The king said, 'Bring him to me!' And when the messenger came to him, he said, 'Return unto thy lord, and ask of him, "What of the women who cut their hands?" Surely my Lord has knowledge of their guile.' 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 ۞ And I do not acquit myself. Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil, except those upon which my Lord has mercy. Indeed, my Lord is Forgiving and 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 He said: Set me over the storehouses of the land. Lo! I am a skilled custodian. 55 And as such We established Joseph in the land to live wherever he liked. We bestow Our Mercy on whom We will, and We never waste the wage of the righteous. 56 But verily the reward of the Hereafter is the best, for those who believe, and are constant in righteousness. 57