وَقَالَ الْمَلِكُ ائْتُونِي بِهِ (And the king said, 'Bring him to me.' ). It means that the king gave the order that Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) be taken out of the prison and be produced before him in his court. So, some emissary of the king arrived at the prison with the message of the king.

Obviously, this was an occasion which should have been welcomed by Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . He had been in the prison for a long time, restricted and helpless. He wished to be released. When the message of the king arrived at the prison that he was wanted by the king, he should have welcomed it and got himself ready to go. But, Allah Ta` ala bestows upon His Messengers a very high moral station which other people just cannot comprehend.

The answer he gave to the emissary of the king was:

قَالَ ارْ‌جِعْ إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّكَ فَاسْأَلْهُ مَا بَالُ النِّسْوَةِ اللَّاتِي قَطَّعْنَ أَيْدِيَهُنَّ إِنَّ رَ‌بِّي بِكَيْدِهِنَّ عَلِيمٌ

'Go back to your lord and ask him, ` What about the women who cut their hands?' Surely, my Lord knows their guile well.'

Here, by asking this question, the objective is to find out if he is still held in doubt about what had happened then and if he is still taken to be at some fault in that matter.

Also noteworthy at this stage is that Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) is, in the present context, talking about the women who had cut their hands - he has not mentioned the wife of the ` Aziz who was the main cause of what had happened. In this conduct of his, there was consideration for the right of his master's house where he lived and where he was brought up, something elementally respected by a person of natural gentleness in him. (Qurtubi)

Then, not any less important was his real purpose, the need to be exonerated from blame conclusively. If proof was needed, it could have come from those women as well. And it would have not brought much of a disgrace on them. Had they confessed to what was the truth, they would have been, at the most, charged for having given false advice only. This would have been contrary to the case of the wife of the ` Aziz for, if she was made a target of the investigations, it would have proved far more disgraceful for her. And, along with this, Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) said: إِنَّ رَ‌بِّي بِكَيْدِهِنَّ عَلِيمٌ (Surely, my Lord knows their guile well). He said this so that the king too will get to know the truth of the matter - which is a delicate approach to register his innocence in it.

On this occasion, reported in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari and the Jami' of Tirmidhi, following a narration of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ ، there is a Hadith of the Holy Prophet ﷺ in which he said: If I had been in a prison for so long, as Yusuf (علیہ السلام) had been, and had I then been summoned for release, I would have accepted it immediately.

And in a report from Imam al-Tabari, the words are: The patience, forbearance and many other noble traits of his character are astonishing. When he was asked to give an interpretation of the dream of the king while still being in prison, had I been in his place, I would have, before giving the interpretation, placed a condition that I should be taken out of the prison before I could give an interpretation of that dream. Again, when the emissary of the king brought in the message of his re-lease, had I been in his place, I would have immediately started walking towards the gate of the prison. (Qurtubi)

It should be noted that the purpose in this Hadith is to praise the patience, forbearance and the many noble traits of the character of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) . But, by comparing the response of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) in the present situation which he supposedly attributed to himself, he seems to be saying that had he been there in his place, he would have not elected to delay his release. If this is taken to mean that the Holy Prophet ﷺ is calling the conduct of Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) better and, in the case of his own august person, he is saying that had he been in his place, he would have not been able to match that preferred conduct, rather, would have settled for the less preferred, it is obviously not upto the station of the one who is called the foremost among prophets, may peace be upon them all. To answer that, it may be said that he is, no doubt, the foremost among prophets, but the precedence of some other prophet in a certain part of his conduct would not be considered contrary to it.

In addition to that, as said in Tafsir al-Qurtubi, it is also possible that the modus operandi employed by Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) is an outstanding proof of his patience, forbearance and noble traits of character - and is highly commendable at its place. But, the pragmatic method of doing things which the Holy Prophet attributed to himself was partic-ularly appropriate to and better for educating his community and offering to its teeming masses the best course of action likely to bring nothing but good to them. The reason in the present setting is that the temperament of kings changes. Placing trust in them is not a wise thing to do. On an occasion such as this, putting conditions or delaying the process is not the appropriate thing to do for common people. The probability remains that the king may change his opinion and one is left to rot in that prison, as it had long been the practice. As for Sayyidna Yusuf (علیہ السلام) ، he is a prophet of Allah. As such, he could have been given to understand by Allah Ta ala that the delay he would cause would not go against his interest in any way. But, others do not enjoy that degree of closeness to Allah. The Holy Prophet was mercy for all the worlds. In his temperament and taste, he had an elemental rapport with the entire creation of Allah. He always preferred to make things easier and better for the great masses of people. To him this was more important. Therefore, he said: If he had the opportunity, he would have not delayed. Allah knows best.