So when she heard of their scheming, she sent for them and prepared for them a banquet and gave each one of them a knife and said [to Joseph], "Come out before them." And when they saw him, they greatly admired him and cut their hands593 and said, "Perfect is Allāh!594 This is not a man; this is none but a noble angel."
Notes
[593] So distracted were they at the sight of him.
[594] In His ability to create such beauty.
Verse 31 of Surah Yusuf (12:31), a Meccan surah, is in juz 12, on page 239 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 73 reciters.
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Tafsir of verse 31
Al-Mukhtasar
When the wife of the minister heard of their disapproval of her and their gossip about her, she sent an invitation to them to come and see Joseph, so that they would excuse her. She prepared for them a place with cushions and pillows and she gave each one of the women who were invited a knife to cut food. She then said to Joseph (peace be upon him), ‘Go out to them!’ When they saw him, they were taken aback by his beauty and stunned by his handsomeness. As a result, they cut their hands with the knives that were meant for cutting food and they said: Allah is free of faults! This boy is not human. The beauty he possesses is not found in human beings. He can only be one of the noble angels.
When she heard of their gossip, she invited them and arranged for them a banquet, gave each one of them a knife, and said [to Joseph], “Come out before them.” When they saw him, they were so stunned12 that they cut their hands, and said, “Great God! This cannot be human; this must be a noble angel.”
Notes
[12] In the long Hadith of the Nocturnal Journey and Ascension (al-isrā’ wa al-mi‘rāj), Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) described Prophet Joseph (عليه السلام) when he met him as a man who is “Endowed with half of all human handsomeness.” [cf. Muslim: 162]
So when she heard of their accusation, she sent for them and prepared a banquet for them; she gave each one of them a knife (to cut the foodstuff with), and she said [(to Yûsuf (Joseph)]: "Come out before them." Then, when they saw him, they exalted him (at his beauty) and (in their astonishment) cut their hands. They said: "How perfect is Allâh (or Allâh forbid)! No man is this! This is none other than a noble angel!"
And when she heard of their sly talk, she sent to them and prepared for them a cushioned couch (to lie on at the feast) and gave to every one of them a knife and said (to Joseph): Come out unto them! And when they saw him they exalted him and cut their hands, exclaiming: Allah Blameless! This is no a human being. This is not other than some gracious angel.
When she heard of their malicious talk, she sent for them and prepared a banquet for them: she gave each of them a knife: and she said (to Joseph), "Come out before them." When they saw him, they did extol him, and (in their amazement) cut their hands: they said, "Allah preserve us! no mortal is this! this is none other than a noble angel!"
So when she heard of their sly talk she sent for them and prepared for them a repast, and gave each of them a knife, and said (to Yusuf): Come forth to them. So when they saw him, they deemed him great, and cut their hands (in amazement), and said: Remote is Allah (from inperfection); this is not a mortal; this is but a noble angel.
So, as soon as she heard their scheming, she sent for them, and she readied for them a reclining (couch). And she brought each one of them a knife, and said, (to Yusuf), "Go out to them." So, as soon as they saw him, they were greatly (amazed) at him and cut their hands severely (The Arabic verb form implies something done repeatedly or to a high degree or great extent) and said, " Allah forbid! (i.e. Allah forbid that Yusuf could have ever solicited her!) In no way is this a mortal; decidedly this is nothing else except an honorable angel."
