﴿ وَلَقَدْ هَمَّتْ بِهِۦ ۖ وَهَمَّ بِهَا لَوْلَآ أَن رَّءَا بُرْهَٰنَ رَبِّهِۦ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ لِنَصْرِفَ عَنْهُ ٱلسُّوٓءَ وَٱلْفَحْشَآءَ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُخْلَصِينَ ﴾

“And, indeed, she desired him, and he desired her; [and he would have succumbed] had he not seen [in this temptation] an evidence of his Sustainer's truth: thus [We willed it to be] in order that We might avert from him all evil and all deeds of abomination -for, behold, he was truly one of Our servants.”

And she certainly desired him, and he would have desired her [too], had it not been that he saw the proof of his Lord.That is, with his natural self (nafs ṭabīʿiyya), he desired and inclined towards her, but with his divinely supported and protected self (nafs al-tawfīq wa�l-ʿiṣma), he desired to escape from her and oppose her. This means that his Lord protected him, and if it had not been for the protection of his Lord, he would have desired her, inclining towards that to which his lower self called [him]. He was protected by witnessing the proof (burhān) of his Lord, Mighty and Majestic is He, this being that the angel Gabriel came in the form of Jacob biting on his finger, upon which Joseph headed for the door while seeking forgiveness. His words, Exalted is He: