Zulaikha (Wife of Al-Aziz) — زُلَيْخَا
زلیخا
Also known as: Wife of Al-Aziz, Imra’at al-Aziz
Path — Mixed — Erred, Repented, or Complex | مخلوط
Reason: Attempted to seduce Yusuf, falsely imprisoned him, but ultimately confessed the truth (12:51)
Story — English
Wife of the Egyptian nobleman (Al-Aziz) who bought Yusuf. She fell deeply in love with Yusuf and tried to seduce him. He refused and ran — she tore his shirt from behind. When her husband came, Yusuf said she seduced him; she said he tried to seduce her. The evidence of the torn shirt proved Yusuf’s innocence. She then summoned the women of the city who were gossiping; they were so struck by Yusuf’s beauty they cut their hands. She admitted privately that she had tried to seduce him. Eventually, before the king, she publicly confessed: ‘Now the truth has come to light — it was I who tried to seduce him, and he is indeed of the truthful’ (12:51).
کہانی — اردو
عزیز مصر کی بیوی جس نے یوسف کو ورغلانا چاہا۔ یوسف نے انکار کیا، بھاگے، قمیص پیچھے سے پھٹی — ثبوت یوسف کے حق میں۔ شہر کی عورتیں باتیں کرنے لگیں تو بلایا — سب نے ہاتھ کاٹ لیے۔ آخرکار بادشاہ کے سامنے اعتراف: ‘میں نے ہی ورغلانا چاہا تھا، یوسف سچے ہیں’ (12:51)۔
Lessons from the Quran
- Obsessive love that crosses boundaries leads to great sin and suffering
- Truth emerges even from the most carefully constructed lie
- Public confession of wrongdoing — the courage of Zulaikha’s ultimate admission
- A person can be both perpetrator and eventual truth-teller