Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 19:7–8
Mary (Maryam)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(7) ‘Zachariah, We bring you good news of a son whose name shall be John. We have not given such a name to anyone before.’ (8) ‘My Lord!’ [said Zachariah], ‘How shall I have a son when my wife is barren and I have reached such extreme old age?’
Commentary
(b) This prayer was answered by the granting of a son—an extraordinary happening, as a son is not ordinarily born to people in such circumstances. The birth of a child to a couple, where the husband was extremely old and his wife had been barren throughout her life, was really a most unusual event. On account of this, Zachariah’s pleasure on receipt of this extraordinary and unexpected news spontaneously expressed itself as disbelief: how could he have a child when he and his wife were incapable of having children?