Yusuf · Makki · ayah 24 of 111

Yusuf 12:24

وَلَقَدْ هَمَّتْ بِهِۦ ۖ وَهَمَّ بِهَا لَوْلَآ أَن رَّءَا بُرْهَـٰنَ رَبِّهِۦ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ لِنَصْرِفَ عَنْهُ ٱلسُّوٓءَ وَٱلْفَحْشَآءَ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُخْلَصِينَ

“And she certainly determined [to seduce] him, and he would have inclined to her had he not seen the proof [i.e., sign] of his Lord. And thus [it was] that We should avert from him evil and immorality. Indeed, he was of Our chosen servants.”

Saheeh International

Essence

She resolved on him, and his pull was stopped by his Lord's proof; Allah turned evil away from him, for he was among the purified.

A reflection

Molten, and never set

The same verb is used of both of them: hammat, and hamma. Its root has a vivid first picture. Hamma al-shaḥm is fat melting over a fire. Snow inhamma when it slackens into water. So hamm is an intention still molten, not yet set into a deed.

The ayah does not leave the two equal. One commentator points out that a reciter may pause after 'she resolved on him'. Then he begins afresh: 'and he would have inclined to her, had he not seen'. The pause itself marks the difference.

Scholars read his part in two main ways. In one, the condition governs the verb before it. He would have inclined, had he not seen the proof; he saw it, so he did not. A great commentator defends this reading at length, and cites a parallel at 28:10. In the other, the hamm was real but of a different kind from hers. A later scholar, quoting an early imam, puts it plainly. There are two kinds: a passing thought, and a persistent resolve. Hers was the second, pursued with all her effort. His was the first, and he left it for Allah.

Both readings agree on what matters. Whatever stirred, he did not act, and he did not keep returning to it. Nothing in him set. The fat warmed and ran, perhaps, and then the fire was taken away before anything hardened into a deed.

That is the held picture of this ayah: a pot over a fire, something melting in it. Keep it in view, because the ayah ends in the same kitchen.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.