Salam brother Joseph,
Thanks for your input. I am aware of the verse 12:31 and I have had some time to reflect on this verse. I think this verse is not talking about the "beauty' of Prophet Joseph (a.s), but his piety. The women are giving testimony of his piety by calling him an "honorable angel (malakun kareem)". The angels, in my humble view, are not known for their beauty - but they are known for their sinless nature because they do not disobey God (66:6). Most likely, Joseph did not even look at the well-adorned women invited to the feast by the governor's wife, hence the comment which infuriated the wife - as per my understanding of the next verse 12:32 as if she was saying "what does he think he is!".
If Prophet Joseph (as) was such a pretty-face man, the women probably would have exclaimed “Wao! he is so pretty - he looks like a handsome prince!” Rather, they called him “honorable angel”.
12:32 (Y. Ali) She said: "There before you is the man about whom ye did blame me! I did seek to seduce him from his (true) self but he did firmly save himself guiltless!....and now, if he doth not my bidding, he shall certainly be cast into prison, and (what is more) be of the company of the vilest!"
But there's more to the argument: If the Prophet Joseph was so handsome ("beautiful" - if this word can be used for a man), then it is more likely that he was even more handsome as a child. In the entire chapter 12, we note that , none of the people who knew Joseph from childhood to his appointment as a governor, have praised Joseph for his "beauty" - not his father, nor his 11 brothers, nor the women/girls of his hometown, nor his prison mate who only remembers him as dream-interpreter but not as a pretty-face man. Also, the Egyptian king was not amazed when he saw Joseph for the first time in court. In fact, even the caravan folks who took the child Joseph out of the well did not wonder about the beauty of their unexpected discovery. We also particularly note that Joseph as a child was sold for a paltry priced--a few silver coins (12:20)! So, even his slave market buyers did not think much of the child Joseph as some really precious slave deal. This would be quite unusual because a child of such exquisite beauty is expected to bring a hefty price in the slave market.
12:20 (Y. Ali) The (Brethren) sold him for a miserable price, for a few dirhams counted out: in such low estimation did they hold him!
And that’s not all; we note in 12:50 that Joseph seems to know what these women were doing or up to during the governor’s wife’s invitation (referring to 12:30)—in fact, he calls their presence at the feast and their conduct a “deceit/guile/snare” (kayd). So even before going to the King to interpret his dream, he seems to have a desire to have everything clarified by the solid testimony of the women of the invitation in the King’s court.
12:50 (Y. Ali) So the king said: "Bring ye him unto me." But when the messenger came to him, (Joseph) said: "Go thou back to thy lord, and ask him, 'What is the state of mind of the ladies who cut their hands'? For my Lord is certainly well aware of their snare (kaydahunna)."
And the women did give the testimony of Prophet Joseph’s ‘innocence’—not of their being particularly attracted to him for his ‘beauty’.
12:51 (Y. Ali) (The king) said (to the ladies): "What was your affair when ye did seek to seduce Joseph from his (true) self?" The ladies said: "(Allah) preserve us! no evil know we against him!" Said the 'Aziz's wife: "Now is the truth manifest (to all): it was I who sought to seduce him from his (true) self: He is indeed of those who are (ever) true (and virtuous).
They did not mention their cutting of hands either---because that’s what the ‘guile’ was all about.
I hope this explains my point of view. I could be wrong of course because, at the end of the day, it’s always God Who knows best. He created and saw Joseph. I haven’t.
Thanks. God bless.