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Surah 12. Yusuf, Ayah 52

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ذَٰلِكَ لِيَعْلَمَ أَنِّى لَمْ أَخُنْهُ بِٱلْغَيْبِ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِى كَيْدَ ٱلْخَآئِنِينَ
Tha lika liyaAAlama annee lam akhunhu bi a lghaybi waanna All a ha l a yahdee kayda alkh a ineen a
[When Joseph learned what had happened, he said:51 "I asked for] this, so that [my former master] might know that I did not betray him behind his back,52 and that God does not bless with His guidance the artful schemes of those who betray their trust.
  - Mohammad Asad

Some of the commentators (e.g., Ibn Kathir and, among the moderns, Rashid Rida' in Manar XII, 323 f.) regard this and the next verse as a continuation of the woman's confession; but the great majority of the classical authorities, including Tabari, Baghawi and Zamakhshari attribute the speech that follows unequivocally - and, in my opinion, most convincingly - to Joseph: hence my interpolation at the beginning of this verse.

Lit., "in [his] absence" or "in secret" (bi'l-ghayb).

Yusuf said, "By this inquiry I meant to let him (Al-Aziz) know that I did not betray him in his absence, and that Allah does not let the snare of the treacherous succeed."
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
From this, Joseph should know that I did not speak dishonestly about him in his absence, for Allah certainly does not guide the scheming of the dishonest.
  - Mustafa Khattab
(Then Joseph said: I asked for) this, that he (my lord) may know that I betrayed him not in secret, and that surely Allah guideth not the snare of the betrayers.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
"This (say I) in order that he may know that I have never been false to him in his absence and that Allah will never guide the snare of the false ones. 1712
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

I construe verses 52 and 53 to be a continuation of the speech of the 'Aziz's wife and have translated accordingly. There is both good reason and authority (e.g., Ibn Kathir) for this. But the majority of Commentators construe verses 52-53 to be spoken by Joseph, in which case they would mean that Joseph was referring to his fidelity to the 'Aziz, that he had never taken advantage of his absence to play false with his wife, although he (Joseph) was human and liable to err. In my view the 'Aziz's wife while fully reprobating her own guilty conduct, claims that she has at least been constant, and that she hopes for mercy, forgiveness, and the capacity to understand at last what true love is. Whatever false charge she made, she made it in a moment of passion and to his face, (never in cold blood, or behind his back). Guide the snare of the false ones, i.e. allow such snare to attain its goal. A) Ammara: prone, impelling, headstrong, passionate. See n. 5810 to lxxv. 2.

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