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 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 ۞ I do not seek to acquit myself; for surely one's self prompts one to evil except him to whom my Lord may show mercy. Verily my Lord is Ever Forgiving, Most Merciful." 53 The king said, 'Bring him to me! I would attach him to my person.' Then, when he had spoken with him, he said, 'Today thou art established firmly in our favour and in our trust.' 54 [Joseph] replied: "Place in my charge the store-houses of the land; behold, I shall be a good and knowing keeper. 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 But in the eyes of those who have attained to faith and have always been conscious of Us, a reward in the life to come is a far greater good [than any reward in this world]. 57