
12:52 “This,— that he may know that I have never been unfaithful to him in absence, and that Allāh surely does not guide the device of the unfaithful ones.”
12:52 A small number of commentators thought Zulaikha made the statement in this verse in continuation of her confession in the previous verse (Ibn Kathīr, Yūsuf Ali). If Zulaikha stated this sentence, then she claimed she never was unfaithful to her husband. Whereas it is beyond doubt that her aggressive desiring and plotting to seduce Yūsuf was clearly an act of unfaithfulness, even though no sexual relation was established. Therefore, Zulaikha could not have made this statement of her innocence. She was not the innocent party in the story. Close analysis indicates this verse connects to v. 50 where Yūsuf refused to leave the prison until the truth is established. After Zulaikha confessed of her guilt, the statement in this verse was unquestionably made by Yūsuf as a reflection of his moral rectitude maintained throughout the tumultuous period of his stay in the Egyptian’s house (Tabari, Zamakhsharī, Baghawī, Asad).
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