هُنَالِكَ دَعَا زَكَرِيَّا رَبَّهُۥ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبْ لِى مِن لَّدُنكَ ذُرِّيَّةً طَيِّبَةً إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ ٱلدُّعَآءِ
Hunālika daʿā Zakariyyā rabbah, qāla rabbi hab lī min ladunka dhurriyyatan ṭayyibah, innaka samīʿu'd-duʿāʾ · Fa-nādathu'l-malāʾikatu wa huwa qāʾimun yuṣallī fi'l-miḥrābi anna'llāha yubashshiruka bi-Yaḥyā muṣaddiqan bi-kalimatin mina'llāhi wa sayyidan wa ḥaṣūran wa nabiyyan mina'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn · Qāla rabbi annā yakūnu lī ghulāmun wa qad balaghaniya'l-kibaru wa'mraʾatī ʿāqir, qāla kadhālika'llāhu yafʿalu mā yashāʾ · Qāla rabbi'jʿal lī āyah, qāla āyatuka allā tukallima'n-nāsa thalāthata ayyāmin illā ramzā, wa'dhkur rabbaka kathīran wa sabbiḥ bi'l-ʿashiyyi wa'l-ibkār
"There and then Zechariah prayed to his Lord: 'My Lord! Grant me from Your presence a goodly offspring; truly You hear prayer.' · The angels called to him while he stood praying in the sanctuary: 'God gives you good news of John — confirming a word from God, a lord, one who holds himself back, and a prophet from among the righteous.' · He said: 'My Lord! How shall I have a boy, when old age has overtaken me and my wife is barren?' He said: 'Even so; God does what He wills.' · 'My Lord! Give me a sign.' He said: 'Your sign is that for three days you shall not speak to people except by gesture. Remember your Lord much, and glorify Him in the evening and in the early morning.'"
This account was treated in detail at 19/1-15 in Maryam. There nidāʾan khafiyyā, wahana'l-ʿaẓmu minnī, ishtaʿala'r-raʾsu shaybā, ʿitiyyā, and the list of what was given to John were analysed. I rely on that treatment and do not repeat it here.
The work I shall do here is to show the difference between the two tellings. And the difference can be verified from the text.
| Maryam 19/1-15 | Āl ʿImrān 3/38-41 | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the prayer stands | The opening of the sūra — the account begins here | After a scene — hunālika ("there and then") |
| The voice of the prayer | Nidāʾan khafiyyā — with a hidden voice | No note about the voice |
| The ground of the prayer | Wahana'l-ʿaẓmu… wa'shtaʿala'r-raʾs — a description of the body | No ground — the request directly |
| What is asked | Waliyyan… yarithunī — an heir | Dhurriyyatan ṭayyibatan — a goodly offspring |
| Who gives the good news | Yā Zakariyyā innā nubashshiruka — directly | Fa-nādathu'l-malāʾika — the angels |
| His state at the moment of the news | Not stated | Wa huwa qāʾimun yuṣallī fi'l-miḥrāb |
| The wording of the objection | Annā yakūnu lī ghulāmun wa kānati'mraʾatī ʿāqiran wa qad balaghtu mina'l-kibari ʿitiyyā | Annā yakūnu lī ghulāmun wa qad balaghaniya'l-kibaru wa'mraʾatī ʿāqir |
| The wording of the answer | Kadhālika qāla rabbuka huwa ʿalayya hayyin + wa qad khalaqtuka min qablu wa lam taku shayʾā | Kadhālika'llāhu yafʿalu mā yashāʾ |
| The length of the sign | Thalātha layālin sawiyyā — three nights | Thalāthata ayyāmin illā ramzā — three days |
| John's attributes | al-ḥukm, ḥanān, zakāt, taqiyy, barran bi-wālidayh, lam yakun jabbāran ʿaṣiyyā | Muṣaddiqan bi-kalimatin mina'llāh, sayyidan, ḥaṣūran, nabiyyan mina'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn |
Every row of this table can be verified from the two texts. I now record three observations that come out of the table.
One. Sūrat Maryam tells the person; Āl ʿImrān tells the context. In Maryam there are Zechariah's bones, his hair, the failing of his voice — the state of a human being is described. In Āl ʿImrān there is none of this; in its place stands hunālika — "there and then". That is, the prayer is given as the consequence of the scene seen in the preceding verse (the finding of unlooked-for provision beside Mary).
I record this as my own reading, and it is not binding: in Āl ʿImrān the prayer is an inference. Zechariah has seen a provision that came without a cause, and has asked for his own impossibility. Hunālika is the one word that establishes this link, and it is not in Sūrat Maryam.
Two. In the two sūras the number three is the same and the unit different: thalātha layāl (Maryam) / thalāthata ayyām (Āl ʿImrān). This is a verifiable difference of wording. In the classical commentaries this is explained as two namings of the same span — in Arabic it is common for day and night to be used so as to include one another. I transmit this and build no ruling on it.
Three. The lists of attributes differ, and neither of them is deficient. What is given in Maryam bears on the inner world (ḥanān, zakāt, taqiyy); what is given in Āl ʿImrān bears on position (muṣaddiq, sayyid, nabī). I record this as an observation: the two sūras, telling of the same person, bring different attributes forward, and each sūra takes what suits its own axis. The axis of Sūrat Maryam is al-Raḥmān; the axis of Āl ʿImrān is being chosen, and position.
سَيِّد — the root س-و-د: to go in front, to be at the head. Sayyid — the one who stands before his people. The word occurs rarely in the Qurʾān, and here it is used as the attribute of a prophet.
حَصُور — the root ح-ص-ر: to encircle, to press in, to hold back. Ḥaṣr — narrowing, restriction. Ḥaṣūr is on the faʿūl pattern and conveys intensity.
| # | What ḥaṣūr is | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One who holds himself back | Master of his appetite, reining in his desire |
| 2 | One who does not marry | Keeping away from women |
| 3 | One held back from sin | One whose turning to evil is prevented |
And per the method (Method) I enter a note: from the second reading it cannot be concluded that not marrying is a general excellence; elsewhere the Qurʾān says plainly that prophets had wives and children (al-Raʿd 13/38 — treated in al-Raʿd). No legal or moral ruling is established on this matter in this commentary.
| Sūra | The answer | What it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| Maryam 19/9 | Huwa ʿalayya hayyin wa qad khalaqtuka min qablu wa lam taku shayʾā | A past instance — the addressee's own creation |
| Āl ʿImrān 3/40 | Kadhālika'llāhu yafʿalu mā yashāʾ | The nature of the agent — no instance at all is given |
I record this as an observation: in Maryam the objection is met with a proof; in Āl ʿImrān with a declaration. And the context of Āl ʿImrān explains this: in this sūra something like the same sentence will be said to Mary as well, at verse forty-seven (kadhāliki'llāhu yakhluqu mā yashāʾ) — that is, the sentence is here turned into a pattern, and it binds the two annunciations together.
| Verse | To whom | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | Zechariah | Kadhālika'llāhu yafʿalu mā yashāʾ |
| 47 | Mary | Kadhāliki'llāhu yakhluqu mā yashāʾ |
Two sentences on the same pattern; the one difference is in the verb: yafʿal (He does) / yakhluq (He creates). This is a verifiable difference of wording.
I record this as my own reading, and it is not binding: what Zechariah asks for is an exception to an order that is working — a child from an old man. Mary's case, on the other hand, is outside the order. And the verbs appear to have been chosen accordingly: one is doing, the other creating. I give this as an observation; I establish no fixed rule.
The root ر-م-ز: to signal with the lip, the eye or the hand — a communication made without the voice. The word occurs only here in the Qurʾān.
And the observation recorded in Maryam can be carried over here: there it was said that the prayer was hidden (nidāʾan khafiyyā), and what was given as a sign also had to do with the voice.
In Āl ʿImrān the prayer is not silent; but the sign is again silence. I record this as an observation: in both sūras the same sign is given — not being able to speak. And in both sūras the same command follows it: sabbiḥ — glorify.
That is, speech with people is cut off, and the remembrance of God goes on. This is a thing shared that can be verified from the two texts.