Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:16
And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: "Make mention, O Muḥammad, in the Book of Allah which He has revealed to you with the truth, of Maryam, daughter of ʿImrān, when she had withdrawn from her family and secluded herself from them" — and this is the pattern iftaʿala from al-nabdh; al-nabdh means casting away. We have explained this earlier with proofs.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word (وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَرْيَمَ إِذِ انْتَبَذَتْ): that is to say: she had withdrawn from her family.
Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣalt informed us, saying: Abū Kudayna related to us, on the authority of Qābūs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (إِذِ انْتَبَذَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا) — he said: "she withdrew to an eastern place."
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: he said: "Maryam went to the side of the miḥrāb because of a menstruation that befell her" — and that is His word: she withdrew from her family to an eastern place — on the eastern side of the miḥrāb.
His word (مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا) — He says: she turned away and withdrew from her family to a place in the direction of the rising of the sun, not its setting.
As al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word (مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا): he said: "from the direction of the East."
Isḥāq ibn Shāhīn related to us, saying: Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: he said: "I know for certain — if anyone of Allah's creation knows it — why the Christians took the East as their direction of prayer: because of the word of Allah: 'she withdrew from her family to an eastern place' — and they took the birthplace of ʿĪsā as their direction of prayer."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — to the same effect.
Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣalt informed us, saying: Abū Kudayna related to us, on the authority of Qābūs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "The People of the Book — prayer toward the House (Kaʿba) and the pilgrimage to Allah were prescribed for them; nothing diverted them away from that except the interpretation of your Lord: (إِذِ انْتَبَذَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا) — so that they began to pray in the direction of the rising of the sun."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (إِذِ انْتَبَذَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا) — he said: "a remote and secluded place."
It is said that she went to a place in the direction of the rising of the sun because, among them, what faces the East is better than what faces the West; and likewise this, as is reported, is also so in the eyes of the Arabs.
