Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:19
He said, "I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy."
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.
The reciters differed concerning the reading of this. The majority of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Iraq — with the exception of Abū ʿAmr — read: (لأهَبَ لَكِ) — with the meaning: "I am only the messenger of your Lord" — that is to say: "He has sent me to you so that I may bestow upon you" (غُلامًا زَكِيًّا) — as a form of quotation. Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ read: "liyahaba laki ghulāman zakiyyan" — with the meaning: "I am only the messenger of your Lord who has sent me to you so that Allah may bestow upon you a pure boy."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct reading in this regard is that of the reciters of the metropolises (amṣār), namely (لأهَبَ لَكِ) with an alif and without a yāʾ, because this is how it stands in the muṣḥafs of the Muslims and is the reading of their earlier and later [scholars], with the exception of Abū ʿAmr; and it is not permissible for anyone to contradict them in that, nor is it permitted for anyone to contradict the muṣḥafs. The zakiyyah boy is the boy who is pure of sins. Likewise the Arabs say: ghulāmun zākin wa-zakiyyun, and ʿālin wa-ʿaliyyun.
