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 had attained his maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge: and thus do We reward those who do good. 22 And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him and closed the doors saying: 'Come' 'In Allah is my refuge' he replied. 'My Lord has made my dwelling a good one. Harmdoers 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 So they both raced each other to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back: 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?" 25 He (Joseph) said: 'It was she who sought to seduce me' and a witness (an infant) of her people bore witness, saying: 'If his shirt is torn from the front, she is speaking the truth and he is one of the liars, 26 but if it be that his shirt has been torn from behind, then she has lied, and he is one of the truthful.' 27 And when he saw his shirt torn at the back, he said: 'This is one of your (women's) guiles. Your guile, (O woman), is great indeed! 28 Joseph, turn away from this; and thou, woman, ask forgiveness of thy crime; surely thou art one of the sinners.' 29