Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:26
So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, 'Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.' "
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: eat of the dates that fall down upon you, drink of the water of the stream (al-sariyy) which your Lord has placed beneath you; fear neither hunger nor thirst. وَقَرِّي عَيْنًا — He says: set your heart at rest, rejoice over the birth of me, and do not grieve. The eye (al-ʿayn) is placed in the accusative because it is that which is qualified by the stillness (al-qarār). The proper meaning of the sentence is: let your eye come to rest through your child; then the verb of the eye was transferred to the woman as the possessor of the eye, after which the eye stands as an accusative-specification, because fundamentally the verb belongs to the eye. This is comparable to what occurs in فَإِنْ طِبْنَ لَكُمْ عَنْ شَيْءٍ مِنْهُ نَفْسًا (if their souls are good toward you concerning anything of it) — the proper sentence being: "if their souls are good toward you." Compare also وَضَاقَ بِهِمْ ذَرْعًا and تُسَاقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا — in the reading with the yāʾ the ripe fruit falls down from the trunk; in the reading with the tāʾ the ripe fruit falls down from the palm.
The reciters differed over the reading of وَقَرِّي .
The Medinan reciters read وَقَرِّي with a fatḥa on the qāf, according to the dialect of those who say: "qarirti bi-l-makān aqarru bihi," and "qarirti ʿaynan aqarru bihi qurūran" — the dialect of Quraysh, as far as has been conveyed to me. This is the reading and the preference in recitation.
The reciters of Najd say: "qarartu bihi ʿaynan aqirru bihi qarāran" and "qarartu bi-l-makān aqirru bihi"; in their dialect the reading is: وَقِرِّي عَيْنًا with a kasra on the qāf. Our preference is the reading according to the Qurayshī dialect, with fatḥa on the qāf.
His word فَإِمَّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًا — He says: if you see anyone of the descendants of Ādam who addresses you or asks about your affair and that of your child and the cause of your giving birth — فَقُولِي إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا — He says: then say: I have obligated myself before Allah to keep silent and to speak today with no one of the descendants of Ādam — فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ الْيَوْمَ إِنْسِيًّا .
In accordance with what we have said concerning the meaning of "al-ṣawm" (the fast) — here as silence — the exegetes spoke.
* Narration of those who said this:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father — he said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik say concerning this verse إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا : silence.
Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj informed us, saying: Al-Mughīra ibn ʿUthmān informed me — he said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik say concerning إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا : he said: Silence.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning His word إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا : he said: By "al-ṣawm" is meant: silence.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī — he said: I heard Anas read: إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا وَصَمْتًا .
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا : as for صَوْمًا — she fasted from food, drink, and speech.
It was related to me through al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us — he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا : There were among the Children of Israel people who, when they exerted themselves, would fast from speech just as they fasted from food, except for the remembrance of Allah. That was said to him and he said it to her; she said: I fast from speech just as I fast from food, except for the remembrance of Allah. When they addressed them, she pointed to him; they said: كَيْفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَنْ كَانَ فِي الْمَهْدِ صَبِيًّا — he answered them and said: إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ آتَانِيَ الْكِتَابَ — until he reached ذَلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ الَّذِي فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ .
The exegetes differed over the reason for which she was commanded to keep silent toward the people. Some said: she was commanded to do so because she had no outward proof before the people; for she had come as a lone woman with a child without a husband. She was commanded to keep silent so that her son would take over the speech on her behalf.
* Narration of those who said this:
Hārūn ibn Isḥāq al-Hamdānī related to us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn al-Miqdām related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, saying: Abū Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Ḥāritha — he said: I was with Ibn Masʿūd when two men came; one gave the greeting and the other did not. ʿAbd Allāh asked: What is the matter with you? His companions answered: He has sworn to speak with no one today. ʿAbd Allāh said: Speak with the people and greet them; for that woman whom you know knew that no one would believe her that she had borne a child without a husband — by which he meant Maryam (peace be upon her).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said — when ʿĪsā had said to Maryam: لَا تَحْزَنِي she said: "How can I not grieve while you are with me — no wife, that I might say: from my husband; no slave-girl, that I might say: from my master; what is my excuse before the people?" يَا لَيْتَنِي مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَذَا وَكُنْتُ نَسْيًا مَنْسِيًّا — ʿĪsā said to her: "I will take the speech upon myself on your behalf." فَإِمَّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًا فَقُولِي إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ الْيَوْمَ إِنْسِيًّا — he said: All of this is the speech of ʿĪsā to his mother.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of a trustworthy person, on the authority of Wahb ibn Munabbih — إِمَّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًا فَقُولِي إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ الْيَوْمَ إِنْسِيًّا : for I will take the speaking upon myself on your behalf.
Others said: it was only a sign (āya) for Maryam and her son.
* Narration of those who said this:
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا : in some readings: silence (ṣamtan); and you will not find a foolish woman who says: I vow (nazar) as Maryam vowed, to keep silent from speech from the morning to the evening. Allah made that a sign for Maryam and her son, and it is not permissible for anyone to vow to keep silent the entire day from the morning to the evening.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — he recited إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا and he said: In the first reading one read "ṣamtan" (silence); it was only a sign which Allah had set for Maryam and her son.
Others said: she did indeed fast on that day, and the one fasting in that time would fast from food, drink, and speaking with the people; she then had permission for that amount of words that day while she was fasting.
* Narration of those who said this:
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī — concerning فَإِمَّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًا who addresses you فَقُولِي إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ الْيَوْمَ إِنْسِيًّا : the one who fasted in that time did not speak until the evening fell; and she was told: do not extend this.
