Imām ‘Abdur Rahmān as-S’adī رحمه الله said:
Allāh, the Most High, says:
كَذَٰلِكَ لِنَصْرِفَ عَنْهُ السُّوءَ وَالْفَحْشَاءَ ۚ إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُخْلَصِينَ.
“Thus We averted from him (Yūsuf) evil and shameful deeds. Verily he was one of Our chosen servants.”
[Qur’ān: Sūrah Yūsuf, verse no.24]
And He, the Most High, says:
فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ فَصَرَفَ عَنْهُ كَيْدَهُنَّ ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
“So his Lord answered his (Yūsuf’s) prayer and protected him from their plot.”
[Qur’ān: Sūrah Yūsuf, verse no.34]
These two matters are from the perfect kindness and protection of (mankind’s) Creator towards His chosen prophets and righteous servants, that He turns away and protects them from the internal causes of evil and lewd acts, as well as the external causes. And whoever Allāh intends good for, He turns away and protects him from both of these matters, which together encompass all trials.
Allāh has mentioned that this turning away and protecting (a servant from evil and lewd deeds) is from the greatest of His blessings, has two reasons:
The first: the strength of the servant’s sincerity, and the fact that Allāh has chosen him for guidance.
The second: constant prayer and supplication done with humility.
Thus, whoever worships Allāh with sincerity, Allāh will choose him for guidance, and will aid and enlightenment him to perform righteous deeds, and turn away from him evil and harm. And whoever supplicates to Allāh with humility and persists in his supplications, Allāh will respond to him, thus, turn away and protect him from the evil of the devils from mankind and jinn, and suffice him against the plots of plotters and the betrayal of betrayers.
So when Yūsuf صلى الله عليه وسلم fulfilled both of these matters: sincerity for Allāh, and turning to Him with humility, seeking refuge and protection, Allāh granted him complete protection from both inward and outward evils. And Allāh, the Most High, relates to us the stories of His prophets as lessons, so that they become lessons for us, and the lesson here (from the story of Yūsuf) is that whoever possesses a share of sincerity, supplication, and humility will likewise have a share of Allāh’s protection and safeguarding, according to the strength or weakness of these qualities within him.
And whoever lacks these two matters will be left to himself, without protection or safeguarding, and will fall into the trials of doubts and desires.
Therefore, we ask Allāh for protection, and that He does not leave us to our own power and strength for even the blink of an eye. Indeed, He is the Most Generous.
And these profound meanings are contained in the supplication that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم taught his Ummah through both his words and actions, and it is (the following supplication):
اللَّهُمَّ فَاطِرَ السَّمَاوَتِ وَالْأَرْضِ، عَالِمَ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، رَبَّ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَمَلِيْكَهُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ نَفْسِي وَ مِنْ شَرِّ الشَّيْطَانِ وَشِرْكِهِ، وَأَنْ أَقْتَرِفَ عَلَى نَفْسِي سُوْءًا أَوْ أَجُرَّهُ إِلَى مُسْلِمٍ
“O Allāh, Creator and Originator of the heavens and the earth! Knower of the hidden and the apparent. None has the right to be worshipped but You. The Lord and Omnipotent Sovereign of everything. I seek Your refuge from the evil of myself, and from the evil of Shaytān and from the Shirk he calls to; and from committing evil against my soul, or bringing it upon a Muslim.”
[Adab al-Mufrad no.1204 & At-Tirmidhee no.3392]
This supplication includes seeking refuge in Allāh from inner evil, which is the evil of the soul, and from outer evil, which is the evil of Shaytān and his traps and plots, as well as from the two ultimate outcomes of evil: that a servant commits evil against himself or brings it upon his Muslim brother.
Thus, whoever Allāh protects from these evils has truly been protected from the causes and consequences of all evil, and has been clothed with the garments of wellbeing, safety, and success.
[Majm’u Mualafāt ash-Shaykh al-‘Allāmah ‘Abdur Rahmān bin Nāsir as-S’adī, vol.21, pgs.254-255, benefit no.150, Dār al-Maiman print, second edition]