And the man from Egypt who bought him said to his wife: "Make his stay [with us] honourable; he may well be of use to us, or we may adopt him as a son. And thus We gave unto Joseph a firm place on earth; and [We did this] so that We might impart unto him some understanding of the inner meaning of happenings. For, God always prevails in whatever be His purpose: but most people know it not. 21 And when he reached full manhood, We bestowed upon him the ability to judge [between right and wrong,] as well as [innate] knowledge: for thus do We reward the doers of good. 22 And she, in whose house he was, asked of him an evil act. She bolted the doors and said: Come! He said: I seek refuge in Allah! Lo! he is my lord, who hath treated me honourably. Lo! wrong-doers never prosper. 23 And she advanced towards him, and had Joseph not perceived a sign from his Lord he too would have advanced towards her. Thus was Joseph shown a sign from his Lord that We might avert from him all evil and indecency, for indeed he was one of Our chosen servants. 24 And they both raced towards the door, and the woman tore his shirt from behind, and they both found her husband at the door; she said, “What is the punishment of the one who sought evil with your wife, other than prison or a painful torture?” 25 He said: She sought to make me yield (to her); and a witness of her own family bore witness: If his shirt is rent from front, she speaks the truth and he is one of the liars: 26 But if his shirt is torn from the back, then she has lied, and he is of the truthful." 27 So when he saw his shirt torn from behind [her husband] said, "This is the guile of you women. Your guile is great indeed. 28 Ignore this affair, O Joseph; and you, O woman, ask forgiveness for your sin, for you were surely errant." 29