Tafsir for verses: 3:38, 3:39, 3:40, 3:41
هُنَالِكَ دَعَا زَكَرِيَّا رَبَّهُۥۖ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبۡ لِي مِن لَّدُنكَ ذُرِّيَّةٗ طَيِّبَةًۖ إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ ٱلدُّعَآءِ ٣٨ ﴿38 فَنَادَتۡهُ ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَهُوَ قَآئِمٞ يُصَلِّي فِي ٱلۡمِحۡرَابِ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكَ بِيَحۡيَىٰ مُصَدِّقَۢا بِكَلِمَةٖ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَسَيِّدٗا وَحَصُورٗا وَنَبِيّٗا مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ ٣٩ ﴿39 قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِي غُلَٰمٞ وَقَدۡ بَلَغَنِيَ ٱلۡكِبَرُ وَٱمۡرَأَتِي عَاقِرٞۖ قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ ٱللَّهُ يَفۡعَلُ مَا يَشَآءُ ٤٠ ﴿40 قَالَ رَبِّ ٱجۡعَل لِّيٓ ءَايَةٗۖ قَالَ ءَايَتُكَ أَلَّا تُكَلِّمَ ٱلنَّاسَ ثَلَٰثَةَ أَيَّامٍ إِلَّا رَمۡزٗاۗ وَٱذۡكُر رَّبَّكَ كَثِيرٗا وَسَبِّحۡ بِٱلۡعَشِيِّ وَٱلۡإِبۡكَٰرِ ٤١ ﴿41
38Thereupon, Zakariyyā prayed to his Lord. He said: “O my Lord, grant me from Your own (power) a goodly progeny. Verily, You are the One who listens to the prayer.” 39So then, when he stood praying in the place of worship, the angels called out to him saying: “Allah gives you the good news of YaHyā who shall come to confirm a word of Allah and shall be a chief, abstinent (from women), a prophet and one of the righteous.” 40He said: “O my Lord, how shall I have a boy when old age has come upon me and my wife is barren?” Said He: “That is how Allah does what He wills.” 41He said: “O my Lord, set for me a sign.” Said He: “Your sign is that you shall not be able to speak to people for three days except through gestures. Remember your Lord much; and proclaim His purity in the evening and the morning.”
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Commentary

There, in that place where he is sitting near Mary in the prayer niche, or at that time, it may be borrowed here. [Mahran said: It may be borrowed here, and then and where for time... etc.] Ahmad said: It is not appropriate for the Prophet that his knowledge of the permissibility of the barren woman giving birth should be limited to witnessing something like it, for reason dictates the permissibility of that in the power of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, even if its like has not occurred. A better and safer expression to say is: When he witnessed the occurrence of this event as a miracle for Mary, his hope extended to an event that corresponds to it as a miracle for him, and Allah knows best. And then and where for time. When he saw the condition of Mary in her honor with Allah and her status, he desired to have a son like the son of his sister Hannah in nobility and honor with Allah, even though she was barren and old, for her sister was likewise. It was said that when he saw the fruits out of season, he became aware of the possibility of the barren woman giving birth to offspring. And offspring applies to both singular and plural. He is the All-Hearing, the Responsive. It was recited: So the angels called him. It was said: Gabriel, blessings be upon him, called him, and it was said angels according to their saying: So-and-so rides horses. (Indeed, Allah gives you good tidings) with the opening on 'that Allah', and with the kasra on intending the saying. Or because calling is a type of saying. And it was recited: He gives you good tidings, and He gives you good tidings, from 'bashara' and 'abshara'. And He gives you good tidings, with the opening of the 'ya' from 'bashara'. And Yahya, if it is foreign, which is apparent, is prevented from being declined due to the definiteness and foreignness like Musa and Isa. If it is Arabic, then due to definiteness and the weight of the verb like 'yu'mir'. Confirming the word from Allah, confirming Isa and believing in him. It was said he is the first to believe in him, and Isa was called 'the Word' because he existed only by the Word of Allah alone, which is His saying: (Be) without any other cause. And it was said: Confirming the Word from Allah, believing in a book from Him. And the book was called a word, as it was said the word of Al-Huwaira for his poem. And the lord is the one who dominates his people, meaning he surpasses them in honor. And Yahya was superior to his people and superior to all people in that he never committed a sin, and what a superiority that is. And the 'hassour' is one who does not approach women, restraining himself from desires. It was said he is one who does not participate with people in gambling. Al-Akhtal said: And a drinker, who is profitable with the cup, called me... neither a 'hassour' nor in it with 'sa'ar'. [From Al-Akhtal, he says: A drinker who shares wine at a profitable price, called me with the cup. It is permissible for it to be connected to what came before, not a 'hassour' preventing himself from entering with the people in gambling, nor 'sa'ar' in the form of 'fa'al' for exaggeration, meaning keeping in the cup a remnant, meaning a remainder, from 'as'ara' if he keeps, and it is rare like 'jabbar' from 'ajbara'. And it is narrated as 'suwar' from 'sura' which is the leap and the riot, thus in causation, meaning neither changing the mind because of it, nor affection for the profitable, and the second is confirmation, and the 'ba' is extra after every, and 'called me' is the news, it is permissible to return to the description after the news.]}

So it is borrowed for one who does not enter into play and amusement. It has been narrated that he passed by some boys when he was a child, and they called him to play. He said: 'I was not created for play.' He is among the righteous, having grown up among the righteous, because he was from the loins of the prophets, or being among the righteous as in His saying: 'And indeed, he in the Hereafter is among the righteous.' How can I have a boy? This is an expression of astonishment from the perspective of custom, as Mary said: 'And I have reached old age,' as they say: 'He has reached the advanced age.' The meaning is that old age has affected me and weakened me, and he was ninety-nine years old, and his wife was eighty-eight. Likewise, Allah does whatever He wills of wondrous actions like that action, which is the creation of a child between an old man and an elderly barren woman. Or likewise, Allah is the subject and predicate, meaning in this manner Allah, and He does what He wills. This is a clarification for him, meaning He does what He wants of extraordinary actions as a sign by which I know of the pregnancy to receive the blessing when it comes with gratitude. He said: 'Your sign is that you will not be able to speak to the people for three days.' He specifically mentioned speaking to the people to inform him that he is prevented from speaking to them, while he retains the ability to speak in remembering Allah. Therefore, He said: 'And remember your Lord much and glorify Him in the evening and the morning,' meaning in the days of your inability to speak to the people, and this is one of the astonishing signs. If you say: Why was his tongue restrained from speaking to the people? I say: To dedicate the time to remembering Allah, so that his tongue does not engage in anything else, as a fulfillment of the right of that great blessing and its gratitude for which he requested the sign. It is as if when he requested the sign for the sake of gratitude, it was said to him: 'Your sign is that you will restrain your tongue except for gratitude.' The best answer and the most impactful is what is derived from the question. And it is taken from it except as a symbol, either by a gesture of the hand or head or otherwise, and its origin is movement. It is said: 'He moved' if he stirred. Hence, the sea is called 'the moving one.' And Yahya ibn Wathab read 'except as a symbol' with two Dhammas, plural of رموز [rumuz] like رسول [rasul] and رسل [rusul]. And it was read 'رمزاً' [ramzan] with two Fathas, plural of رامز [ramiz] like خادم [khadim] and خدم [khudam], and it is a state of him and the people together, like His saying: 'When you meet me alone, your sides tremble...'

Meaning except for gestures, just as people communicate with a mute person through signs and speak to them. And 'al-‘ashiy' is from the time the sun declines until it sets. And 'al-‘ibkar' is from the dawn until the time of forenoon. It is recited: 'and al-abkar', with the opening of the 'hamzah', as a plural of 'bikr', like 'sahar' and 'as'har'. It is said: I came to him early with two openings. If you say: the gesture is not of the kind of speech, so how is it excluded? I say: because it conveys the meaning of speech and what is understood from it is understood, it is called speech, and it may be an exception that is disconnected.

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