He said, knowing its truth, seeking to affirm it, and enjoying the repetition of it. Is that from his wife or someone else? And if it is from her, will they be in their state of old age or otherwise, neither reckless nor hasty? "My Lord," meaning the One who is gracious to me by always answering my supplication, "how" meaning from where and how and in what state "will there be for me a boy" born to me in the utmost strength, energy, and perfection in masculinity? And she was, while he was saying this, his wife when she was young, barren, not capable of giving birth by nature. And he and she were both young, and no child came to us due to the deficiency of one of the two causes. So how about her now that she has aged! "And I have reached" I "in old age a state of extreme" meaning a matter surpassing the limit, which is the utmost in old age, beyond which there is no limit. And there has resulted from that weakness and dryness of the limbs and their barrenness, which normally prevents the occurrence of a child altogether due to the deficiency of both causes together, let alone that it would be appropriate to express it as a boy. Al-Baghawi said in Al-Imran: And Al-Dahhak reported from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that he was one hundred and twenty years old, and his wife was ninety-eight years old. And Al-Razi said in Al-Lawami: This is inquiring whether Allah will grant him a child in that state or will He turn him young again? And for Allah, the Exalted, in every action, there are two plans: one of them is the known one that people follow from directing the causes to the effects, and the other relates to pure ability, which only the people of insight know.