. On that day, Joseph while laughing
happily came to his father and said : " Dear father! last night I had a very
nice dream which has made me so happy, but for which I know no interpretation.
In my dream I saw the sun, the moon and eleven stars that were all bowing before
me. "
Getting to know about his dreams Jacob got pretty happy and said : " My child!
This dream is a true one which predicts a prosperous future for you just as I
did. But don't ever tell anything about your dream to your brothers since they
may get jealous of you and think of a trick or conspiracy.
From that day on, Jacob never left Joseph alone and started to take special care
of him, for he was well aware that Joseph will be among the pious subjects of
God. When Joseph was seventeen his mother passed away. The loss of mother was a good
reason for Jacob to show more affection towards his beloved son, Joseph. The
great care with which he treated Joseph caused his brothers to plan a conspiracy
to separate Joseph from their father and consequently attract all his attention
to themselves.
One day the brothers came to their father and said : " Dear father! so far you
have not allowed us to take Joseph out for a walk in the desert let us take him
out tomorrow and we promise to take good care of him just as you do. "
Jacob who immediately got aware of his sons' dangerous plan and on the other
hand didn't want to let them find out that he had realised their devilish plan
started to reject them by making excuses.
But the brothers said : " Don't you consider us trustworthy in taking care of
Joseph though we always wish all the best for him? "
Jacob : My dear sons you know that being apart from Joseph really makes me sad
and depressed and I am also worried lest you forget his presence and he'll be a
prey for wolves.
Then the brothers replied : " We've got the courage and boldness to accept the
responsibility in case anything happens to him and we'll certainly be in a loss too. Now
be sure such a thing will never happen. "
One day morning, the brothers, while Joseph was accompanying them went out of
the city of Canaan.
While they were taking a walk, the signs of anger and vengeance appeared on
their faces. After so long now it was the time to take their revenge on Joseph,
so when they got to Canaan's well, they took off Joseph's clothes and throw him
into the well while he had nothing on even the helpless cries and begging of
Joseph couldn't settle the blazing fire of his brothers' rage and jealousy.
After the dusk the brothers came home with crying eyes and with Joseph's shirt
having some blood stains on it. They showed it to their father and said: " Dear father!
What you once predicted came true and while we were busy playing we neglected
Joseph and a wolf attacked, killed Joseph and look him away we could only take his
bloody shirt.
Jacob, being well aware of his sons' devilish conspiracy know that God had
predestined an inevitable fate for Joseph from which there was no way out, so
he replied: " The blazing fire of jealousy and your vicious passion made you do an
evil deed. The only thing I can do now is to be patient and seek the help of
God. "
In the loss of Joseph, Jacob being left alone in a world of grief and sadness, cried and
cried until he finally went blind. Joseph was trapped deep down in a well and was surrounded by mere darkness.
There, he was thinking of his own future, of his father and the way he was now
feeling, of his own innocence and the trap in which he had been caught in.
At this time, a caravan which was heading for Egypt reached that land and
decided to stay there for the night. One of their slaves went to the well to
get some water. He threw the bucket inside the well but after lifting it up he
saw an angel-faced boy hanging from the bucket. Seeing this the slave shouted
happily : " Come everybody, come and see this young boy. "
The members of caravan who were watching Joseph some how frightfully decided to
take Joseph with them to Egypt and sell him as a slave. The next day, the
caravan went on its journey until they reached Egypt. In one of the Egypt
markets Joseph was sold to the king of Egypt at a low price.
In the house of the king, Joseph gradually attained a high position of
respect and a lofty rank. He became the beloved of the king in a way that he finally
took the complete control of the house affairs as well as the slaves and
servants. His words were the most effective and influential of all. So the king said to his
wife : " I think this young boy from Canaan is a competentand talented person. Take
good care of him and provide him happiness and comfort. I hope he'll be beneficial for
us in future and we may even adopt him as our own child. "
Joseph after suffering all those hardships and difficulties was now residing
in the exquisite and palace-like house of Aziz, the Egyptian king. As he had
recommended, all different facilities of comfort and happiness were prepared for
Joseph and he could enjoy his life as happily as ever. But Joseph was a
faithful and pious young man who could never forget God even for a second and
thus didn't like the merrymaking and slovenliness commonly loved by other men.
His habits and different kind of behaviour had made Aziz's wife very much surprised.
One day after closing all the doors of palace she called Joseph and said :
" Now you can enjoy your life. You are a handsome young man, it would be a pity
if you do not put up relationship with people around. Here all comforting facilities have
been prepared for you. Be more intimate with me and in return I'll do something that
you may enjoy life even more than this. "
Joseph : " God forbids! you're telling me to forget my God just as these people
do. Then what can I and what shall I answer when I'm questioned in the divine
Court. No, never."
Wife : " Oh Be kinder to me, please. "
" I can never stand the divine torture, therefore I'll never involve myself in such affairs
and I shall never commit any sins.
Joseph having said all those turned back and started to go out the door, but she
followed him, grasped his shirt from behind and pulled him hard toward her. This
caused his shirt to be torn out in the back and at the same time Aziz entered the palace.
Aziz's wife instead of getting embarrassed controlled herself cleverly and tried to accuse
Joseph of being sinful and herself to be innocent and far from any possible accusation
so, she turned towards Aziz and said :
" This young man of Canaan has been unthankful to you and intended to have
unlawful relation with me in your absence. Now say, what can be the punishment
of such a person except being imprisoned or tortured severely? "
But chaste Joseph told him the true story and described whatever happened in his
absence meanwhile a relative of Aziz who had come to pay him a visit arrived and
getting aware of what had happened said to Aziz :
" Examine Joseph's shirt, if it is torn out in the front part Joseph is guilty
and shall be punished and if it is torn in the back Joseph is innocent and has done no
wrong
which means that your wife has unjustly accused him."
Joseph's innocence was rightly proved when Aziz looked at his shirt and realised
that it was torn in the back. So he said to Joseph :
" I shall ask you to forget whatever happened here and ignore these words for I
don't want my family to be ill famed in the city.
Then he turned to his wife and said :
" This is another sample of women's trickery! Truly the deceitfulness and
cunning plans of yours is excessive. Now you shall kneel down and seek God's
forgiveness, for you are now among the sinners. "
Gradually, the women of the city got informed of the disturbances Aziz's wife
caused Joseph and this became the favourite subject of their gossip in the
gatherings. Aziz's wife somehow heard about the reproachful way Egyptian ladies
were talking of her and after pondering about the situation for a while she came
up with a good idea. So she decided to hold party and thus invited a group of
Egyptian ladies to her palace.
The guests were all sitting in a room and before each of them was set a dish of fruit and
a knife for peeling, so fruit knife was provided for all the guests.
While they were using the knives to have their fruit Aziz's wife called Joseph in.
When Joseph entered the room, the women got quite shocked and embarrassed
watching that much charm and angelhood man and so they cut their hands
instead of the fruit and said admiringly:
" He is not a human being,certainly he is a noble angel. "
Aziz's wife who was quite satisfied with her success turned toward them and
victoriously said:
" This is the same Joseph you have already heard of and the one who works in my
house and I begged him to be a little bit more intimate with me but he didn't
accept and that was the whole thing. "
That day passed and Aziz's wife resorted to any possible plan and trickery she
could think of to draw Joseph's attention. But Joseph was always rejecting her
until she got completely disappointed. On the other hand, Joseph was gradually
confused and harassed by her temptations and passionate deeds, so he turned to
God and sought refuge in His power and said :
" My God! Prison is much better for me than my present situation. If you don't take
these women away from me, I may get trapped in their devilish temptations and
commit a sin. "
God responded to Joseph's praying and saved him from that great sedition. The wife of Aziz having been disappointed from tempting Joseph went
to her husband and started to complain by saying :
" Joseph has ruined my reputation among the Egyptian ladies and made me
notorious in the city. Now there is no more honor left for me in the eye of
public. Thus if you want to get me back the lost honor and fame you shall
imprison and make him scandalous, so as to remove this mark of unfaithfulness
from my honor."
Although Joseph's innocence had already been practically proved to Aziz, he was
greatly impressed by his wife's words and thus ordered to imprison the innocent
Joseph.
. .(.asuive)
