The Quran

Preface

وَاستَبَقَا البابَ وَقَدَّت قَميصَهُ مِن دُبُرٍ وَأَلفَيا سَيِّدَها لَدَى البابِ ۚ قالَت ما جَزاءُ مَن أَرادَ بِأَهلِكَ سوءًا إِلّا أَن يُسجَنَ أَو عَذابٌ أَليمٌ

Yusuf Ali

So they both raced each other to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back:¹ they both found her lord near the door. She said: “What is the (fitting) punishment for one who formed an evil design against thy wife, but prison or a grievous chastisement?”²

With his master’s wife in her mad passion, the situation became intolerable, and Joseph made for the door. She ran after him to detain him. She tugged at his garment to detain him. As he was retreating, she could only catch hold of the back of his shirt, and in the struggle she tore it. He was determined to open the door and leave the place, as it was useless to argue with her in her mad passion. When the door was opened, it so happened that the 'Aziz was not far off. We need not assume that he was spying, or had any suspicions either of his wife or Joseph. In his narrow limited way he was a just man. We can imagine his wife’s consternation. One guilt leads to another. She had to resort to a lie, not only to justify herself but also to have her revenge on the man who had scorned her love. Slighted love (of the physical kind) made her ferocious, and she lost all sense of right and wrong. (R).
Her lie and her accusation were plausible. Joseph was found with his dress disarranged. She wanted the inference to be drawn that he had assaulted her and she had resisted. For one in his position it was a dreadful crime. Should he not be consigned to a dungeon or at least scourged? Perhaps she hoped that in either case he would be more pliable to her designs in the future.