فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ بِمَكْرِهِنَّ أَرْسَلَتْ إِلَيْهِنَّ وَأَعْتَدَتْ لَهُنَّ مُتَّكَـًۭٔا وَءَاتَتْ كُلَّ وَٰحِدَةٍۢ مِّنْهُنَّ سِكِّينًۭا وَقَالَتِ ٱخْرُجْ عَلَيْهِنَّ ۖ فَلَمَّا رَأَيْنَهُۥٓ أَكْبَرْنَهُۥ وَقَطَّعْنَ أَيْدِيَهُنَّ وَقُلْنَ حَٰشَ لِلَّهِ مَا هَٰذَا بَشَرًا إِنْ هَٰذَآ إِلَّا مَلَكٌۭ كَرِيمٌۭ
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 hands and said, "Perfect is Allah! This is not a man; this is none but a noble angel."
And women in the city said: "The wife of the 'Aziz is seeking to seduce her (slave) young man, indeed she loves him violently; verily, we see her in plain error. (30)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, and she said [to Yusuf]: "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 Allah! No man is this! This is none other than a noble angel! (31)She said: "This is he (the young man) about whom you did blame me, and I did seek to seduce him, but he refused. And now if he refuses to obey my order, he shall certainly be cast into prison, and will be one of those who are disgraced. (32)He said: "O my Lord! Prison is dearer to me than that to which they invite me. Unless You turn away their plot from me, I will feel inclined towards them and be one of the ignorant. (33)So his Lord answered his invocation and turned away from him their plot. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower (34)
The News reaches Women in the City, Who also plot against Yusuf
Allah states that the news of what happened between the wife of the 'Aziz and Yusuf spread in the city, that is, Egypt, and people talked about it,
وَقَالَ نِسْوَةٌ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ
(And women in the city said...), such as women of chiefs and princes said, while admonishing and criticizing the wife of the 'Aziz,
امْرَأَتُ الْعَزِيزِ تُرَاوِدُ فَتَاهَا عَن نَّفْسِهِ
(The wife of the 'Aziz is seeking to seduce her (slave) young man,), she is luring her servant to have sex with her,
قَدْ شَغَفَهَا حُبًّا
(indeed she loves him violently;), her love for him filled her heart and engulfed it,
إِنَّا لَنَرَاهَا فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ
(verily, we see her in plain error.), by loving him and trying to seduce him.
فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ بِمَكْرِهِنَّ
(So when she heard of their accusation,) especially their statement, "indeed she loves him violently." Muhammad bin Ishaq commented, "They heard of Yusuf's beauty and wanted to see him, so they said these words in order to get a look at him. " This is when,
أَرْسَلَتْ إِلَيْهِنَّ
(she sent for them), invited them to her house,
وَأَعْتَدَتْ لَهُنَّ مُتَّكَأً
(and prepared a banquet for them.) Ibn 'Abbas, Sa'id bin Jubayr, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, As-Suddi and several others commented that she prepared a sitting room which had couches, pillows [to recline on] and food that requires knives to cut, such as citron. This is why Allah said next,
وَآتَتْ كُلَّ وَاحِدَةٍ مِّنْهُنَّ سِكِّينًا
(and she gave each one of them a knife), as a part of her plan of revenge for their plot to see Yusuf,
وَقَالَتِ اخْرُجْ عَلَيْهِنَّ
(and she said [to Yusuf]: "Come out before them."), for she had asked him to stay somewhere else in the house,
فَلَمَّا
(Then, when) he went out and,
رَأَيْنَهُ أَكْبَرْنَهُ
(they saw him, they exalted him)
they thought highly of him and were astonished at what they saw. They started cutting their hands in amazement at his beauty, while thinking that they were cutting the citron with their knives. Therefore, they injured their hands with the knives they were …