"And she certainly determined [to seduce] him." [Yusuf 12:23]

Asalaamu alaykum waRahmatullah waBarakaatuh.

I’ll tel you one Gem which amazed me at the depth of the Quranic Arabic;

In surah Yusuf, ayah [12:]23, Allah tells us [in translation of the meaning in english]:

وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا

“And she certainly determined [to seduce] him.” [Yusuf 12:23]

That’s a common English translation, it seems boring and simple. But now I’ll tell you the word in arabic and its deep meaning;

The word Allah used for ‘attempted seduce’ [on the pattern of muFaa’alah = ‘attempted’] is: رَاوَدَ

The Root letters of this word are; رودَ

1st meaning: ( رود) Ra-Waw-Dal = to seek, ask a thing gently, search (for food), go to and fro in a pasture, go round about.

2nd meaning: rawada – to long after, desire, seduce, entice, seduce against the will

3rd meaning: The word iradah is used for power and capacity with reference to subjugation as well as to option and choice. i.e. ruwaidan = to leave someone for a little while, go gently with them (even though you have authority to punish them.) [i.e. see surah Tariq 86:17])

So we’re not trying to do a Tafseer of the ayah, but just for personal reflection, we see the depth of the ayah so the wife of al Azeez could probably fit all those descriptions when trying to seduce Yusuf:

She would show him hints that; she likes him, she would go around him and give him attention, she would entice him, she would go around him ‘to and fro’, she would try to subjugate him while giving him abit of choice so that he might start getting attracted to her.
Subhaan Allah, the depth of Allah’s speech! This is all explained – just through one word Root; Raawada – رود / رَاوَدَ

[I got the definitions from Lane’s Lexicon [PRL Online], which is an Arabic-English Lexicon with definitions from Classical Arabic dictionaries.]

Did the woman who tried to seduce Prophet Yusuf become Muslim? [Surah Yusuf 12: 51-53]

Asalaamu alaykum waRahmatullah waBarakaatuh

Did the woman who tried to seduce Prophet Yusuf become Muslim?  [Surah Yusuf 12: 51-53]

We know that after Prophet Yusuf had been imprisoned, he interpreted a dream of the king of Egypt and asked that he be released only after his innocence had been proven.

So the King of Egypt called the women who tried to seduce Prophet Yusuf and asked them about what happened, and this is what Allah narrates to us in the Qur’an;

قَالَ مَا خَطْبُكُنَّ إِذْ رَاوَدتُّنَّ يُوسُفَ عَن نَّفْسِهِ ۚ قُلْنَ حَاشَ لِلَّهِ مَا عَلِمْنَا عَلَيْهِ مِن سُوءٍ ۚ قَالَتِ امْرَأَتُ الْعَزِيزِ الْآنَ حَصْحَصَ الْحَقُّ أَنَا رَاوَدتُّهُ عَن نَّفْسِهِ وَإِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ

(The King) said (to the women): “What was your affair when you did seek to seduce Yusuf (Joseph)?” The women said: “Allah forbid! No evil know we against him!” The wife of Al-‘Aziz said: “Now the truth is manifest (to all), it was I who sought to seduce him, and he is surely of the truthful.”  [Yusuf 12:51]


ذَٰلِكَ لِيَعْلَمَ أَنِّي لَمْ أَخُنْهُ بِالْغَيْبِ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي كَيْدَ الْخَائِنِينَ

[Then Yusuf (Joseph) said: “I asked for this enquiry] in order that he (Al-‘Aziz) may know that I betrayed him not in secret. And, verily! Allah guides not the plot of the betrayers. [12:52]


وَمَا أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِي ۚ إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

“And I free not myself (from the blame). Verily, the (human) self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His Mercy (upon whom He wills). Verily, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [12:53]

Now we notice one thing which stands out – the brackets in the above translations [which are Tafseer]. If we however, were to remove the brackets, we see the following message;

He said – “What was your affair when you did seek to seduce Yusuf. The women said: “Allah forbid! No evil know we against him!” The wife of Al-‘Aziz said: “Now the truth is manifest it was I who sought to seduce him, and he is surely of the truthful.”  [12:51]

In order that he may know that I betrayed him not in secret. And, verily! Allah guides not the plot of the betrayers. [12:52]

“And I free not myself/ Verily, the self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His Mercy. Verily, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [12:53]

Now this is a minority, yet legitimate opinion (because it makes sense linguistically) held by some scholars of Tafseer. They hold the view that this whole passage of ‘ wanting to betray’ discussion is the statement of the woman who tried to seduce Prophet Yusuf.

Syed Qutb mentions in his Tafseer:

At this point, the woman who loved Joseph and could not rid herself of such love, despite her despair of him ever succumbing to her guile, comes forward to confess all in a very frank statement: “The Chief Minister’s wife said: Now has the truth come to light. It was I who tried to seduce him. He has indeed told the truth.’“ (Verse 51) It is a full confession admitting her guilt and his commitment to telling the truth.

She goes even further to reveal that she still has a soft spot for him, hoping that she will gain his respect after all that time. There is a further hint that his faith had found its way into her heart and that she believed in it: “From this he will know that I did not betray him behind his back, and that God does not bless with His guidance the schemes of those who betray their trust.”1 (Verse 52)

Her confession and what comes after is described here in highly charged but refined words which tell us much about the feelings behind it. “It was I who tried to seduce him. He has indeed told the truth.” (Verse 51) This is a full testimony of his innocence and his having always said the truth. The woman does not mind what happens to her as a result of her confession. Was it then only the truth that she knew which prompted her to deliver that full confession in the presence of the King and nobles of the state?

The text of the sūrah implies a different motive. It suggests she was keen to win the respect of a man who is full of faith, and who paid no attention to her physical beauty. She now wanted that he respect her for her faith and honesty in giving a true account of his personality in his absence: “From this he will know that I did not betray him behind his back.” (Verse 52) She carries on with a moral statement of the type Joseph loves and appreciates: “God does not bless with His guidance the schemes of those who betray their trust.” (Verse 52)

She even goes a step further to express her new virtuous feelings: “And yet, I am not trying to claim to be free of sin. Indeed man’s soul does incite him to evil, except for those upon whom God has bestowed His mercy. My Lord is Much-Forgiving, Merciful.” (Verse 53) She was a woman in love. She was several years his senior. Her hopes depended largely on a word from him or a feeling of pleasure that she might feel he entertained.


– [Fi Dhilal al Qur’an Vol.10 p74 (Syed Qutb) – explanation of surah Yusuf]

In simple words; Allah said these aayaat amazingly in a way which could imply that these quoted words are either; the words of Prophet Yusuf, or the woman herself.  She might have said these words to show that she has become a believer now, and that she is regretful of her past. And perhaps Prophet Yusuf will feel happy with her and be willing to forgive her due to her regretful attitude.

End Note:

I remember hearing stories from my parents when I was younger, that Prophet Yusuf got the position of al ‘Azeez [the financial minister] and married his wife, who surprisingly was this same woman (called Zulaykha)! Maybe this was mentioned in the Isra’eeliyaat [Biblical references]? Allah knows best!

What makes a Piece of Text Eloquent & in Perfect Form?

al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh wa barakatuh.

 What makes a Piece of Text Eloquent & in Perfect Form?

One aspect of the miraculousness of the Qur’anic language lies in the precision of its words. As al-Suyuti said in al-Itqaan fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan,

“It is possible to convey a single meaning with a variety of words, some more expressive than others. Likewise for the two parts – subject and predicate – of a sentence; each may be expressed in the most eloquent manner when taken alongside the other.

Thus, it is necessary [in good composition] to; 

1) Consider the overall meaning of a sentence,

2) Then to consider every single word that may be used to convey that meaning, and then

3) To use the most appropriate, expressive and eloquent of those words. 

This is impossible for man to do consistently, or even most of the time, but it is well within the Knowledge of Allaah [whose knowledge is boundless], and thus the Qur’an was considered the best and most eloquent of all speech…”

One example of this usage lies in the morphological forms found in the Qur’an, which will sometimes reflect the deeper meaning of the word itself, and upon reflection it can be found that not a single word in the Qur’an can be changed for another without it affecting the depth of meaning conveyed by the original word.

One example of this is in Yusuf, verse 23:

وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا عَن نَّفْسِهِ وَغَلَّقَتِ الأَبْوَابَ وَقَالَتْ هَيْتَ لَكَ
And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him. She closed the doors and said: “Come, you.”

In this verse, Allaah used the verb form ghallaqa غلَّقَto mean ‘closed’. Another form from the same root also means ‘closed’ – aghlaqa أغْلَقَ– yet there is a very eloquent reason for which Allaah used the previous form: the connotations of the pattern followed by the form ghallaqa are ones of repetitiveness and intensity of the action’s performance, and thus the word form itself would give the reader who has knowledge of the Arabic language an idea of the intensity of the emotion and desire which drove the wife of al-‘Azeez to rush around closing the doors of her house (some mufassiroon (exegetes) commented that there were seven doors that she closed, and hence the form also indicates the repetition of her going to door after door closing it) so she could quickly try to seduce Yusuf. None of this would have been reflected through the use of the alternative word form aghlaqa.

Miracle Story Timeline – of Surah Yusuf.

Asalaam alaikum warahmatulah wabarakatuh.

Miracle Story Timeline – of Surah Yusuf

This is the layout of the plot of Surah Yusuf:

1 – Yusuf (alayhis-Salam) has a dream.
2 – His brothers plot against him
3 – His owner’s wife attempts to seduce him
4 – Her friends attempt to seduce him
5 – He (as) is imprisoned

6 – The king has a dream
6 – The king’s dream is interpreted

5 – Yusuf (as) is released from prison
4 – The ladies confess
3 – His former owner’s wife confesses
2 – His brothers learn their lesson
1 – Yusuf (as)’s dream is interpreted and realized.

This is spread out in exactly this order over 100 ayaat. Problems are introduced and solved in reverse symmetric order. Remember, these are verses of speech. Qur’an wasn’t revealed as a book. It was revealed in parts over 23 years! The thing is, humans just don’t think like this! You need a stack to process a story and say it like this.

To have this kind of consistency in speech over 23 years, forming what would later be compiled as a book and analyzed as a book is beyond human capacity. Armies of the best authors couldn’t do it, even with the luxury of being able to make mistakes the first few times and correct them.

Some gems from Divine Speech!

One of the ideas of the class is to show the perfect and always-consistent positioning of each word in the Qur’an. Each word means precisely what it’s supposed to in that context, there’s no mismatch. And the consistency of those words being used whenever a similar context arises is amazing and beyond human capacity. For example, one could ask why is the word “Yathrib” used at Ahzab:13 whereas in other places it’s always “Madinah” (e.g. Munafiqoon:8)? Even more intriguingly, this surah is Madinan, and the word Madinah is used later on in the same surah at verse 60! One of the wisdoms for doing so (and Allah knows best) is that Madinah is a nickname (short for Madinat-un-Nabi – The City of the Prophet) given after Hijrah, and so the use of the the term “Madinah” by people signifies allegiance to the Prophet (saws). Now if we look closely at Ahzab:13 we see that it captures a part of the saying of the munafiqoon at the time – they’re exposing their hypocrisy at Khandaq by calling on the people of Yathrib (not Madinah!) to give up and go home. These were those who had lost their claim to power in the city as a result of Hijrah, and are using old associations to rouse the people, thereby making their nifaaq clear. So the use of Yathrib is not a mistake or slip-up as people might assume, it’s actually perfectly positioned.

Another example of word choice is with the plural words for blessing at Nahl:121 and Luqman:20. In Surah Luqman, the word used is “ni`am” which is a stronger plural form of “ni`amah”, and in Surah Nahl it is “an`um”, which is still plural but a weaker form. Now if we look at the context, in Surah Luqman Allah SWT is talking about how He SWT has perfected and endowed His MANY blessings upon us. In Surah Nahl however, the context is about how we as humans are unable to account in thankfulness for even one blessing (and the fact that Ibrahim (as) did so for even a few is remarkable). So Allah blesses us with “ni`am” (many) but our gratitude is only for “an`um” (few).

–

Surahs Isra’ and Kahf are very closely intertwined. In fact according to one of Amin Ahsan Islahi’s theories (author of Tadabbur-e-Qur’an) all 114 surahs can be divided into consecutive pairs, with such connections between each pair. Both talk about how the angels and Iblees were told to prostrate before Adam (as), but Iblees refused. Now Surah Isra (or Bani Israeel) is about the refusal of the Jews to accept Muhammad (saws) as a Prophet because he wasn’t “one of them.” The reason given for Iblees’ refusal in that surah is that he claimed he was superior because he was made of fire and Adam (as) of clay. So Allah SWT is drawing a parallel between the two refusals (being Arab vs. being Bani Israeel and being made of fire vs. clay) and warning the Jews of Iblees’ fate. In Surah Kahf, partly directed at the Christians (toward the beginning Allah SWT destroys their argument of having taken a son (audhubillah)) the reason given in Surah Kahf is that he was of the jinn and he disobeyed the command of Allah (fa-fasaqa `an amri rabbih). And this is a warning to the Christians who made one into three and who mistakenly believe they’re already saved – they need to hear what happened to the Disobeyer who also abandoned Allah’s Command. Also it refutes their theology of Iblees being a fallen angel – this verse categorically states he was of the jinn.

Another fascinating connection in those two surahs: they begin respectively by saying that the Prophet (saws) was raised up and the Book came down. And if you look at the beginnings and ends of both surahs, they cover all four popular dhikrs: at the beginning of Surah Isra you have tasbiH and at the end you have takbir, and with Surah Kahf you start off with taHmid and end with tahlil!

There are more that Br. Nouman talks about in class, but the point is that these are intricate connections that we can only appreciate superficially – imagine a human being actually constructing them. It’s just not possible.

–

Consider Hadid:20.

Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children. (It is) as the likeness of vegetation after rain, thereof the growth is pleasing to the tillers; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw. But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment (for the disbelievers – evildoers), and (there is) forgiveness from Allâh and (His) Good Pleasure (for the believers – good-doers). And the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment.

We’ve all read this verse and moved on. At least I didn’t pay much attention to it. But if you think about it, this one verse concisely summarizes and sums up our entire lives. And it’s not a pretty picture. Consider our lives – we start as toddlers. This verse starts with play (la`ibun), which is what toddlers are engrossed in, it’s most important to them. Then when we get a little older we need entertainment to keep us busy – amusement (lahwun). A little later in our teens we are obsessed with pomp, or appearance and how things look (zeenatun). Then as we get independent and make money we deal with urges to show off (boasting – tafaakhur). Then we get married and have kids (rivalry in wealth and children – takaathur fi al-amwaal wa al-aulaad). In just a few words, Allah SWT has compressed our entire thought process throughout our lives! Then He (SWT) makes an analogy of it in the same verse. Heavy rain impresses the farmer as he is burying seeds, green shoots make him happy and make him feel like he’s close to achieving something big, and then the crop matures. But why doesn’t the farmer cut it and harvest it? Why does he watch it turn yellow? It’s because we humans run after a lot of things, but when we get them we immediately lose interest most of the time and newer shinier things take our attention. Then those crops turn into straw and crust and eventually become worthless. And so this is Allah SWT telling us that nothing in this life will make us content and that only Allah can give us true contentment (riDwaan). And the verse finishes – and what is this life except a deceptive enjoyment?

Subhanallah … one verse!

–

I’ll finish with the example from Surah Yusuf. That one really blew my mind. There are a number of noteworthy connections to be drawn from the story of Yusuf (as) as detailed in that surah but consider this. This is the layout of the plot:

1 – Yusuf (as) has a dream
2 – His brothers plot against him
3 – His owner’s wife attempts to seduce him
4 – Her friends attempt to seduce him
5 – He (as) is imprisoned
6 – The king has a dream
6 – The king’s dream is interpreted
5 – Yusuf (as) is released from prison
4 – The ladies confess
3 – His former owner’s wife confesses
2 – His brothers learn their lesson
1 – Yusuf (as)’s dream is interpreted and realized

This is spread out in exactly this order over 100 ayaat. Problems are introduced and solved in reverse symmetric order. Remember, these are verses of speech. Qur’an wasn’t revealed as a book. It was revealed in parts over 23 years! The thing is, humans just don’t think like this! You need a stack to process a story and say it like this.

To have this kind of consistency in speech over 23 years, forming what would later be compiled as a book and analyzed as a book is beyond human capacity. Armies of the best authors couldn’t do it, even with the luxury of being able to make mistakes the first few times and correct them.

http://fikrpad.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/some-gems-from-divine-speech/