The king said, "Bring him to me." When the king's messenger came to Joseph, he said, "Go back to your master and ask him about the women who cut their hands: my Lord knows well their guile." 50 Said [the king to the women], "What was your condition when you sought to seduce Joseph?" They said, "Perfect is Allah! We know about him no evil." The wife of al-'Azeez said, "Now the truth has become evident. It was I who sought to seduce him, and indeed, he is of the truthful. 51 "From this," said Joseph, "[The nobleman] should know that I did not betray him in his absence, and that God does not guide the plotting of the treacherous. 52 ۞ And I do not declare myself free, most surely (man's) self is wont to command (him to do) evil, except such as my Lord has had mercy on, surely my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. 53 And the king said: Bring him to me, I will choose him for myself. So when he had spoken with him, he said: Surely you are in our presence today an honorable, a faithful one. 54 [Joseph] replied: "Place in my charge the store-houses of the land; behold, I shall be a good and knowing keeper. 55 Thus We caused Joseph to be established in a position of authority in the land. He could dwell therein wherever he pleased. We bestow Our mercy on whomever We please, and We do not allow the reward of the righteous to go to waste. 56 The reward in the next life is certainly better for the faithful ones who have observed piety in this life. 57