Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:9
[An angel] said, "Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, for I created you before, while you were nothing.' "
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: Allah answered Zachariah and said: قَالَ كَذَلِكَ ("He said: 'So shall it be'") — that is to say: the matter is so, as you say: that your wife is barren and that through old age you have reached an emaciated condition — but your Lord says: the creating of that which I have promised you, the boy whom I have mentioned, whose name shall be Yaḥyā, is easy for Me. This, then, is the reference in His word: قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ ("Your Lord says: 'It is easy for Me'") to the creation (al-khalq).
His word: وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُ شَيْئًا ("While I have already created you before, when you were nothing") — Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: The creating of what I have promised to bestow upon you, the boy of whom I have told you, despite your advanced old age and the barrenness of your wife, is no more wondrous than your own creation. For I have indeed created you — I brought you forth as a perfect human being — before I created that which I have promised to bestow upon you of offspring, and you were then nothing. Likewise I shall also bestow upon you the child whom I have promised you, from your barren wife, despite your aged old age, your weakened bones, and the white fire that has leapt over your head.
