary on verse 24, his refusal to comply with the governor’s wife’s demand stemmed not from any lack of physical attraction, but from his utter abhorrence of sin itself.

While imprisonment was certainly undesirable to Prophet Joseph (a) – an unjust punishment for no wrongdoing – he consciously preferred it over committing transgression. This critical distinction reveals his moral calculus: suffering unjustly for the sake of righteousness is infinitely preferable to willingly committing a grave sin. The prison cell, though bitter, would preserve his spiritual purity; acquiescence, though momentarily convenient, would stain his soul.[8]

Note that Prophet Joseph (a) does not make mention of her threat of abasement in his supplication. This is because God would never allow His friends to be abased. As is mentioned in the famous hadith from Imam al-Husayn (a): ‘Indeed, the illegitimate son of an illegitimate father has left me [to choose] between the sword and abasement. Far be it from me to accept that! Abasement is far from us! God, His Messenger, and the believers refuse that for us.’[9]

If You do not turn away their schemes from me, then I will incline towards them: Prophet Joseph (a) had unequivocally rejected their demands yet turned to God in earnest supplication – seeking divine protection against the success of their schemes and any potential weakening of his resolve. Profoundly aware of humanity’s vulnerability to carnal desires, he recognised that only through God’s gracious intervention (luṭf) could he remain steadfast against such temptations.[10]

This exemplifies the characteristic manner of the prophets and the awliyāʾ who consistently attribute all goodness to divine grace – as expressed in the Quranic verse, All praise belongs to Allah, who guided us to this. We would have never been guided had Allah not guided us (7:43). Prophet Joseph’s (a) supplication here should not be misconstrued as seeking divine compulsion toward righteousness whilst harbouring sinful inclinations.[11] Rather, he acknowledges the formidable external pressures surrounding him and seeks God’s protection from being drawn into the ignorant transgressions these women attempt to entice him towards. In doing so, he demonstrates the perfect balance between recognising human vulnerability and affirming divine sovereignty.

The usage of the plural them could indicate that it was no longer just the governor’s wife that was plotting to seduce Prophet Joseph (a). Some have said this is because each of them later attempted to make an advance towards him and solicited him.[12] Others have said it is because the women began to try to persuade him to accept the governor’s wife’s proposal.[13] It is also likely that it refers to their lifestyle and thinking, meaning ‘I would incline to such a mentality and way of life as they have’. This understanding is supported by what he says immediately after, and become one of the senseless, meaning ‘I too would be a person who lives a life steeped in such ignorance and sin as these people’.

And become one of the senseless: consistent with the overarching theme of the surah, sin is once again presented through the lens of knowledge versus ignorance. Only those who fail to comprehend the true consequences of sin would ever consider it a viable option. No worldly hardship or punishment can rival the gravity of sin’s ultimate repercussions – a reality that the discerning would never ignore.

The contrast in perception between the knowledgeable and the ignorant is striking: the ignorant see only immediate gratification on one side and temporal suffering (like imprisonment) on the other, leading them to make choices that bring ruin upon themselves and others. Those endowed with true knowledge, like Prophet Joseph (a), pierce through such superficial illusions. They recognise that the real choice lies between transient pleasure followed by humiliation in this life and the next, or temporary hardship yielding eternal honour and divine satisfaction. For the wise, the decision is unmistakable.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Abū Ḥamzah al-Thumālī reports from Imam al-Sajjād (a), that when the women left the presence of the governor’s wife, each one of them secretly sent a message to Prophet Joseph (a) without the knowledge of the others, asking him for a visit.[14]
2. From Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī and others, that the Prophet said: ‘There are seven whom Allah will shelter beneath His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His: a just leader; a youth who grows up in the worship of God; a man whose heart remains tied to the mosque – longing to return from the moment he departs; two believers whose friendship and separation are for God’s sake alone; a man who remembers God in private, and his eyes overflow with tears; a man who is beckoned by a woman of status and beauty but says, “I fear God”; and a man who gives charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given.’[15]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Ṭabrisī contends that the term dearer (aḥabb) in this context should be interpreted as ‘easier’, since it is inconceivable that Prophet Joseph (a) could have any genuine preference for either sin or imprisonment so that the one be dearer to him than the other. Rather, the verse highlights the lesser of two unbearable options.[16] However, this interpretation rests on a strained understanding of aḥabb within the verse’s rhetorical framework, which does not necessitate literal ‘preference’ but rather emphasises principled aversion.

Rāzī argues in a similar vein saying that how should Prophet Joseph (a) find wrongful imprisonment dearer, when it is a sin to wrongfully imprison someone. Rāzī then posits that if one is faced with a choice between two evils, they should choose the lesser.[17] While the conclusion may be true, the premise is incorrect. Prophet Joseph (a) did not wish to be wrongfully imprisoned, but he refused to commit sin. The fact that others would imprison him for that is their sin, not his.

Rāzī relates how Asharite scholars have argued that If You do not turn away their schemes from me is evidence that if God does not divert a person away from sin, he will not be able to divert himself.[18] However, the verse does not speak about Prophet Joseph (a) asking God to divert him from sin, but to turn away their schemes from him, and the next verse confirms that it was indeed what God did.

Qarāʾatī points to this verse as one of the examples of how a believer should move themselves away from situations and environments in which sin is rife.[19]

[1] Raghib, p. 728, k-y-d.
[2] Thalabi, 5/220.
[3] Alusi, 6/426; Tantawi, 7/355.
[4] Tahqiq, 6/229-230, ṣ-b-w.
[5] Raghib, p. 209, j-h-l.
[6] Mizan, 11/154.
[7] See also Mizan, 11/152; Tabari, 12/125.
[8] See Nemuneh, 9/398.
[9] Ihtijaj, 2/24.
[10] Tabrisi, 5/354.
[11] See Alusi, 6/425. See also Zamakhshari, 2/467. Note that having human desires such as lust is one thing, and desiring to commit sin is a completely different thing. As we argued previously, with sufficient knowledge and understanding, one may possess the prior without having the latter.
[12] Tibyan, 6/135. Ālūsī attributes this opinion to Imam al-Sajjād (a) (Alusi 6/425).
[13] Tibyan, 6/135; Tabrisi, 5/353; Muhit, 6/273; Alusi, 6/425-426. The two possibilities are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
[14] Tabrisi, 5/353.
[15] The same hadith is also reported from Ibn Abbas and Abū Hurayrah, with some slight variation. Khisal, p. 343; Wasail, 5/199, h. 6323; Muwatta, 2/952-953; Ahmad, 2/439; Bukhari, 1/160-161; Muslim, 3/93; Tirmidhi, 4/24, h. 2500; Bayhaqi, 4/190.
[16] Tabrisi, 5/354. Such opinion is also related in Tibyan, 6/135; Qurtubi, 9/184.
[17] Razi, 18/452.
[18] Razi, 18/452.
[19] Qaraati, 4/198.