His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "O Yahya, take the Scripture with strength, and We granted him judgment while he was still a boy." "And compassion from Us and purity, and he was righteous." "And dutiful to his parents, and he was not a disobedient tyrant." "And peace be upon him the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he is raised alive."

The meaning: "So he was born to him, and Allah said to the newborn: O Yahya." This is a summary of what the words indicate. And "the Scripture": is the Torah without dispute; because he was born before 'Isa and the Gospel was not present among the people. And His saying: "with strength," means: knowledge of it, and preservation of it, and acting upon it, and adhering to its obligations.

Then Allah, the Exalted, informed and said: "And We granted him judgment while he was still a boy," and there is a difference regarding "judgment." A group said: the rulings and knowledge of them, and "while he was still a boy" means: a young man who has not reached the age of maturity. Al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him, said: judgment is prophethood.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And in the term "while he was still a boy" - on this - there is a metaphor and a consideration of a state.

And a group said: judgment is wisdom. And Ma'mar narrated in this regard that the boys called him while he was a child to play, and he said to them: I was not created for play, and that is the wisdom that Allah, exalted and majestic is He, granted him while he was still a boy. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: Whoever reads the Qur'an before reaching puberty has been granted judgment while still a boy.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And compassion from Us" is an addition to His saying: "judgment," and "purity" is an addition to it. All of that is governed by "We granted him." And it is permissible that "and compassion" is an addition to "while he was still a boy," meaning: and in a state of compassion from Us and purity for him. And "compassion": is mercy, tenderness, and love, as said by the majority of the interpreters, and it is the interpretation of the language. It is an act from the actions of the soul, and it is said: your compassion and your compassion, and it was said: they are two languages with one meaning, and it was said: your compassion is the dual of compassion. And 'Ata ibn Abi Rabah said: "Compassion from Us": is glorification from Us.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And compassion in the speech of the Arabs also means what is glorified among matters in the essence of Allah, exalted and majestic is He. And from it is the saying of Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufail in the story of Bilal ibn Rabah: By Allah, if you kill this servant, I will surely take his grave as a compassion. And it has been narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: "By Allah, I do not know what compassion is." And "purity" is purification and growth in the paths of goodness and righteousness, and "the righteous" is one who is pious to Allah, exalted and majestic is He. And it has been narrated in the interpretation of this verse from the direction of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, may Allah be pleased with them, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "Every son of Adam will come on the Day of Resurrection with a sin; except for Yahya ibn Zakariya, peace be upon him." And Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Indeed, Yahya, peace be upon him, never disobeyed Allah, neither in a small matter nor in a large matter, nor did he even think of a woman. And Mujahid said: Yahya's food was herbs, and there were clear channels of tears on his cheek. And among the evidence for compassion is the saying of Imru' al-Qais:

And the sons of Shamaqa ibn Jirm grant it to them, Your compassion, O You of compassion.

And the saying of the Nabighah:

O Abu Mundhir, you have perished, so let some of us remain. Some of your compassion is less than some of the evil.

And another said:

She said: What brought you here, O compassion? Are you of noble lineage or do you know the tribe?

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And dutiful to his parents, and he was not a disobedient tyrant﴾. The dutiful: the one who has much goodness, and the tyrant: the one who is arrogant, as if he forces people to his morals. The tyrant: the tall and great palm tree. And the disobedient, its origin is 'asiyun, and 'awwal' means 'one who does'. It has been narrated that Yahya, peace be upon him, did not commit a small or a great sin.

His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And peace be upon him﴾. Al-Tabari and others said: Its meaning is: safety.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And what is more apparent to me is that it is the customary greeting. It is more noble and distinguished than safety; because safety is obtained by negating disobedience, and it is the least of its degrees. Rather, the honor is that Allah has greeted him and saluted him in the situations where a person is in utmost weakness, need, lack of means, and poverty to Allah and the great terror.

And Al-Tabari mentioned from Al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him, that Isa ibn Maryam and Yahya ibn Zakariya, peace be upon them, met, and they are cousins. Yahya said to Isa: Pray for me, for you are better than me. Isa said to him: No, you pray for me, for you are better than me. Allah has greeted you, and I have greeted myself.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

My father, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Some scholars have derived from this verse regarding the greeting the virtue of Isa by saying: His humility in greeting himself and his status with Allah which necessitated that when he affirmed and narrated in the clear revelation, it was greater in rank than to greet him. And each has its perspective.