The king said: "Bring this man to me." But when the royal messenger came to Joseph he said: "Go back to your master and ask him about the case of the women who had cut their hands. Surely my Lord has full knowledge of their guile." 50 [Thereupon the King sent for those women; and when they came,] he asked: "What was it that you hoped to achieve when you sought to make Joseph yield himself unto you?" The women answered: "God save us! We did not perceive the least evil [intention] on his part!" [And] the wife of Joseph's former master exclaimed: "Now has the truth come to light! It was I who sought to make him yield himself unto me - whereas he, behold, was indeed speaking the truth!" 51 Joseph said: "I did this so that he [i.e. the chief) may know that I did not betray him in his absence, and that Allah does not allow the design of the treacherous to succeed. 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 And the King said: "Bring him unto me, so that I may attach him to my own person." And when he had spoken with him, [the King] said: "Behold, [from] this day thou shalt be of high standing with us, invested with all trust!" 54 He said: Set me over the storehouses of the land. Lo! I am a skilled custodian. 55 Thus gave We power to Joseph in the land. He was the owner of it where he pleased. We reach with Our mercy whom We will. We lose not the reward of the good. 56 And surely the hire of the Hereafter is better for those who believe and ever fear. 57