Surah 3. Al-i'Imran, Ayah 44
| ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ ۚ وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يُلْقُونَ أَقْلَامَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا كُنْتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يَخْتَصِمُونَ |
| Transliteration | : | dhaalika min anbaa' al- ghayb noh.e -hi 'ilay -ka wa- maa kunta laday -him 'idh yulqon aqlaam -hum 'ayy -hum yakful maryam wa- maa kunta laday -him 'idh yakhtas.imon |
| Pickthall | : | This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Mohammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon). |
| Asad | : | This account of something that was beyond the reach of thy perception We [now] reveal unto thee:30 for thou wert not with them when they drew lots as to which of them should be Mary's guardian,31 and thou wert not with them when they contended [about it] with one another. |
| Malik | : | O Muhammad, these are the news from the unseen which We are revealing to you. You were not present with them when priests of the temple cast their pens to decide which of them should be the guardian of Maryem; nor were you with them when they argued about it. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | This is part of the tidings of the things unseen which We reveal unto thee (O Apostle!) by inspiration; thou wast not with them when they cast lots with arrows as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary; nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point). 383 384 385 |
Note - 30This parenthetic passage, addressed to the Prophet, is
meant to stress the fact that the story of Mary, as
narrated in the Qur'an, is a direct outcome of revelation
and, therefore, inherently true in spite of all the
differences between this account and that given in the
scriptures regarded by the Christians as authentic
(Muhammad 'Abduh in Manar III, 301 f.).
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Note - 31See note [26] above. The phrase rendered above as "they
drew lots" reads literally, "they cast their reeds" -
obviously a reference to an ancient Semitic custom,
perhaps similar to the divination by means of blunt
arrows practiced by the pre-Islamic Arabs and
comprehensively described in Lane III, 1247. The pronoun
"they" relates to the priests, of whom Zachariah was one.
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Note - 383Things unseen: mystic, spiritual. The whole story has a
mystic meaning, and it would be unseemly to dispute or
speculate about it.
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Note - 384Literally, reeds : aqlam. For the Arab custom of casting
lots with arrows, see ii. 219, n. 241.
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Note - 385Christian apocryphal writings mention the contention
between the priests as to the honor of taking charge of
Mary, and how it was decided by means of rods or reeds in
favour of Zakariya.
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This parenthetic passage, addressed to the Prophet, is meant to stress the fact that the story of Mary, as narrated in the Qur'an, is a direct outcome of revelation and, therefore, inherently true in spite of all the differences between this account and that given in the scriptures regarded by the Christians as authentic (Muhammad 'Abduh in Manar III, 301 f.). |
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See note [26] above. The phrase rendered above as "they drew lots" reads literally, "they cast their reeds" - obviously a reference to an ancient Semitic custom, perhaps similar to the divination by means of blunt arrows practiced by the pre-Islamic Arabs and comprehensively described in Lane III, 1247. The pronoun "they" relates to the priests, of whom Zachariah was one. |
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Things unseen: mystic, spiritual. The whole story has a mystic meaning, and it would be unseemly to dispute or speculate about it. |
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Literally, reeds : aqlam. For the Arab custom of casting lots with arrows, see ii. 219, n. 241. |
