Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:58
Those were the ones upon whom Allah bestowed favor from among the prophets of the descendants of Adam and of those We carried [in the ship] with Noah, and of the descendants of Abraham and Israel, and of those whom We guided and chose. When the verses of the Most Merciful were recited to them, they fell in prostration and weeping.
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, exalted be His remembrance, says to His Prophet ﷺ: These whose accounts We have related to you in this sura, O Muhammad — those upon whom Allah has bestowed His favor through His guidance, so that He guided them to the way of the straight path of the prophets — are: from the progeny of Ādam, from the progeny of those whom We carried with Nūḥ in the ship, from the progeny of Ibrāhīm the bosom-friend (khalīl) of the Most Merciful, and from the progeny of Isrāʾīl; and from those whom We guided to belief (al-īmān) in Allah and to acting in obedience toward Him, and whom We chose — he says: and from those whom We chose and selected for Our messengership and Our revelation.
The one intended thereby from the progeny of Ādam is Idrīs. The one intended thereby from the progeny of those whom We carried with Nūḥ is Ibrāhīm. Those intended thereby from the progeny of Ibrāhīm are Isḥāq, Yaʿqūb, and Ismāʿīl. Those intended thereby from the progeny of Isrāʾīl are Mūsā, Hārūn, Zakariyyā, ʿĪsā, and his mother Maryam. For this reason Allah, exalted be His remembrance, distinguished between their lineages, even though Ādam encompasses them all — for among them are some who do not belong to the progeny of those who were with Nūḥ in the ship, and that is Idrīs, who is the grandfather of Nūḥ.
His word, exalted be His remembrance: إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُ الرَّحْمَنِ (when the signs of the Most Merciful are recited to them): he says: when the proofs and arguments of Allah which He sent down to them in His Books are recited to these prophets upon whom Allah has bestowed His favor, they fell down in sujūd (prostration) to Allah, in humility toward Him, in submission and reverence of His command, and in obedience; وَبُكِيًّا (and weeping): he says: they fell down in sujūd while weeping. Al-bukiyy is the plural of bākin (one who weeps), just as al-ʿutiyy is the plural of ʿātin, and al-juthiyy the plural of jāthin. Thus the plural of fāʿil was formed as fuʿūl, just as qāʿid (one sitting) has the plural qaʿūd, and jālis (one sitting) has the plural julūs. The regular plural ought to have been bukuwwan and ʿutuwwan, but the wāw after the ḍamma was deemed undesirable and was converted to yāʾ, just as in the plural of dalw (bucket) adlin was said, and in the plural of bahw (hall) abhin; the original forms are adluw and abhuw, but the wāw was converted to yāʾ because of its position after a ḍamma, out of aversion to the heaviness. In this respect two widespread dialectal variants exist: the scholars of Qurʾānic recitation have read both variants — bukiyyan and ʿutiyyan with kasra, and bukiyyan and ʿutuwwan with ḍamma. It is also possible that al-bukiyy is the weeping itself.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: he said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb recited Sura Maryam and cast himself down in sujūd, and said: This is the sujūd — but where is the bukiyy? — that is to say: where is the weeping?
