Joseph waited in the well until a caravan from Egypt came by and went to get water from that well. They were shocked to find such a beautiful and well mannered boy and they took Joseph as merchandise, selling him for a small price.

And there came some travellers, and they sent their water-boy who let down his bucket into the well. He cried out, “Oh, what a great find! Here is a boy!” And they took him secretly ˹to be sold˺ as merchandise, but Allah is All-Knowing of what they did.12:19

They ˹later˺ sold him for a cheap price, just a few silver coins—only wanting to get rid of him. 12:20

He was bought by the minister and his wife. Although Joseph entered Egypt powerless as a slave, only Allah knew what He had written for him to be able to take control of the land and rule it. This teaches us we should be patient with decree even if we can't see the immediate benefit.

The man from Egypt who bought him said to his wife, “Take good care of him, perhaps he may be useful to us or we may adopt him as a son.” This is how We established Joseph in the land, so that We might teach him the interpretation of dreams. Allah’s Will always prevails, but most people do not know.12:21

And when he reached maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge. This is how We reward the good-doers.12:22

The minister's wife was a woman of high society and beautiful. Joseph grew into a very handsome young man whose beauty tempted her to the extent that she could not resist her desires. One day, she put on her nicest clothes and invited him into her room and tried seducing him and attempted to get Joseph to commit indecency - however, he feared Allah and was of good character and a future prophet so he sought refuge with Allah and He, did not allow for it to happen.

And the lady, in whose house he lived, tried to seduce him. She locked the doors ˹firmly˺ and said, “Come to me!” He replied, “Allah is my refuge! It is ˹not right to betray˺ my master, who has taken good care of me. Indeed, the wrongdoers never succeed.”12:23

She advanced towards him, and he would have done likewise, had he not seen a sign from his Lord. This is how We kept evil and indecency away from him, for he was truly one of Our chosen servants.12:24

They raced for the door and she tore his shirt from the back, only to find her husband at the door. She cried, “What is the penalty for someone who tried to violate your wife, except imprisonment or a painful punishment?”12:25

As she drew closer to him, he began to swiftly leave the room and the minister's wife grabbed onto him, ripping his shirt. At this point Joseph opened the door and found the minister and others outside shocked and confused. The minister’s wife began to lie, blaming it on Joseph and saying he should be punished. Joseph remained truthful, insisting it was her attempting indecency. This avoiding of indecency is mentioned in hadith as one of the groups of people who will be given shade on the Day of Judgement when there will be no shade but from under Allah's throne [Bukhari 660, as in Muslim 1031].

Joseph responded, “It was she who tried to seduce me.” And a witness from her own family testified: “If his shirt is torn from the front, then she has told the truth and he is a liar.12:26

But if it is torn from the back, then she has lied and he is truthful.”12:27

So when her husband saw that Joseph’s shirt was torn from the back, he said ˹to her˺, “This must be ˹an example˺ of the cunning of you ˹women˺! Indeed, your cunning is so shrewd!12:28

O  Joseph! Forget about this. And you ˹O wife˺! Seek forgiveness for your sin. It certainly has been your fault.”12:29

An older wise man, advised that if the shirt was torn from the front, Joseph is a liar as it seems more likely the tear was because she was resisting. But, if the tear was from the back it's more likely he was the one running away. The husband therefore believed his wife was in the wrong, told Joseph to forget it happened and his wife to repent - as they still believed Allah was the one they needed to ask for forgiveness from, despite believing in idols.

Some women of the city gossiped, “The Chief Minister’s wife is trying to seduce her slave-boy. Love for him has plagued her heart. Indeed, we see that she is clearly mistaken.”12:30

When she heard about their gossip, she invited them and set a banquet for them. She gave each one a knife, then said ˹to Joseph˺, “Come out before them.” When they saw him, they were so stunned ˹by his beauty˺ that they cut their hands, and exclaimed, “Good God! This cannot be human; this must be a noble angel!”12:31

We are told about the talks of the women of high society in Egypt, the gossip of the minster’s wife became widespread. So the wife invited these women for a big feast. At dessert, the women were given knives as that was needed to cut open the dessert. She called Joseph to them and when they saw him they got carried away looking at him and cut themselves with their knives.

She said, “This is the one for whose love you criticized me! I did try to seduce him but he ˹firmly˺ refused. And if he does not do what I order him to, he will certainly be imprisoned and ˹fully˺ disgraced.” 12:32

The women then pushed him to listen to her and she threatened imprisonment if he did not obey her. But Joseph firmly resisted and prayed to Allah for help - a call which Allah answered. This depicts the character of the pious that they would rather suffer worse punishment than to give in to the disobedience of Allah.

Joseph prayed, “My Lord! I would rather be in jail than do what they invite me to. And if You do not turn their cunning away from me, I might yield to them and fall into ignorance.”12:33

So his Lord responded to him, turning their cunning away from him. Surely He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing.12:34

And so it occurred to those in charge, despite seeing all the proofs ˹of his innocence˺, that he should be imprisoned for a while. 12:35