Some later authorities said that the ʿAzīz bought him for twenty dinars; others maintained that he paid Joseph’s weight in musk, or his weight in silk, or his weight in silver. Allah knows best.

The words of the Almighty, “Thus We established Joseph in the land” (12:21), mean: just as We disposed the ʿAzīz and his wife to treat him kindly and care for him, We settled him securely in the land of Egypt. “And so that We might teach him the interpretation of events” (12:21)-that is, their underlying meaning, including the interpretation of dreams. “Allah prevails over His affair” (12:21)-whenever He wills something, He brings about for it causes and means that His servants could never anticipate. For this reason He says, “But most people do not know” (12:21).

“And when he reached full maturity We granted him wisdom and knowledge; thus do We reward those who do good” (12:22). This shows that everything described so far happened before he attained full maturity, which is forty years-the age at which Allah customarily sends revelation to His prophets, peace be upon them.

Scholars have differed over what age marks full maturity (rushd or ashudd). Mālik, Rabīʿah, Zayd ibn Aslam, and al-Shaʿbī said it is the onset of puberty. Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said eighteen; al-Ḍaḥḥāk, twenty; ʿIkrimah, twenty-five; al-Suddi, thirty; Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, and Qatādah, thirty-three; while al-Ḥasan said forty-which is supported by Allah’s statement, “Until, when he reaches full maturity and reaches forty years…” (46:15).

She in whose house he was sought to seduce him; she barred the doors and said, “Come to me.” He replied, “Allah forbid! He is my Lord; He has given me good lodging—wrongdoers never prosper.” She desired him, and he would have desired her had he not seen the proof of his Lord. Thus We turned away from him evil and indecency; surely he was one of Our devoted servants. They both raced to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back; they met her master at the door. She cried, “What should be the punishment of one who intended evil against your household except that he be imprisoned or suffer a painful chastisement?” He said, “It was she who tried to seduce me.” 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; but if his shirt is torn from the back, then she has lied and he is truthful.” When he saw the shirt torn from the back he said, “This is surely one of your women’s plots; your plots are indeed great. Joseph, leave this alone, and you, seek forgiveness for your sin—you were clearly at fault.” (12:23-29)

Allah recounts how the wife of the ʿAzīz attempted to seduce Joseph, asking of him what did not befit his rank. She possessed beauty, wealth, status, and youth. She locked the doors behind them, prepared and adorned herself, putting on her finest, most luxurious garments—yet she was still the minister’s wife.

Ibn Isḥāq says she was the daughter of the sister of King al-Rayyān ibn al-Walīd, the ruler of Egypt.

Despite Joseph’s remarkable beauty and splendor, he was a prophet from a line of prophets. His Lord safeguarded him from indecency and protected him from women’s guile. He is the foremost among the seven distinguished, God-fearing men mentioned in the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections from the Seal of the Prophets—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—concerning the divine saying: “Seven shall be shaded by Allah…"