وَ اذْكُرْ And mention فِی in الْكِتٰبِ the Book مَرْیَمَ ۘ Maryam اِذِ when انْتَبَذَتْ she withdrew مِنْ from اَهْلِهَا her family مَكَانًا (to) a place شَرْقِیًّاۙ eastern فَاتَّخَذَتْ Then she took مِنْ from them دُوْنِهِمْ from them حِجَابًا ۪۫ a screen فَاَرْسَلْنَاۤ Then We sent اِلَیْهَا to her رُوْحَنَا Our Spirit فَتَمَثَّلَ then he assumed the likeness لَهَا for her بَشَرًا (of) a man سَوِیًّا well-proportioned قَالَتْ She said اِنِّیْۤ Indeed I اَعُوْذُ [I] seek refuge بِالرَّحْمٰنِ with the Most Gracious مِنْكَ from you اِنْ if كُنْتَ you are تَقِیًّا God fearing قَالَ He said اِنَّمَاۤ Only اَنَا I am رَسُوْلُ a Messenger رَبِّكِ ۖۗ (from) your Lord لِاَهَبَ that I (may) bestow لَكِ on you غُلٰمًا a son زَكِیًّا pure قَالَتْ She said اَنّٰی How یَكُوْنُ can be لِیْ for me غُلٰمٌ a son وَّ لَمْ when not یَمْسَسْنِیْ has touched me بَشَرٌ a man وَّ لَمْ and not اَكُ I am بَغِیًّا unchaste قَالَ He said كَذٰلِكِ ۚ Thus قَالَ said رَبُّكِ your Lord هُوَ It عَلَیَّ (is) for Me هَیِّنٌ ۚ easy وَ لِنَجْعَلَهٗۤ and so that We will make him اٰیَةً a sign لِّلنَّاسِ for the mankind وَ رَحْمَةً and a Mercy مِّنَّا ۚ from Us وَ كَانَ And (it) is اَمْرًا a matter مَّقْضِیًّا decreed فَحَمَلَتْهُ So she conceived him فَانْتَبَذَتْ and she withdrew بِهٖ with him مَكَانًا (to) a place قَصِیًّا remote فَاَجَآءَهَا Then drove her الْمَخَاضُ the pains of childbirth اِلٰی to جِذْعِ (the) trunk النَّخْلَةِ ۚ (of) the date-palm قَالَتْ She said یٰلَیْتَنِیْ O! I wish مِتُّ I (had) died قَبْلَ before هٰذَا this وَ كُنْتُ and I was نَسْیًا (in) oblivion مَّنْسِیًّا forgotten
(19:16) (O Muhammad), recite in the Book the account of Mary,13 when she withdrew from her people to a place towards the east;
(19:17) and drew a curtain, screening herself from people14 whereupon We sent to her Our spirit and he appeared to her as a well-shaped man.
(19:18) Mary exclaimed: "I surely take refuge from you with the Most Compassionate Lord, if you are at all God-fearing."
(19:19) He said: "I am just a message-bearer of your Lord, I have come to grant you a most pure boy."
(19:20) Mary said: "How can a boy be born to me when no man has even touched me, nor have I ever been unchaste?"
(19:21) The angel said: "Thus shall it be. Your Lord says: 'It is easy for Me; and We shall do so in order to make him a Sign for mankind15 and a mercy from Us. This has been decreed.' "
(19:22) Then she conceived him and withdrew with him to a far-off place.16
(19:23) Then the birth pangs drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree and she said: "Oh, would that I had died before this and had been all forgotten."17
13. For comparison see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. I, Al ‘Imran 3, n. 42, pp. 251-2 and vol. II, al-Nisa’ 4, nn. 190-1, pp. 105-7. |
14. We learn from Sarah Al ‘Imran (see verse 35 ff.) that Mary’s mother had vowed that Mary would be solely consecrated to the worship of God. In keeping with this vow, Mary was taken to Jerusalem where Zechariah was to look after her. It is also stated there that Mary retreated to a sanctuary in Jerusalem. Here, we are told that the location of that sanctuary was in the eastern part of Jerusalem. Following a custom of her time, Mary concealed herself from other people by means of a drawn curtain. It is also pertinent at this point to show the error of.
those who, out of consideration for the Biblical account, have expressed the view that the ‘eastern location’ mentioned in the present verse, is Nazareth.
This, however, is patently wrong. For Nazareth is situated to the north of Jerusalem not to the east. of it.
15. We have earlier discussed the significance of the angel’s statement: ‘So shall it be’, in response to Zechariah’s exclamation (see n. 6 above). The angel’s utterance obviously does not mean that some human being would have physical contact with her whereby she would give birth to a son. It will be recalled — as we have pointed out — that Zechariah also expressed his amazement at the possibility of a child being born to him in his very old age and when his wife was barren. Significantly, the response of the angel on both counts was exactly the same: ‘So shall it be.’ Obviously, then, the meaning at both the places is bound to be the same. Likewise, in Surah al-Dhariyat the angel gives Abraham the good news of the birth of a son. On hearing this, Abraham’s wife too exclaims incredulously how would a barren old woman such as herself give birth to a child. To this the angel says the same: ‘So shall it be’ (see al-Dhariyat 51: 28-30). The meaning then is crystal clear; Sarah would give birth to a son despite her old age and barrenness.
Now, were we to take the Qur’anic statement here to mean that someone would have physical contact with Mary as a result of which she would give birth in the manner of all other women, then the statements which follow would become meaningless. For if the birth were to take place according to the known process of procreation, why should the angel say: ‘Your Lord says: ‘‘This is easy for Me; and We shall do so in order to make him a sign for mankind, and a mercy from Us ...’’ (verse 21). The word ayah (‘sign’) in this context definitely signifies ‘miracle’. The same is corroborated by the following part of the verse: ‘That is easy for Me . . .” Thus, what is being said here can only mean one thing — that this child’s birth would be a miracle which God wanted to place before the Israelites. The details that follow make the miraculous character of Jesus (peace be on him) even more evident.
16. The Qur’anic expression ‘a far-off place’ occurs with reference to Bethlehem. It was natural for Mary to move away from her place of confinement in Jerusalem to Bethlehem. She was, as we all know, the daughter of the most pious Israelite family — the house of Aaron — and she had consecrated herself exclusively to a life of devotion and worship. But then suddenly, she became pregnant. Had she stayed on in Jerusalem and her pregnancy been discovered, her life would have been made miserable by all kinds of people whether by members of her own family or by other Israelites. Hence, Mary simply left her place of worship, hoping that at least until the birth of her child, she would be spared public denunciation, slander and scandalization.
The event itself is strong evidence proving that Jesus (peace be on him) was indeed born without a father. For had Mary been a married woman and had she become pregnant by her husband, there was no reason for her to abandon all her relatives and head to a far-off’ place merely to give birth to her child.
17. This verse enables one to gauge Mary’s suffering and anguish. If one remembers the gravity of the situation, it is easy to grasp that she did not utter ‘these words because of intense labor pains. Rather, what tormented her was the awkward situation in which she found herself, and she did not know how she was going to come out of it. For up until then she had somehow been able to hide her pregnancy. But once the child was born she could no longer hide the situation. The consoling words of the angel: ‘grieve not’ (verse 24), also _ indicate why Mary had uttered those anguished words. For, the psychology of a married woman who gives birth to her first child is well known. Even when she writhes in unbearable pain, she is far removed from grief and sorrow.