According to Taberî, Joseph is expressing that he has not completely purified himself from faults and errors, because it is the nature of souls—even if it is outside God's pleasure—to incline toward the command of their own desires. Those whom his Lord has had mercy upon are spared from following and obeying the soul's call to evil through His mercy. Additionally, it is noted that there are differences in the reports regarding whether this statement belongs to Joseph, whether he said it for his own soul or upon some other reminder.

إن النفوس نفوس العباد تأمرهم بما تهواه، وإن كان هواها في غير ما فيه رضا الله يقول: إلا أن يرحم ربي من شاء من خلقه، فينجيه من اتباع هواها وطاعته فيما تأمره به من السوء.

According to Zemahşerî, 'the soul' here is meant in terms of type or genus, meaning this type commands evil and drags toward it with its desires within it; however, some exceptions whom God protects with infallibility (such as angels) are outside this. He also notes that the expression 'mâ rahime' (whom He has mercy upon) could have a temporal meaning, that is, the soul commands evil at every moment, but the time of mercy or infallibility is an exception. As another possibility, he says this could be a disconnected exception (munkatı'), meaning that what actually prevents evil is the Lord's mercy.

أراد الجنس ، أي إن هذا الجنس يأمر بالسوء ويحمل عليه بما فيه من الشهوات إلا البعض الذي رحمه ربي بالعصمة كالملائكة . ويجوز أن يكون { ما رحم } في معنى الزمن ، أي : إلا وقت رحمة ربي ، يعني أنها أمارة بالسوء في كل وقت وأوان ، إلا وقت العصمة

According to Râzî, if the statement in the expression "Indeed, my Lord is forgiving and merciful" means that Joseph acknowledges that his soul could impel him toward evil, this is a weak interpretation; because the preceding verses provide definitive proof of his innocence from sin. Instead, by focusing on the exception particle in the verse, he states that the soul's distance from evil is realized only through God's mercy, and this mercy should be understood not as giving intellect and power, but as the desire for obedience overcoming the desire for sin.

واعلم أن هذا الكلام ضعيف فإنا بينا أن الآية المتقدمة برهان قاطع على براءته عن الذنب

Ibn Kesîr reports the views regarding whose statement it is that 'the human soul is inclined toward evil, but the one whom God has mercy upon is protected from it.' According to some exegetes, this is Joseph's statement, but Ibn Kesîr considers this view weak because the context of the speech consists entirely of the words the wife of the Aziz spoke in the king's presence, and Joseph (peace be upon him) was not present at that time. In his opinion, the view that this statement belongs to the wife of the Aziz is the most fitting and most well-known view in accordance with the flow of the narrative and the meanings of the discourse.

والقول الأول أقوى وأظهر لأن سياق الكلام كله من كلام امرأة العزيز بحضرة الملك ولم يكن يوسف عليه السلام عندهم بل بعد ذلك أحضره الملك

According to Kurtubî, the particle 'mâ' means 'men' (who), and it is as if the text reads 'except whom my Lord has had mercy upon'; the exception is disconnected (munkatı') because the person protected by God's mercy is separated from the general ruling of the soul that commands evil. To support this view, he also cites a hadith transmitted from the Prophet; in this hadith, it is explained that the soul can incline toward evil if treated well, or toward good if treated poorly.

وهو استثناء منقطع لأنه استثناء المرحوم بالعصمة من النفس الأمارة بالسوء

According to Beydâvî, the statement 'I do not exonerate my soul' was not said with the intention of exonerating and boasting about one's soul; rather, it carries the purpose of unveiling the blessing of infallibility and divine success that God has granted him. The soul, by its nature, is inclined toward desires and thus commands evil, but those whom the Lord has had mercy upon are protected from it. Furthermore, the possibilities that the exception could be disconnected (munkatî') and that the verse could be a report of Râil's (Zaynab's) statement are also mentioned.

إن النفس لأمارة بالسوء من حيث إنها بالطبع مائلة إلى الشهوات فتهم بها