The story of our Master Yusuf:

 Praise be to Allah, The Lord (The One and Only) of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our Master, Prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the honest.

 Dear brother, the spoken language can be transmitted either directly or indirectly, and the story is a sort of indirect transmission of the spoken language.

 Every story has a plot which is exposed indirectly by the characters of the story, the events, the exposition, the climax, the resolution, the analysis, the narration and the description. Actually, the story of Yusuf, may Allah have peace upon him, is the longest story in the Noble Quran, but what really counts for the believer (who reauthors it) is to draw out the moral lessons in it. Reading a story, without deducing the moral lesson of it is useless. The main ideas in Yusuf's story are presented through events, analysis, exposition,, plot and resolution In fact, moral lessons are rarely mentioned directly in any story, however, Allah the Almighty says:

((And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.))

[Yusuf, 21]

 Allah also says in a Divine Hadith (Qudsi Hadith):

((O My salve! You desire (something) and I desire (something else). If you surrender to that which I desire, I suffice you concerning that which you desire; but if you refuse to surrender to that which I desire, I tire you out in that which you desire and then you get nothing but that which I desire.))

[Al Tirmizi in Nawader Al Usool]

 Yusuf's brother were powerful, and they plotted against him. They wanted to get rid of him by throwing him to the bottom of the well:

((And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.))

[Yusuf, 21]

 Yusuf became later on Aziz of Egypt (the most powerful person in Egypt next to the king). As you know, those who opposed the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, are in the dump of history, whereas the poor noble Companions, who took the side of the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessing upon him, became beacons in this worldly life and in the Hereafter.

The moral lessons of the story:

The first moral lesson:

 Whoever obeys Allah can never be a loser, and whoever disobeys Allah can never be a winner.

The second moral lesson:

 Allah the Almighty has installed desires in man, and He grants him the freedom to fulfill these desires, at the condition that those desires are fulfilled according to the limits permitted by Allah. Exceeding the limits while fulfilling these desires is prohibited. When man satisfies his desires according to the Divine Method, he will be honored by Allah; Allah grants him happiness which is much better than the pleasure that comes from fulfilling the lust unlawfully. If you do not consider yourself the happiest person when you obey Allah, there must be something wrong with your faith:

((And who is more astray than one who follows his own lusts, without guidance from Allah.))

[Al-Qasas, 50]

 The opposite situation of the one mentioned in this Ayah is that if you follow your own lusts according to the guidance from Allah, then you will be on the safe side. Our master Yusuf, may Allah have peace upon him, was a young man and a slave; I mean there were more than ten reasons by which he could have been encouraged to commit adultery. He was a stranger in that country, he was seduced by his lady (owner of him), who would not have disclosed their illicit affair had he agreed to have one with her and he was single and handsome. Books on Quran Interpretation explain extensively the reasons which could have justified the decision of Prophet Yusuf, may Allah have peace upon him, had he chosen to commit adultery, but he said:

((He said: "I seek refuge in Allah (or Allah forbid)! Truly, he (your husband) is my master! He made my stay agreeable! (So I will never betray him). Verily, the Zalimun (wrong and evil-doers) will never be successful."))

[Yusuf, 23]

 Allah in return made him the Aziz of Egypt. It has been said that a maid in Al-Aziz Palace knew Yusuf, may Allah have peace upon him, when he was a slave, so when she saw him as the Aziz of Egypt, she said, "Glory be to Allah who makes His obedient slaves kings!" Allah the Almighty says:

((And raised high your fame?))

[Ash-Sharh, 4]

 The explicit addressee in this Ayah is the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, but the implicit one is every believer; who favors obeying Allah over the worldly temptations, will be elevated in Allah's Sight. One more thing is that when the believer, the young one in particular, follows the example of the noble Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, who was well-known for his chastity, will be rewarded abundantly. Listen to our Master Ja'afar when he described the Prophet, may have peace and blessings upon him, in front of The Najashi saying:

((So Allah has sent us an Apostle whom we know his ancestors and his truthfulness, and we know that he is pure and trustworthy.))

[Ahmad, by Umm Salamah]

 As if those three characteristics are the pillars of good conduct The man of good conduct is truthful when he talks, trustworthy when you deal with people and chaste when he is seduced.

 You may notice that scandals which are written in newspaper are either financial or sexual.

Lust and safety distance:

 Our noble Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, is the good example for every young person. You will be entrapped by your lusts as long as you do not keep safety distance between you and the temptations that lead you to fulfill them unlawfully. This safety distance can be represented by lowering your gaze, avoiding being alone with a stranger woman (a non-Mahram woman), keeping away from bad friends and refraining from reading pornography literature.
 Allah says:

(( And come not near to the unlawful sexual intercourse. Verily, it is a Fahishah [i.e. anything that transgresses its limits (a great sin)], and an evil way (that leads one to Hell unless Allah forgives him).))

[Al-Isra', 32]

  Allah doesn't say don't have unlawful sexual intercourse, but He says:

((And come not near to the unlawful sexual intercourse.))

 If you cross the safety distance you will be driven unconsciously by your lust to the ultimate end (committing adultery). Verify, every adulterer does not intend of committing this sin, but the consecutive bad deeds drags him to it. Thus, the chaste man is whoever stays away from whatever leads him to the sin.

Difference between happiness and pleasure:

 Dear brother, the pleasure is the outcome of satisfying a lust, whereas the happiness is the outcome of connecting with Allah. I will elaborate on this point by making a comparison between the two. The pleasure is a tangible feeling, it comes from outside like having your food and drink, owning a house and marrying a woman, but it fades way gradually, and it never grants you a feeling of everlasting tranquility. Also it makes someone's life miserable if it is fulfilled against the Divine Method. Dear brother, depression is the most widely spread disease in the world, because the majority of people are religiously deviated, and they follow their lusts. Depression is but Allah's punishment to them in worldly life. Allah says:

(("But whosoever turns away from My Reminder (i.e. neither believes in this Qur'an nor acts on its orders, etc.) verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection."))

[Ta-Ha, 124]

  As for the one who lowers his gaze, controls his sexual desire and fulfills it only with his wife, Allah refers to contrary situation of him saying:

((For the things We have given for enjoyment to various groups of them (polytheists and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah))

[Ta-Ha, 131]

 He, who is satisfied with his wife whom Allah honored him with, will be granted happiness of special kind. Again, lust and its pleasure comes from outside. Such a pleasure cannot last for a long time, and it ends with depression if the lust is fulfilled against the Divine Method (unlawfully satisfied). There are three prerequisites for satisfying your desires and being pleased while doing that, need time, money and health. Out of a profound Divine Wisdom, man can't have these three prerequisites all together. When he is young, he has health and enough time, but he does not have enough money to be able to satisfy his desires. After few years, he is older and has business, so he owns the money and the health, but he does not have enough time (he spends most of his time working.) As he gets older, he will have enough money, enough time, but he will not have health.

 In Contrast to pleasure, happiness comes from inside and it doesn't need external conditions (to be achieved). When you are firmly connected with Allah, you will feel as if the whole world is yours, and your happiness will be beyond description. Hence, happiness comes from inside, it is the outcome of your connection with Allah and it lasts till the end of your life. this explains why whoever reauthors the Quran can never be sad. As long as you draw closer to Allah and taste the sweetness of being close to Him, you will be happy even though you might be under hard conditions. The tranquility you are granted is your true happiness although you may have nothing, but once it vanishes your life will be miserable even if you own the entire world.
  These are facts dear brother. When we reauthor this Surat (Yusuf) we should be certain that when we keep ourselves away from the prohibited ways of satisfying our desires, we will be rewarded by Allah by being granted His Proximity, happiness and abundance.
 There is a crucial point Almighty Allah mentions in the following Ayah:

((And, verily! Allah guides not the plot of the betrayers.))

[Yusuf, 52]

 This is a Divine Law: whoever betrays sh3er to achieve his goals, will definitely be disclosed publically:

((And, verily! Allah guides not the plot of the betrayers.))

[Yusuf, 52]

 The second thing is that Yusuf, may Allah have peace, was thrown to the bottom of the well:

((And there came a caravan of travellers; they sent their water-drawer, and he let down his bucket (into the well). He said: "What good news! Here is a boy."))

[Yusuf, 19]

 He was taken to the palace, was tested by Allah when his lady (the wife of the Aziz of Egupt) seduced him, was sent to jail as he passed the test. You may wonder why Prophet Yusuf, may Allah have peace upon him, was sent to jail although he was innocent. I tell you about the reason: a friend of mine was imprisoned, and since his right over me was to visit him, I used to do that regularly trying to ease his pain, calm him down and raise his spirits. I was sure that he was innocent, but he was imprisoned, because of a slight mistake. When I met him I said, "Allah put a noble Prophet(Yusuf), may Allah have peace upon him, in jail in order to ease the pain of every believer who is unjustly imprisoned.

 Allah has made the Prophets, may Allah have peace upon them, as scapegoats for mankind (so to speak). I mention some of them: Yusuf, may Allah have peace upon him, was unjustly imprisoned, Noah's son was unbeliever, Lut's wife was unbeliever, Ibrahim's father was unbeliever, a prophet was barren (Zakariya) and another one was sick (Ayub). Thus, the Prophets, may Allah have peace upon them, set examples for us in hardship in order to follow.
 I hope that this Surat (Yusuf) is a method for all young men to act on what is mentioned in it.

 Uqbah Ibn Amer said: the Prophet, may Allah have peace upon him, said:

((Allah wonders at a young man who does not incline towards Haram affair.))

[Ahmad in Al Musnad]

((Allah, the Exalted, takes pride in a worshipping young man before the angels and says: look at My servant; he gave up his lust for the sake of Me.))

[Ibn Al Sunni and Dailami in Masnad Al Furdaos, by Talhah]

 I advice every young man to lower his gaze, to avoid being alone with a stranger woman (a non-Mahram woman), to keep away from the company of corrupted friends, to avoid reading pornography literature, to refrain from watching shameful T.V shows and to make a safety distance between him and the temptations which leads him to commit a sin. Only then he will be under the Protection of Allah and in His shade.