Naturally their gossip distressed Zulaikha. She honestly believed that it was not easy for any woman to resist a man as handsome as Joseph. To prove her helplessness, she planned to subject the women to the same temptation she faced. She invited them to a lavish banquet. No one so invited would want to miss the honor of dining with the chief minister's wife; besides, they secretly harbored the desire to meet the handsome Joseph face to face. Some of her close friends jokingly said they would come only if she introduced them to Joseph. The invitation was restricted to ladies. The banquet began, laughter and mirth abounded. Etiquette dictated that the ladies not mention the topic of Joseph. They were shocked, therefore, when Zulaikha opened the topic. "I have heard of those who say I have fallen in love with the young Hebrew man, Joseph." Silence fell upon the banquet. At once all the guests' hands stopped, and all eyes fell on the chief minister's wife. She said, while giving orders for the fruit to be served: "I admit that he is a charming fellow. I do not deny that I love him. I have loved him for a long time." |
Thanks for visiting Alim.org, The Alim Foundation's flagship site that provides the world's only social network built around Qur'an, Hadith, and other classical sources of Islamic knowledge.
We are a free service run by many volunteers and we need your help to stay that way. Please consider a small donation(tax-deductible in the USA) to help us improve Alim.org by adding more content and getting faster servers.
Share your thoughts about this with others by posting a comment. Visit our FAQ for some ideas.