Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:37
So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and put her in the care of Zechariah. Every time Zechariah entered upon her in the prayer chamber, he found with her provision. He said, "O Mary, from where is this [coming] to you?" She said, "It is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account."
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 discourse on the explanation of His saying: فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍ وَأَنْبَتَهَا نَبَاتًا حَسَنًا ("So her Lord accepted her with a goodly acceptance and made her grow with a goodly growth").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means thereby that Allah, exalted is His praise, accepted Maryam from her mother Ḥanna, as well as the fact that she dedicated her to the temple, to its service and to the service of her Lord — "with a goodly acceptance."
* * *
"Al-qabūl" (the acceptance) is a verbal noun (maṣdar) from: "qabilahā Rabbuhā" ("her Lord accepted her"). The verbal noun here, however, is not rendered according to the form of the verb. Had it been according to its form, it would read: "fa-taqabbalahā Rabbuhā taqabbulan ḥasanan." The Arabs do this often: that they render verbal nouns according to the root-forms of the verbs, even though the expressions of those verbs differ by augmentation. That is like their saying: "takallama fulānun kalāman" ("So-and-so spoke a word"); had the verbal noun been rendered according to the verb, one would say: "takallama fulānun takalluman." To this also belongs His saying: "wa-anbatahā nabātan ḥasanan" ("and He made her grow with a goodly growth"), whereas He did not say: "inbātan ḥasanan."
It has been related from Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ that he said: We have not heard the Arabs inflect the qāf in "qabūl" with a ḍamma, although analogy would require the ḍamma, for it is a verbal noun like "al-duḫūl" (entering) and "al-ḫurūj" (exiting). He said: And I have not heard in the language of the Arabs another word that resembles it.
6900 - This was related to me on the authority of Abū ʿUbayd, who said: Al-Yazīdī informed me, on the authority of Abū ʿAmr.
* * *
As for His saying: "wa-anbatahā nabātan ḥasanan" ("and He made her grow with a goodly growth"), its meaning is: and her Lord made her grow in her nourishment and her sustenance with a goodly growth, until she became full-grown and a mature, complete woman, as in:
6901 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Allah, mighty and exalted, said: "fa-taqabbalahā Rabbuhā bi-qabūlin ḥasanin" ("so her Lord accepted her with a goodly acceptance"). He said: He accepted from her mother what she intended by her for the temple, and her reward for it. "Wa-anbatahā" ("and He made her grow") — he said: she grew up in the nourishment of Allah.
* * *
The discourse on the explanation of His saying: وَكَفَّلَهَا زَكَرِيَّا ("and He made Zakariyyā her guardian").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The reciters differ over the reading of His saying "wa-kaffalahā."
Most of the reciters of the Ḥijāz, Medina, and Basra read it as: (وَكَفَلَهَا) with a light (undoubled) fāʾ, with the meaning: Zakariyyā took her to himself, in view of Allah's saying, mighty and exalted: يُلْقُونَ أَقْلامَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ ("they cast their pens to determine which of them would be guardian of Maryam") [Sūrah Āl ʿImrān: 44].
* * *
Most of the reciters of Kūfa read it as (وَكَفَّلَهَا زَكَرِيَّا), with the meaning: and Allah made Zakariyyā her guardian.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the two readings, in my view, is the reading of the one who read: (وَكَفَّلَهَا) with a doubled fāʾ, with the meaning: and Allah made Zakariyyā her guardian, that is to say: and Allah joined her to him. For Zakariyyā too joined her to himself, in that Allah imposed upon him that he join her to himself, by means of the casting of lots (qurʿa) which Allah caused to fall out in his favour, and the sign He revealed therein against his opponents, by which He made him more deserving of her than they, when he won in the casting of lots over those who contended with him concerning her. That is because it has reached us that Zakariyyā and his opponents, concerning Maryam, when they disputed over her — with which of them she would reside — cast lots with their reed-shafts (pens), which they threw into the river Jordan. Some of the scholars said: The shaft of Zakariyyā remained fixed, and stood upright, and the water did not carry it away, while the water carried away the shafts of the others. Thus did Allah make that a sign for Zakariyyā that he was, of those disputing over her, the most deserving of her.
* * *
Others said: Rather, the shaft of Zakariyyā rose up in the river, while the shafts of the others went along with the current of the water and drifted away, and that was for him a sign from Allah that he was, of the people, the most deserving of her.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: Whichever of the two cases it was, there is no doubt that this was a decree of Allah whereby He assigned her to Zakariyyā over his opponents, namely that he was the most deserving of her. And since that is so, Zakariyyā only joined her to himself in that Allah joined her to him, by His decree in his favour concerning her against his opponents, when they disputed over her and contended with one another over who was the most deserving of her.
And since that is so, it is clear that the correct of the two readings is that which we have chosen, namely the doubling of "kaffalahā."
* * *
As for the argument which those who read it with a light fāʾ adduce, namely Allah's saying: أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ ("which of them would be guardian of Maryam"), and that this would justify the correctness of their choice of the light reading in His saying "wa-kafalahā" — that is a proof which actually points to the weakness of the reasoning of the one who argues with it.
That is because it is not impossible for a rational person to say: "kaffala fulānun fulānan fa-kafalahu fulānun" ("So-and-so appointed another as guardian, and so that other became his guardian"). Likewise too is the saying therein: the people cast their pens to see which of them would be guardian of Maryam, in that Allah made him her guardian by His decree which He rendered between them concerning her when they cast the pens.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: Likewise, the reciters differ over the reading of "Zakariyyā."
Most of the reciters of Medina read it with the lengthening (madd, thus "Zakariyyāʾ").
Most of the reciters of Kūfa read it with the shortening (qaṣr, thus "Zakariyyā").
Both are well-known dialectal forms and widespread readings among the readings of the Muslims, and in the reading according to the one there is no contradiction with the meaning of the reading according to the other. So with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he does correctly.
* * *
Except that the correct view with us is — when "Zakariyyāʾ" is lengthened — that it stands in the accusative without tanwīn, for it is a name of foreign (non-Arabic) origin which is not inflected (does not take tanwīn), and because our reading in "kaffalahā" is with the doubling and strengthening of the fāʾ. Thus "Zakariyyāʾ" then stands in the accusative by the verb that acts upon it.
* * *
And in "Zakariyyā" there exists a third dialectal form with which reciting is not permitted, on account of its contradiction of the codices (maṣāḥif) of the Muslims, namely "Zakariyy" with the omission of the lengthening and the quiescent yāʾ. The Arabs make this resemble the attributed (nisba) names, and thus give it tanwīn and inflect it in the various cases like the nisba-yāʾ.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The explanation of the saying is thus: and Allah joined her to Zakariyyā, according to the saying of the poet:
"And he is, for the strays of the loose-roaming [camels], a guardian (kāfil)"
By which is meant: for what has strayed of the scattered and dispersed bounties he is one who joins [them] to himself and gathers them. And it is also related:
"And he is, for the strays of the fleeing [camels], a guardian"
with the meaning that he, for what has fled and run off of the bounties, is one who joins [them] to himself — derived from their saying "hafā al-ẓalīm" when the ostrich flies swiftly.
One says of this to the man: "What is it with you that you give guardianship to every stray [animal]?" — meaning thereby: you join it to yourself and take it to yourself.
* * *
And in agreement with what we have said about it, the exegetes have spoken.
Mention of those who said that:
6902 - ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Aswad al-Ṭufāwī related to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn Rabīʿa related to us, on the authority of al-Naḍr ibn ʿArabī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His saying: إِذْ يُلْقُونَ أَقْلامَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ ("when they cast their pens to determine which of them would be guardian of Maryam"). He said: They cast their pens and the current carried them away, except the pen of Zakariyyā, which rose up, and so Zakariyyā became her guardian.
6903 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying: "wa-kaffalahā Zakariyyā" ("and He made Zakariyyā her guardian"). He said: He joined her to himself. He said: They cast their pens — meaning their staves — he said: They cast them against the current of the water, and the staff of Zakariyyā went forth to meet the current of the water [and overcame it], and so he defeated them in the casting of lots.
6904 - Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, [who] said: Allah, mighty and exalted, said: فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍ وَأَنْبَتَهَا نَبَاتًا حَسَنًا ("so her Lord accepted her with a goodly acceptance and made her grow with a goodly growth"). Her mother went off with her, wrapped in her swaddling-clothes — namely the mother of Maryam with Maryam — when she had given birth to her, toward the prayer-niche (miḥrāb). And some said: She went off when she had become grown, toward the prayer-niche. Those who wrote the Torah were accustomed, when a human being was brought to them to be dedicated, to cast lots over which of them would take him to instruct him. Zakariyyā was at that time the most excellent among them, and he was one of them, and the maternal aunt of Maryam was his wife. When she was brought, they cast lots over her, and Zakariyyā said to them: I have the most right to her of you, her aunt is my wife! But they refused. Then they went out to the river Jordan and cast their pens with which they wrote: whoever's pen would remain standing upright, he would be her guardian. The pens were carried away, but the pen of Zakariyyā remained upright on its point, as though it were standing in clay, and so he took the girl. That is the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: "wa-kaffalahā Zakariyyā" ("and He made Zakariyyā her guardian"). Thus Zakariyyā placed her with himself in his house, and that is the miḥrāb.
6905 - Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "wa-kaffalahā Zakariyyā" — he says: He joined her to himself.
6906 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "wa-kaffalahā Zakariyyā." He said: He won over them in the casting of lots with his pen.
6907 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
6908 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Maryam was the daughter of their master and their imam. He said: Their scribes disputed over her, and cast lots over her with their arrows over which of them would be her guardian. Qatāda said: Zakariyyā was the husband of her [maternal] aunt, and so he became her guardian, and she resided with him, and he raised her.
6909 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, that he informed him, on the authority of ʿIkrima — and [via] Abū Bakr, on the authority of ʿIkrima — he said: Then she went off with her — namely the mother of Maryam — with Maryam, in her swaddling-clothes, carrying [her], toward the descendants of al-Kāhin ibn Hārūn, the brother of Mūsā ibn ʿImrān. He said: They stood at that time in the same relation to the Bayt al-Maqdis as the temple-keepers to the Kaʿba. She said to them: Take this dedicated one of mine, for I have dedicated her, and she is my daughter, and a menstruating woman may not enter the temple, and I will not bring her back to my house! They said: This is the daughter of our imam — and ʿImrān used to lead them in prayer — and the steward of our offering! Zakariyyā said: Give her to me, for her aunt is my wife. They said: We do not consent to that willingly, she is the daughter of our imam! That was the moment at which they cast lots, and they cast lots over her with their pens — the pens with which they wrote the Torah — and Zakariyyā defeated them in the casting of lots, and so he became her guardian.
6910 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Yaʿlā ibn Muslim informed me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Zakariyyā placed her with himself in his prayer-niche (miḥrāb). Allah, mighty and exalted, said: "wa-kaffalahā Zakariyyā." Ḥajjāj said: Ibn Jurayj said: "Al-Kāhin" means in their language: the scholar.
6911 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "wa-kaffalahā Zakariyyā" — after [the death of] her father and her mother, he mentions her as an orphan, and then he related her history and the history of Zakariyyā.
6912 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, he said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His saying: "wa-kaffalahā Zakariyyā." He said: She resided with him.
6913 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, he said: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Yaʿlā ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His saying: "wa-kaffalahā Zakariyyā." He said: Zakariyyā placed her with himself in his prayer-niche.
6914 - Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to me, he said: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying: فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍ وَأَنْبَتَهَا نَبَاتًا حَسَنًا ("so her Lord accepted her with a goodly acceptance and made her grow with a goodly growth"). The people cast lots over her, and Zakariyyā won the casting of lots, and so Zakariyyā became her guardian.
* * *
Others said: Rather, Zakariyyā became her guardian after Ḥanna had given birth to her daughter Maryam, without any casting of lots, without drawing lots over her, and without anyone disputing with him over her. He became her guardian only because her mother died after the death of her father when she was still a child, and with Zakariyyā was her maternal aunt, Alāshibāʿ bint Fāqūdh. It has also been said that the name of the mother of Yaḥyā, the [maternal] aunt of ʿĪsā, was Ishbaʿ.
6915 - That was related to us by al-Qāsim, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Wahb ibn Sulaymān informed me, on the authority of Shuʿayb al-Jabaʾī: that the name of the mother of Yaḥyā was Ashbaʿ.
* * *
So he joined her to her maternal aunt, the mother of Yaḥyā, and she resided with them and among them, until, when she had grown up, they led her into the temple in fulfillment of the vow of her mother which she had made concerning her.
They said: The casting of lots over her with the pens took place only a considerable time afterward, on account of a severe [famine] that befell them; Zakariyyā became too weak to provide for her maintenance, and so they shifted the burden of her maintenance from themselves — not out of desire for her, and not out of rivalry over her and over the taking on of her maintenance. We shall mention her story according to the saying of those who said that, when we come to it, if Allah, exalted is He, wills.
6916 - That was related to us by Ibn Ḥumayd, he said: Salama related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me.
According to this explanation, the reading of the one who read "wa-kafalahā Zakariyyā" with a light fāʾ is valid — if the explanation were correct. However, the saying of the exegetes is predominant in favour of the first opinion: that the drawing of lots by the people over her took place before the guardianship of Zakariyyā over her, and that Zakariyyā became her guardian only in that his lot fell out victorious over the lots of his opponents concerning her. Therefore the reading with the doubling is, with us, more excellent than the reading with the lightening.
* * *
The discourse on the explanation of His saying: كُلَّمَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا زَكَرِيَّا الْمِحْرَابَ وَجَدَ عِنْدَهَا رِزْقًا ("every time Zakariyyā entered the prayer-niche to her, he found with her provision").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means thereby, exalted is His praise: that Zakariyyā, every time he entered the prayer-niche to her, after he had led her into the miḥrāb, found with her provision from Allah for her nourishment.
It has been said that the provision which Zakariyyā found with her was winter fruit in the summer and summer fruit in the winter.
* * *
Mention of those who said that:
6917 - Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "wajada ʿindahā rizqan" ("he found with her provision"). He said: He found with her grapes in a basket, out of their season.
6918 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning His saying: "kullamā dakhala ʿalayhā Zakariyyā al-miḥrāba wajada ʿindahā rizqan." He said: Grapes out of their season.
6919 - Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Hushaym related to us, he said: Mughīra informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His saying: "wajada ʿindahā rizqan." He said: Fruit out of its season.
6920 - Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Hushaym related to us, he said: Abū Isḥāq al-Kūfī informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: that he found with her summer fruit in the winter, and winter fruit in the summer — namely concerning His saying: "wajada ʿindahā rizqan."
6921 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: My father related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Nubayṭ, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, something similar.
6922 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of some of his shaykhs, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, something similar.
6923 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Hushaym informed us, he said: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, something similar.
6924 - Yaʿqūb related to us, he said: Hushaym related to us, he said: One who heard al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba narrate informed us, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: He found with her the grapes out of their season.
6925 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "wajada ʿindahā rizqan." He said: Grapes that Zakariyyā found with Maryam out of their time.
6926 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
6927 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: My father related to us, he said: Al-Naḍr ibn ʿArabī related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "wajada ʿindahā rizqan." He said: Summer fruit in the winter, and winter fruit in the summer.
6928 - Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "kullamā dakhala ʿalayhā Zakariyyā al-miḥrāba wajada ʿindahā rizqan." He said: We were told that her winter fruit was brought to her in the summer and her summer fruit in the winter.
6929 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "wajada ʿindahā rizqan." He said: He found with her fruit out of its season.
6930 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: Zakariyyā placed between her and himself seven doors. He would enter to her and find with her winter fruit in the summer and summer fruit in the winter.
6931 - Mūsā [ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān] related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: Zakariyyā placed her with himself in a house — and that is the miḥrāb — and he would enter to her in the winter and find with her summer fruit, and he would enter in the summer and find with her winter fruit.
6932 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: "wajada ʿindahā rizqan." He said: He found with her summer fruit in the winter.
6933 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Yaʿlā ibn Muslim informed me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "kullamā dakhala ʿalayhā Zakariyyā al-miḥrāba wajada ʿindahā rizqan." He said: He found with her the fruits of the Garden (al-janna): summer fruit in the winter and winter fruit in the summer.
6934 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Some of the scholars related to me: that Zakariyyā found with her winter fruit in the summer and summer fruit in the winter.
6935 - Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to me, he said: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: When Zakariyyā entered to her — namely to Maryam — in the miḥrāb, he found with her provision from heaven, from Allah, not from the people. And they said: Had Zakariyyā known that that provision came from himself, he would not have asked her about it.
* * *
Others said: Rather, the meaning of it is: that Zakariyyā, when he entered the miḥrāb to her, found with her an abundance of provision beyond what he brought her, with which he maintained her in those days.
Mention of those who said that:
6936 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, who said: He became her guardian after the death of her mother, and joined her to her maternal aunt, the mother of Yaḥyā, until, when she grew up, they led her into the temple in fulfillment of the vow of her mother which she had made concerning her. She began to grow up and increase. He said: Then a famine befell the Banū Isrāʾīl, while she was still in that condition, until Zakariyyā became too weak to provide for her maintenance. He went to the Banū Isrāʾīl and said: O Banū Isrāʾīl, do you not know? By Allah, I have become too weak to provide for the maintenance of the daughter of ʿImrān! They said: And we, we are hard pressed, and there has befallen us of this [famine] year what has befallen you also! So they shifted her among themselves, while they saw no escape from taking on her maintenance, until they cast lots with the pens. The lot for her maintenance fell out upon a man of the Banū Isrāʾīl, a carpenter, named Jurayj. He said: Maryam saw in his face the heaviness of that burden for him, and she said to him: O Jurayj, think the best of Allah, for Allah will provide for us! So Jurayj began to provide for her maintenance in her place, and brought her every day of his earnings that which was of benefit to her. And when he brought it in to her, while she was in the temple, Allah made it increase and multiplied it. Then Zakariyyā would enter to her and see with her an abundance of provision, not in the measure of what Jurayj brought her, and he would say: "Yā Maryam, annā laki hādhā?" ("O Maryam, whence have you this?") Then she would say: "It is from Allah; indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without reckoning."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: As for "al-miḥrāb": that is the foremost part of every sitting-place and every place of prayer, and it is the most elevated, the noblest, and the most worthy of the sitting-places, and so it is also with the mosques. To this belongs the saying of ʿAdī ibn Zayd:
"Like the ivory figurines in the prayer-niches, or like the eggs in the garden, whose blossom gives radiant light"
And "al-maḥārīb" is the plural of "miḥrāb," and it is sometimes also formed in the plural as "maḥārib."
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The discourse on the explanation of His saying: قَالَ يَا مَرْيَمُ أَنَّى لَكِ هَذَا قَالَتْ هُوَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَرْزُقُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ("He said: 'O Maryam, whence have you this?' She said: 'It is from Allah; indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without reckoning'") (37).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means thereby, exalted is His praise: "qāla" ("he said"), namely Zakariyyā: "Yā Maryam, annā laki hādhā?" ("O Maryam, whence have you this?"), that is to say: from which direction does this provision come to you that I see with you? Maryam answered him: "Huwa min ʿindi Llāh" ("It is from Allah"), meaning thereby: that it is Allah who granted her that as provision and conveyed it to her and gave it to her.
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Zakariyyā said that to her only because he — according to what has been related to us — closed seven doors behind her and went away. Then he entered to her and found with her winter fruit in the summer and summer fruit in the winter. He marveled at what he saw of it, and said to her in wonder at what he saw: "Annā laki hādhā?" ("Whence have you this?"). Then she would say: From Allah.
6937 - That was related to me by al-Muthannā, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ.
6938 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: Some of the scholars related to me, and he mentioned something similar.
6939 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: My father related to me, he said: My uncle related to me, he said: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "Yā Maryam annā laki hādhā qālat huwa min ʿindi Llāh" ("O Maryam, whence have you this? She said: It is from Allah"). He said: He found with her the fresh fruit at a time when the fruit was to be found with no one, and so Zakariyyā said: "Yā Maryam, annā laki hādhā?" ("O Maryam, whence have you this?").
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As for His saying: "inna Llāha yarzuqu man yashāʾu bi-ghayri ḥisāb" ("indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without reckoning"), that is a report from Allah that He conveys His provision to whom He wills of His creatures, without counting and without number for which He calls His servant to account. For He, exalted is His praise, does not, by that conveyance to him in that manner, diminish His treasuries, nor does His giving to him, and the calling to account for it, increase or diminish anything in His dominion and in what He possesses, and the knowledge of what He provides as sustenance does not escape Him. Only he calls to account the one to whom he gives for what he gives him who fears the diminution of his wealth and the entry of depletion upon him through the going out of what went out from him without a known reckoning, and who is ignorant of what he gives without reckoning.
