The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 43
PT. 3 ĀL-E-'IMRĀN CH. 3 هُنَالِكَ دَعَا زَكَرِيَّا رَبَّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبْ did لِي مِنْ لَّدُنْكَ ذُرِّيَّةً طَيِّبَةً إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ الدُّعَاءِ 39. There and then Zachariah pray to his Lord, saying, "My Lord, grant me from Thyself pure offspring; surely, Thou art the Hearer of prayer. '329 Commentary: a19:6, 7; 21: 90, 91. measure, are most probably the words of God and not those of Mary. But if they are Mary's words, they make her reply all the more impressive and Zachariah's earnest prayer, referred to in the following verse, all the more 329. Commentary: Many fantastic stories have been woven round Mary's reply to Zachariah's question as to whence she got the gifts he found lying about her. The gifts were evidently brought|justified. by worshippers visiting the place and there was also nothing extraordinary in her reply that the gifts were from Allah, for every good thing that comes to man is really from God, He being the final agency. In fact, from a girl of Mary's religious upbringing any other reply would rather have been surprising. The accounts of Mary having been provided with heavenly fruits by angels are, therefore, nothing but the figment of the commentators' own minds and find no support whatsoever from the Quran or the sayings of the Holy Prophet. The pious reply of the child, however, made a deep impression on the mind of Zachariah and awakened in the depths of his soul the latent and natural desire of possessing similarly virtuous child of his own. a The words, Surely Allah gives to whomsoever He pleases without 483 Deeply touched by the little girl's reply, Zachariah was moved there and then to pray to God to be blessed with a pious child like Mary. The prayer was probably repeated over a length of period as it is mentioned in varying words in different parts of the Quran (3:39; 19:5-7; 21:90). This finds further support in the fact that whereas the first prayer was offered when Mary was yet a child, the birth of a son to Zachariah actually took place when Mary had grown up to womanhood, Jesus and John (Yaḥyā) being nearly of the same age. Or what is equally probable, the prayer of Zachariah was accepted at the very beginning and God gave him the promise of a child at the very first prayer offered; but, after the manner of pious men, he still continued to pray for the bestowal of the promised gift.