'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Maryam

This surah is Makki by consensus, except for the prostration in it. A group said: it is Makki, and another group said: it is Madani.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad﴾ ﴿Mention of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakariya﴾ ﴿When he called to his Lord a private call﴾ ﴿He said: My Lord, indeed my bones have weakened and my head has filled with gray hair, and I have never been unhappy in calling upon You, my Lord﴾ ﴿And indeed, I fear the successors after me, and my wife is barren, so give me from Yourself a successor﴾ ﴿Who will inherit me and inherit from the family of Jacob, and make him, my Lord, pleasing﴾

People have differed regarding the letters at the beginning of the surahs into two sayings: A group said: they are the secret of Allah, exalted and glorified is He, in the Quran, and it is not appropriate to discuss them. One should believe in their apparent meaning and leave their inner meaning. The majority said: rather, it is appropriate to speak about them and seek their meanings; for the Arabs may come with a single letter indicating a word, and there is nothing in the Book of Allah that is not understood. Then this majority differed into sayings that we have fully mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, and we will now mention what is specific to this surah.

Ibn Abbas, Ibn Jubair, and Al-Dahhak said: These letters indicate names from the names of Allah, exalted and glorified is He. The Kaf is from 'Kabir', and Ibn Jubair also said: the Kaf is from 'Kafi', and he also said: it is from 'Karim'.

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

So the implication of their sayings is that they indicate every name that has a Kaf from His names, exalted is He. They said: and the Ha is from 'Hadi', and the Ya is from 'Ali', and it was said: from 'Hakim', and Al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: it is from 'Ya'manu la yujiru wa la yujar 'alayh'. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: and the Ain is from 'Aziz', and it was said: from 'Ali', and it was said: from 'Adl', and the Sad is from 'Sadiq'. And Qatadah said: rather 'Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad' as a whole is a name for the surah, and a group said: rather it is a name from the names of Allah, exalted and glorified is He. It has been narrated from Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, that he used to say: 'O Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad, forgive me'.

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

So this may imply that the whole phrase is from the names of Allah, exalted is He, and it may be that Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, intended to call upon Allah, exalted is He, with all the names contained in 'Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad', as if he wanted to say: O Karim, O Hadi, O Ali, O Aziz, O Sadiq, forgive me. Thus, he summarized all of this in his saying: 'O Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad'. And Ibn Al-Mustaneer and others said: 'Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad' is an expression of the letters of the alphabet, and Al-Zajjaj attributed it to most of the people of language, meaning: these letters are mentioned in the mention of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakariya.

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

And based on this, the saying of one who says: 'The mention has risen' is that it is a report about 'Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad', and they are letters of spelling that are paused upon with silence.

And everyone read: "Kaf" with the affirmation of the alif and the fa. Nafi read "the ha and the ya" with a distinction between the kasra and the fatha, and he does not merge the dal into the dhal. Ibn Kathir and Nafi also read with the fatha on the ha and the ya. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan read with the damma on the ha and the fatha on the ya. It has been narrated from him that he read: "Kaf" with the damma on the fa. Abu Amr al-Dani said: The meaning of the damma on the ha and the ya is the fullness of the emphasis, and it is not the pure damma that necessitates the inversion. Abu Amr read with the kasra on the ha and the fatha on the ya. Asim read with the kasra on it. A group read with the clear pronunciation of the nun from "Ayeen", and this is the reading of Hafs from Asim, and it is the standard; as these are separate letters. Everyone read: "Ayeen" with the concealment of the nun, considering it as connected. Most read with the clear pronunciation of the dal from "Sad", and Abu Amr read by merging it into the dhal from his saying: "Dhikr." Abu Ja'far ibn al-Qaqa' read all of these letters clearly and separated some of them from each other.

(p-7) And the saying: "Dhikr" - according to what a group said - is elevated by his saying: "Khay'a'asa", and the explanation of that has preceded. Another group said: It is elevated on a news of a subject, the estimation of which is: This is Dhikr. Another group said: It is elevated by the beginning, and the news is estimated, the estimation of which is: "In what has been revealed to you, Dhikr." Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan and Ibn Yamur read: "Dhakkara Rahmata Rabbika", with the fatha on the dhal and the kaf (which is emphasized) and the ra, meaning: This recitation reminded the servant of the mercy of his Lord. And whoever said: "In the speech there is precedence and delay" has indeed overstepped. The majority read: "Zakariya" with elongation, and al-Amash, Yahya, and Talha read: "Zakariya" with shortening, and these are two dialects, and there are other dialects besides them.

And His saying, the Most High: "Called" means: with supplication and desire. There has been a difference in the meaning of "his concealing" this call. Ibn Jurayj said: This is because hidden deeds are better and further from showing off, and from it is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "The best remembrance is the hidden one." Others said: Concealment is preferred between the servant and his Lord in the supplication which is in the meaning of pardon and forgiveness, because it indicates from the person that he is better, so his concealment is further from showing off. As for the supplication of Zakariya and his request, it was concerning a worldly matter, which is the request for a child, so his concealment was so that people would not blame him for that, and to be at the beginning of his matter; if he is answered, he attains his desire, and if he is not answered, no one knows about that. It is said: He was described as concealed because he was in the depths of the night.

And "Wahana" means: weakened, and wahn in a person or matter is weakness. Al-Amash read: "Wahin" with a kasra on the ha. "And it ignited" is a metaphor for gray hair from the ignition of fire, in comparison to it, and "gray hair" is in the accusative as a source in the saying of one who sees "it ignited" in the meaning of becoming old, and as a distinguishing feature in the saying of one who does not see that, rather he sees it as another action. Thus, the matter for him is like their saying: "And it filled with rage."

His saying: ﴿And I have not been unhappy in calling upon You, O Lord﴾ is gratitude to Allah, the Most High, for His past favors upon him. Its meaning is: You have done good to me in what has passed, and I have been happy with my calling upon You. The favor necessitates that its end should intercede for its beginning.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿And indeed, I feared the relatives﴾, the people have differed regarding the meaning for which he feared the relatives. Ibn 'Amir, Mujahid, Qatadah, and Abu Salih said: He feared that they would inherit his wealth and that the kinsfolk would inherit him, so he was concerned about that. Qatadah and Al-Hasan narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "May Allah have mercy on my brother Zakariya, what was upon him from those who would inherit his wealth." A group said: His relatives were neglectful of the religion, so he feared that with his death the religion would be lost. He sought a guardian who would uphold the religion after him. This saying was reported by Al-Zajjaj, and in it, it is stated that it is not permissible for Zakariya to ask who would inherit his wealth since the prophets are not inherited.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This supports the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Indeed, we, the group of prophets, are not inherited; what we leave behind is charity." And it weakens the mention of the barren one. Most of the interpreters are of the opinion that he intended the inheritance of wealth. The saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Indeed, we, the group of prophets, are not inherited" could mean that he does not intend it generally, but rather that it is the predominant matter among them. So reflect on it. The most apparent and fitting for Zakariya, peace be upon him, is that he intended the inheritance of knowledge and religion, so the inheritance would be metaphorical. Do you not see that he only sought a guardian and did not specify a child? Allah fulfilled his hope in the most complete manner. Abu Salih and others said: His saying: "He will inherit me" intends wealth, and his saying: ﴿And he will inherit from the family of Jacob﴾ intends knowledge and prophethood. Al-Suddi said: Zakariya desired a child.

And "I feared" is from fear; this is the reading of the majority, and upon it is this interpretation. Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, Zayd ibn Thabit, Ibn Abbas, Sa'id ibn Al-As, Ibn Yamur, Ibn Jubair, Ali ibn Al-Husayn, and others read: "I was afraid" with a fatḥah on the khāʾ and a fatḥah on the fāʾ, with a shaddah on the tāʾ, and a kasrah on the tāʾ, attributing the action to "the relatives." The meaning - upon this - is: My supporters have been cut off and have died. And upon this reading, he indeed sought a guardian who would speak about the religion. And "the relatives" are the sons of the uncle and the kin who are close by lineage. And His saying: ﴿from behind me﴾ means: after me in time. They are (p-9) the ones behind, as we clarified in Surah Al-Kahf. Abu Ubaidah said regarding this verse: that is, from before me and in front of me; this is a little clarification. Ibn Kathir read: "from behind me" with elongation and hamzah and a fatḥah on the yāʾ. Ibn Kathir also read: "from my back" with an open yāʾ like "my staff." The others pronounced the hamzah, elongated, and kept the yāʾ silent.

And "the barren one" is from women who do not give birth due to age, and likewise, the barren one from men. From this is the saying of 'Amir ibn Al-Tufayl:

"Wretched is the young man if I am one-eyed, barren, and cowardly; what is my excuse in every gathering?"

'And Zakariya, peace be upon him, when he saw his condition, only asked for a successor, and did not explicitly mention 'a son' due to the distance of that from him because of the woman. Then he described the successor with the attribute that is his intention, which is that he be an heir. A group said: Rather, he asked for a son, then conditioned that the response be that he lives until he inherits him, as a precaution against the response being in a son who might die and thus the intended purpose would not be achieved.

And the majority read: 'He will inherit me and he will inherit' with both verbs in the nominative, meaning the description for the successor. Abu Amr and Al-Kisai read: 'He will inherit me and he will inherit' with both verbs in the subjunctive, and this is according to the school of Sibawayh; it is not the answer to 'give.' Rather, its estimation is: If you give him, he will inherit me. The first is more correct in meaning, because he asked for a described heir, and the subjunctive is weakened because not every gift results in inheritance. And Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and others read: 'An heir from the family of Yaqub will inherit me.' Abu Al-Fath said: This means the abstraction; the estimation is: An heir will inherit me from him or by him. And Mujahid read: 'He will inherit me and he will inherit' in the diminutive form. And His saying, 'from the family of Yaqub,' means from them wisdom, knowledge, and prophethood, and inheritance in all of this is a metaphor. And 'radi' means: pleasing, so it is a form meaning that which is accepted.