Āl ʿImrān 3:45-47

Idh qālati'l-malāʾikatu yā Maryamu inna'llāha yubashshiruki bi-kalimatin minhu'smuhu'l-Masīḥu ʿĪsa'bnu Maryama wajīhan fi'd-dunyā wa'l-ākhirati wa mina'l-muqarrabīn · Wa yukallimu'n-nāsa fi'l-mahdi wa kahlan wa mina'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn · Qālat rabbi annā yakūnu lī waladun wa lam yamsasnī bashar, qāla kadhāliki'llāhu yakhluqu mā yashāʾ, idhā qaḍā amran fa-innamā yaqūlu lahū kun fa-yakūn

"When the angels said: 'Mary! God gives you good news of a word from Him; his name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary; he is honoured in this world and in the hereafter and is of those brought near. · He will speak to people in the cradle and in his maturity, and he is of the righteous.' · She said: 'My Lord! How shall I have a child, when no man has touched me?' He said: 'Even so; God creates what He wills. When He decrees a thing He only says to it 'Be', and it is.'"

This scene was treated at 19/16-21 in Maryam. There intabadhat, ḥijāb, aʿūdhu bi'r-Raḥmān, in kunta taqiyyā and the form of the annunciation were analysed. I rely on that treatment and do not repeat it here. Here I show the difference between the two tellings.

The last row of the table explains all the differences, and I record this as my own reading: Sūrat Maryam tells what happened to a human being — fear, taking refuge, the pangs, facing an accusation. Āl ʿImrān, on the other hand, is speaking inside a dispute, and for that reason it counts up who Jesus is and what he is not: a word, Messiah, son of Mary, honoured, brought near, righteous, speaking, a prophet. Eight attributes, and not one of them is "son of God".

In Sūrat Maryam there is a birth; in Āl ʿImrān there is no birth. This is a fact verifiable from the two texts, and it separates the work of the two sūras.

The construction must be recorded, and it is one of the places the classical commentaries have dwelt on most.

The root ك-ل-م: to wound; and to utter speech. The lexicographers establish the link thus: an utterance leaves a mark in the hearer. Kalima — a sound that leaves a mark.

And what must be recorded is the preposition: kalimatin minhu — "a word from Him". Min conveys source.

The readings transmitted in the classical commentaries about what the kalima is:

All three are transmitted. I do not impose a preference.

And per the method (Method) I record this plainly: the construction is bounded by the verse's own sentence. The verse does not debate what the kalima is; it gives it as a subject of good news and immediately afterwards names it with three names. No theological debate is entered in this commentary.

And a point of word order must be recorded, and the classical commentaries point to it: bi-kalimatin is feminine, but the pronoun comes masculine: ismuhū — "his name" (not ismuhā).

I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence passes from the kalima to a person, and it makes the passage by a pronoun. That is, what is announced is not an utterance but a human being.

Three namings stand side by side, and all three will be at work in the sūra:

ٱلْمَسِيح — the root م-س-ح: to stroke with the hand, to wipe. More than one explanation is transmitted in the classical sources for why the word carries this name (because he was anointed, because he travelled about, because he healed the sick by touching them). There is no certain knowledge, and I impose no preference.

And the note ibnu Maryam must be dwelt on: the Qurʾān names Jesus for the most part with this construction. This is a verifiable fact of usage.

I record this as my own reading, and it is not binding: the giving of descent through the mother agrees with the later sentence of the verse (lam yamsasnī bashar) — that is, the naming contains the event itself. And the same naming is also the ground of the proof that will be built at verse 59 of the sūra.

The root و-ج-ه. Wajīh — one who has a face, held in esteem, whose word counts. The same root occurred in the twentieth verse in the construction aslamtu wajhī.

And the word order of the list must be recorded:

فِى ٱلْمَهْدِ وَكَهْلًا — "in the cradle and in maturity".

The root ك-ه-ل: one who has come to middle age, who has ripened. The word occurs in the Qurʾān only in this construction (here and at 5/110).

And the construction must be recorded, and the classical commentaries have dwelt on it: two states are set side by side — one the age at which speaking is extraordinary, the other the age at which it is ordinary.

I record this as an observation: the sentence does not content itself with either of the two ends. Had only the cradle been named, it would have been a note of a marvel; had only maturity been named, nothing would have been said. What is said when the two are named together is continuance: the speaking is not a one-time sign.

It was treated at 2/117 in al-Baqara, and the note there was this:

"كُن فَيَكُونُ — 'He says: be; and it is'. The expression pictures creation not as a process but as an utterance. Material, tool, labour, time — none of them is named."

I rely on that treatment and do not repeat it here.

Here I add what belongs to Āl ʿImrān alone, and it is a link verifiable within the sūra: the expression occurs twice in the sūra — at 47 and at 59. And at its second occurrence it will be named together with the creation of Adam.

The same expression, one an answer and one a proof. This will be taken up separately at verse 59.