'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So when she gave birth to her, she said, 'My Lord, indeed I have given birth to a female,' and Allah is Most Knowing of what she gave birth to. And the male is not like the female. And indeed, I have named her Maryam, and indeed, I seek refuge for her and her offspring with You from the accursed devil." "So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and entrusted her to Zakariya. Every time Zakariya entered upon her in the prayer chamber, he found with her provision. He said, 'O Maryam, from where is this [coming] to you?' She said, 'It is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account.'" This verse is a speech from Allah, the Exalted, to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And 'the placing' refers to 'birth.' The pronoun in 'she gave birth to her' is feminine, based on the existing female, and it raises the word 'what' in her saying: "what is in my womb" [Aali 'Imran: 35]. Her saying: "My Lord, indeed I have given birth to a female" is a statement of news that contains within it a sense of regret and longing. Allah clarified this with His saying: "And Allah is Most Knowing of what she gave birth to." The majority of people read 'she gave birth' with a فتح (fathah) on the 'ع' (ayn) and a سكون (sukun) on the 'ت' (taa). Ibn 'Amir and 'Asim in the narration of Abu Bakr read: 'I have given birth' with a ضم (dhammah) on the 'ت' and a سكون on the 'ع.' This also transitions her saying: 'My Lord, indeed I have given birth to a female' from the meaning of news to the meaning of longing. She longed because they did not free females for the service of the churches, and it was not permissible for them. She had hoped that what was in her womb would be a male. When she gave birth to a female, she longed for the loss of hope and was alarmed that she had vowed what was not permissible to vow. Ibn 'Abbas read 'you have given birth' with a كسر (kasrah) on the 'ت' addressing her from Allah to her. Her saying: 'And the male is not like the female' refers to the invalidation of her vow, as the female menstruates and is not suitable for the companionship of monks. This was said by Qatadah, Al-Rabi', Al-Suddi, 'Ikrimah, and others. She began by mentioning the more important matter in her own view. Otherwise, the context of her story would necessitate that she say: 'And the female is not like the male,' so she would place the negation with the thing that was with her, and the attributes of perfection would be negated for the intended purpose. In her saying: 'And indeed, I have named her Maryam,' there is a Sunnah of naming children close to birth. An example of this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'A child was born to me tonight, and I named him after my father Ibrahim.' It has been narrated from him, blessings and peace be upon him, 'That on the seventh day, a sacrifice is made for the newborn and he is named.' Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'And if his child dies before the seventh, there is no sacrifice upon him nor naming.' Ibn Habib said: 'I prefer that he be named, and that the miscarriage be named due to what has been narrated about the hope of his intercession.'

And Maryam does not decline due to her foreignness, her definition, and her femininity. The rest of the verse is a repetition. It has been reported in the hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, narrated by Abu Huraira, who said: "Every newborn from the children of Adam has a touch from the devil, and with it, he cries out, except for what was from Maryam, the daughter of 'Imran, and her son. For her mother said when she gave birth to her: ﴿And indeed, I seek refuge with You and with her offspring from the accursed devil﴾, so a veil was placed between them, and the devil struck at the veil." The words of the hadith have differed in various narrations, but the meaning is one as I have mentioned.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So He accepted her﴾ is news to Muhammad, peace be upon him, that Allah accepted Maryam for the service of the mosque as her mother had vowed, and He granted her hope in that. The meaning necessitates that Allah revealed to Zakariya and those who were there that He accepted her, and for that reason, they made her as her mother had vowed.

And His saying "with acceptance" is a source that came in a different form than the source, and likewise His saying: "nurturing" after He caused her to grow. And His saying ﴿And He caused her to grow with a good growth﴾ is an expression of the goodness of her upbringing and the rapid quality in it in both creation and character.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And Zakariya took charge of her" means: he included her in his spending and care. The one who takes charge is the one who raises and nurtures. Ibn Ishaq said: Indeed, Zakariya was the husband of her maternal aunt, for he and Imran were two brothers-in-law to two sisters. The wife of Zakariya gave birth to Yahya, and the wife of Imran gave birth to Maryam. And Al-Suddi and others said: Indeed, Zakariya was the husband of another daughter of Imran. This saying is supported by the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding Yahya and Isa: "They are the sons of the maternal aunt." Makki said: He is Zakariya ibn Azan. Qatadah and others from the people of knowledge mentioned that at that time they would draw lots for who would take charge of the one who was to be in charge of the mosque, and they would share the responsibility. And they did this for Maryam. It was narrated that they threw their pens, with which they used to write the Torah, into the river. It was said: pens made from reeds like arrows and lots. It was said: sticks for them, and all of these are trimmed. It was narrated that they threw that into the river of the Jordan, and it was narrated that they threw it into a spring. It was narrated that the pen of Zakariya rose above the water, while the pens of the others flowed with the water in its current. It was narrated that the pens of the people floated on the water, displayed as reeds do, while the pen of Zakariya remained upright as if it were stuck in mud. So Zakariya took charge of her through this drawing of lots. Al-Tabari narrated from Ibn Ishaq that when she had grown up, a famine struck the Children of Israel, and Zakariya said to them: Indeed, I have become unable to provide for Maryam, so draw lots for who will take charge of her. They did so, and the lot fell on a man named Jurayj, who began to provide for her. At that time, Zakariya would enter upon her in the prayer niche when Jurayj was there and would find sustenance with her. This is a different drawing of lots than the first; the first was meant to take her, and the latter was meant to give her away. The implication of this narration is that Zakariya took charge of her from her childhood without drawing lots, but because her mother had died, and her father had died while she was in her mother's womb, Zakariya included her with himself due to her kinship to his wife. Thus, Ibn Ishaq said. What is established among the people is that Zakariya indeed took charge through the drawing of lots due to their competition at that time regarding who would take charge of the one who was to be in charge.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Amir read: "And He provided for her" - with an open 'fa' lightly, "Zakariya" in the nominative and elongated form. And Asim read in the narration of Abu Bakr: "And He provided for her" - with a doubled 'fa', "Zakariya" in the accusative and elongated form throughout the Qur'an. And Hamza, Al-Kisai, and Asim in the narration of Hafs read: "And He provided for her" - with a doubled 'fa' and an open 'fa', "Zakariya" in the shortened form throughout the Qur'an. In the narration of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, it is read: "And Zakariya provided for her" - with an open 'fa' - on the transitive form with the hamzah. Mujahid read: "So accept her" - with a silent 'lam' - on the supplication "Her Lord" with the 'ba' in the accusative for calling, and "And cause her to grow" - with a broken 'ba' - on the supplication, and "Provide for her" - with a broken 'fa' and a doubled form - on the supplication "Zakariya" in the accusative and elongated form. It was narrated from Abdullah ibn Kathir and Abu Abdullah Al-Muzni: "And He provided for her" - with a broken 'fa' lightly - and it is a language that is said: 'Kafala' means 'he provides' - with a 'dhamma' on the 'ain in the present tense, and 'Kafila' - with a 'kasra' on the 'ain - means 'he provides' - with a 'fatha' in the present tense. "Zakariya" is a foreign name that can be elongated or shortened. Abu Ali said: When it was Arabized, it coincided with Arabic in its structure, so it is like 'Hayja' which can be elongated or shortened. Al-Zajjaj said: As for leaving it uninflected, it is because it has in the elongation two feminine 'alifs' and in the shortening one feminine 'alif'. Abu Ali said: The 'alif' of Zakariya is a feminine 'alif' and it is not permissible for it to be an 'alif of attachment', because there is nothing in the roots that is of its weight, nor is it permissible for it to be a transformed 'alif'. It is said in one language: 'Zakariyyun' is uninflected and this is a mistake among the grammarians, as mentioned by Makki.

And His saying, the Exalted: "Whenever" is an adverb, and the agent in it is "found", and the mihrab is the beautiful structure like the rooms and the elevated places and the like. The mihrab of the palace is the most honorable of what is in it, and for this reason, the most honorable place in the prayer area - which is the position of the imam - is called a mihrab. The poet said:

"The lady of the mihrab, when I come to her, I did not find her or ascend a ladder."

And similar to the saying of another:

"Like the ivory dolls in the mihrabs or like The white flowers in the garden, its blossoms are radiant."

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And he found with her provision﴾ means: food that she nourishes herself with, which he had not experienced or known how it was brought to her. And it was mentioned by Al-Rabi' that she was behind seven closed doors. Al-Makki narrated that she was in a room that could be accessed by a ladder. Ibn Abbas said: He found with her grapes in a container out of season. This was also said by Ibn Jubair and Mujahid. And Al-Dahhak and Mujahid as well as Qatadah said: He would find with her winter fruits in summer, and summer fruits in winter. Ibn Abbas said: He would find with her the fruits of Paradise: summer fruits in winter and winter fruits in summer. Al-Hasan said: He would find with her provisions from the heavens that were not with people. If he had known that this provision was from Him, he would not have asked her about it. Ibn Ishaq said: This entrance that Allah, exalted is He, mentioned in His saying: ﴿Whenever he entered upon her﴾ is indeed the entrance of Zakariya upon her while she was under the care of Jurayj. This is because Jurayj would bring her food, and Allah would cause it to grow and multiply, until when Zakariya entered upon her, he was amazed at its abundance and said: ﴿O Mary, from where is this for you?﴾ What is held by the people is stronger than what Ibn Ishaq mentioned.

And His saying "from where" means: how? And from where? And her saying: ﴿It is from Allah﴾ is evidence that it is not from the provision of a human. And thus, Zakariya received the meaning, otherwise he would not have been satisfied with this answer.

(p-206) Al-Zajjaj said: And this is from the verse that Allah, exalted is He, said: ﴿And We made her and her son a sign for the worlds﴾ [Al-Anbiya: 91]. It was narrated that she never suckled a breast at all.

And her saying: ﴿Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account﴾ confirms that this provision is from Allah. Al-Tabari held that this is not from the words of Maryam and that it is a report from Allah, exalted is He, to Muhammad ﷺ. And Allah, exalted is He, does not diminish His treasures, so He does not account for what comes out of them. And it may be expressed by this phrase regarding those who are abundant among the people that they spend without account, and that is a metaphor and a comparison, and the reality is in what is spent from the treasures of Allah, exalted is He.