Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:44
That is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you, [O Muhammad]. And you were not with them when they cast their pens as to which of them should be responsible for Mary. Nor were you with them when they disputed.
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 explanation of His word: ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ ("That is from the tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you") (3:44).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His word "that": the tidings by which He has informed His servants concerning the wife of ʿImrān and her daughter Maryam, concerning Zakariyyā and his son Yaḥyā, and all the rest that He has recounted in the verses, from His word إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَى آدَمَ وَنُوحًا ("Verily, Allah chose Ādam and Nūḥ"). Then He — exalted be His mention — summed up all of this with His word "that," and said: these tidings belong to the "tidings of the unseen," that is to say: to the tidings of what is hidden.
By "the unseen" (al-ghayb) He means that they belong to the hidden tidings of that people, which you, O Muḥammad ﷺ, did not know, nor did your people, and which no one knew except a small number of the scholars of the People of the two Books and their monks.
Then He — exalted be His mention — informed His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ that He had revealed this to him, as proof of his prophethood, as confirmation of his truthfulness, and in order thereby to cut off every excuse from those who deny his message among the unbelievers (kāfir) of the People of the two Books — those who know that Muḥammad could not have learned these tidings, with all their hiddenness, and could not have acquired knowledge of them despite their being unknown to the people who possessed them, except by Allah having made that known to him. For it was well known among them that Muḥammad ﷺ was an unlettered man (ummī), who did not write and read no books in order to attain this knowledge therefrom, and who had no association with the possessors of the books to take that knowledge from them.
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As for "the unseen" (al-ghayb), this is a verbal noun, derived from the saying: "so-and-so was absent from such-and-such, so he is absent from it, with absence and staying away."
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As for His word, "which We reveal to you" (nūḥīhi ilayk), its explanation is: We cause it to descend to you.
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The root meaning of "revelation" (al-īḥāʾ) is the conveying by the one revealing to the one to whom it is revealed. That may occur by means of a writing, a sign, a gesture, by inspiration, and by a message — as He — exalted be His praise — said: وَأَوْحَى رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ ("And your Lord revealed to the bees") (Sūrah An-Naḥl: 68), in the meaning: He conveyed that to them and instilled it into them. And as He said: وَإِذْ أَوْحَيْتُ إِلَى الْحَوَارِيِّينَ ("And when I revealed to the disciples") (Sūrah Al-Māʾidah: 111), in the meaning: I conveyed the knowledge thereof to them by inspiration. And as the rajaz poet said:
* "He revealed to her steadfastness, so that she stood firm" *
in the meaning: He conveyed that to her as a command. And as He — exalted be His praise — said: فَأَوْحَى إِلَيْهِمْ أَنْ سَبِّحُوا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا ("Then he signaled to them to glorify in the morning and the evening") (Sūrah Maryam: 11), in the meaning: he conveyed that to them by a gesture. The root meaning therein is what I have described, namely the conveying of that to them. The conveying thereof to them may be a gesture, and it may occur by means of a writing. To this also belongs His word: وَإِنَّ الشَّيَاطِينَ لَيُوحُونَ إِلَى أَوْلِيَائِهِمْ ("And verily, the devils reveal to their allies") (Sūrah Al-Anʿām: 121), they convey that to them by whispering. And His word: وَأُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ لأُنْذِرَكُمْ بِهِ وَمَنْ بَلَغَ ("And this Qurʾān has been revealed to me, that I may warn you thereby, and whomever it reaches") (Sūrah Al-Anʿām: 19), it was conveyed to me by Jibrīl — peace be upon him — coming to me with it from Allah, Mighty and Exalted.
As for "the revelation" (al-waḥy), it is that which arrives from the one revealing to the one to whom it is revealed. For this reason the Arabs called the writing and the written thing "waḥy," because it arrives in that which is written and becomes fixed therein, as Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr said:
From him there reached the non-Arabs and the far regions qasidas, Which endured as the writing endures in the hard rock.
He means thereby: the writing that is fixed in the rock. Sometimes, specifically with regard to writing, when the scribe writes it, it is said: "waḥā" without an alif. To this belongs the word of Ruʾba:
It is as if it, after winds that overwhelm it And persistent rains of clouds that beat upon it, Is the gospel of scribes, finely worked out by whoever adorned it.
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The explanation of His word: وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يُلْقُونَ أَقْلامَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ ("And you were not with them when they cast their pens to determine which of them would assume the care of Maryam").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His word "and you were not with them": and you, O Muḥammad, were not with them, so that you might know what We teach you of their tidings which you did not witness; but you know that, and acquire knowledge thereof, only by Our making it known to you.
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The meaning of His word "with them" (ladayhim) is: in their proximity.
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The meaning of His word "when they cast" (idh yulqūn): at the moment when they cast their pens.
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As for "their pens" (aqlāmahum), these are their lots with which the lot-casters among the Children of Israel cast lots over the guardianship of Maryam, as we have previously expounded at His word وَكَفَّلَهَا زَكَرِيَّا ("And Zakariyyā assumed the care of her").
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And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
Mention of who said that:
7052 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Hishām ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word "and you were not with them": by it Muḥammad ﷺ is meant.
7053 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "they cast their pens," these were Zakariyyā and his companions; they cast lots with their pens over Maryam when she came in to them.
7054 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
7055 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "and you were not with them when they cast their pens to determine which of them would assume the care of Maryam, and you were not with them when they disputed": Maryam was the daughter of their imam and their lord, and the Children of Israel vied for her, so they cast lots over her with their arrows to determine which of them would take her into his charge, and Zakariyyā prevailed over them in the casting of lots. He was the husband of her maternal aunt. "So Zakariyyā assumed the care of her," that is to say: he took her to himself.
7056 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "they cast their pens," he said: they cast lots over Maryam to determine which of them would take her into his charge, and Zakariyyā prevailed over them in the casting of lots.
7057 — 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: "and you were not with them when they cast their pens to determine which of them would assume the care of Maryam": when Maryam was placed in the temple, the people of the place of worship cast lots over her — and they were those who wrote the revelation (al-waḥy) — so they cast lots with their pens to determine which of them would take her into his charge. Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, said to Muḥammad ﷺ: "and you were not with them when they cast their pens to determine which of them would assume the care of Maryam, and you were not with them when they disputed."
7058 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh, saying: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning His word: "when they cast their pens to determine which of them would assume the care of Maryam": they cast lots with their pens to determine which of them would assume the care of Maryam, and Zakariyyā prevailed over them in the casting of lots.
7059 — Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: "and you were not with them when they cast their pens," he said: when they cast lots over Maryam, and that was hidden from Muḥammad ﷺ until Allah informed him of it.
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It was only said "which of them would assume the care of Maryam," because the casting of their pens by the lot-casters over Maryam occurred only so that they might see which of them was the most fit and had the most right to her guardianship. In His word, Mighty and Exalted, "when they cast their pens," there lies an indication of something omitted in the wording, namely: "so that they might see which of them would assume the care, and so that they might establish and know that."
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Should anyone suppose that it is obligatory that "which of them" (ayyuhum) be in the accusative, since that is the meaning, then he has supposed wrongly. For "the seeing," "the establishing," and "the knowing," together with "which" (ayy), require an inquiry and acquisition of information, and the part that belongs to "which" in the acquisition of information is that it stands at the beginning and that the governing effect of the question and the acquisition of information over it is suspended. For the meaning of the saying "I shall surely see which of them stood up" is: I shall surely inquire of the people: which of them stood up. And likewise their saying: "I shall surely know."
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And we have already previously demonstrated that the meaning of "he assumes the care" (yakful) is: he takes to himself, in a manner that absolves us from repeating it in this place.
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The explanation of His word: وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يَخْتَصِمُونَ ("And you were not with them when they disputed") (3:44).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by it: and you, O Muḥammad, were not with the people of Maryam when they disputed over her, to determine which of them had the most right to her and was the most fit.
And that is from Allah, Mighty and Exalted — even though it is an address directed to His Prophet ﷺ — a reproach from Him, Mighty and Exalted, directed at those among the People of the two Books who deny him. He says: how can the people of unbelief among them doubt you, while you convey to them these tidings which you did not witness, and you were not with them on the day they did these things, and you are not among those who have read the books and thus learned their tidings, nor did you associate with the possessors thereof so that you heard their tidings?
As:
7060 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr: "and you were not with them when they disputed," that is to say: you were not with them when they disputed over her. He informs him of the hidden knowledge which they kept hidden from him, in confirmation of his prophethood and as proof against them by that which he brought them of what they had kept hidden of it.
