So the king said: "Bring ye him unto me." But when the messenger came to him, (Joseph) said: "Go thou back to thy lord, and ask him, 'What is the state of mind of the ladies who cut their hands'? For my Lord is certainly well aware of their snare." 50 The king asked the women: "What was the affair of seducing Joseph?" "God preserve us," they said; "we know no evil against him." The wife of the minister said: "The truth has now come out. It was I who desired to seduce him, but he is indeed a man of virtue." -- 51 "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. 52 ۞ "Nor do I absolve my own self (of blame): the (human) soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His Mercy: but surely my Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." 53 The king said, "Bring him to me. I will take him for my special service." And when he had spoken to him, he said, "From now on you will dwell with us, honoured and trusted." 54 (Joseph) said: "Set me over the store-houses of the land: I will indeed guard them, as one that knows (their importance)." 55 And thus We established Joseph in the land to settle therein wherever he willed. We touch with Our mercy whom We will, and We do not allow to be lost the reward of those who do good. 56 Yet the reward of the hereafter is best for those who believe and are mindful of God. 57