Zuleika (legendary)

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Zuleika is the name given to the wife of Potiphar in Jewish and Muslim legend.

The most famous tale about Zuleika is told both in Jewish legends and in the Koran:

Zuleika was mocked by other aristocratic Egyptian ladies, her circle of friends, for being so infatuated with a Hebrew slave boy. So she invited her friends over for a social afternoon, and gave them all oranges, and knives to peel them with. While they were engaged in this task, she had Joseph walk through the room. Distracted by his stunning good looks, all the ladies cut themselves with the knives and drew blood. Then Zuleika reminded her friends that she had to see Joseph every day. After that, they no longer mocked her.

[edit] Fact or Fiction

The story is prima facie hard - perhaps impossible - to believe, since upper-class ladies of ancient Egypt would not have peeled their own fruit: They had servants for that.

Most Jewish, Christian and Muslim commentators have regarded Zuleika as a sinner and a villainess. One notable exception is the great Sufi mystic poet Rumi. For him, Zuleika's obsession with Joseph is a symptom and manifestation of the soul's great deep longing for God. This, Rumi insists, is true of any person's deep love for another.