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According to Razi, this is clearly implied inasmuch as the sequence presupposes that John had in the meantime reached an age which enabled him to receive and understand God's commandment.
According to Razi, this is clearly implied in as much as the sequence presupposes that John had in the meantime reached an age which enabled him to receive and understand God's commandment.
Time passes. The son is born. In this section of the Sura the centre of interest is Yahya, and the instruction is now given to him. 'Keep fast hold of Allah's revelation with all your might': for an unbelieving world had either corrupted or neglected it, and Yahya (John the Baptist) was to prepare the way for, Jesus, who was coming to renew and re-interpret it.
Hukm, translated Wisdom, implies something more than Wisdom; it is the Wisdom or Judgment that is entitied to judge and command, as in the matter of denouncing sin.
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Lit., "compassion from Us"-i.e., as a special divine gift.
John the Baptist did not live long. He was imprisoned by Herod, the tetrarch (provincial ruler under the Roman Empire), whom he had reproved for his sins, and eventually beheaded at the instigation of the woman with whom Herod was infatuated. But even in his young life, he was granted (1) wisdom by Allah, for he boldly denounced sin; (2) gentle pity and love for all Allah's creatures, for he moved among the humble and lowly, and despised "soft raiment"; and (3) purity of life, for he renounced the world and lived in the wilderness. All his work he did in his youth. These things showed themselves in his conduct, for he was devout, showing love to Allah and to Allah's creatures, and more particularly to his parents (for we are considering that aspect of his life): this was also shown by the fact that he never used violence, from an attitude of arrogance, nor entertained a spirit of rebellion against divine Law.
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This is spoken as in the life-time of Yahya. Peace and Allah's Blessings, were on him when he was born; they continue when he is about to die an unjust death at the hands of a tyrant; and they will be specially manifest at the Day of Judgment.
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Lit., "in the divine writ". In this surah as well as in Al 'Imran the story of the birth of John is followed by that of Jesus - firstly, because John (called "the Baptist" in the Bible) was to be a precursor of Jesus, and, secondly, because of the obvious parallelism in the form of the announcements of these two births.
Cf. the story of Mary as related in iii. 42-51. Here the whole theme is different: it is the personal side of the experiences of the worshippers of Allah in relation to their families or environment.
To a private eastern chamber, perhaps in the Temple. She went into privacy, from her people and from people in general, for prayer and devotion. It was in this state of purity that the angel appeared to her in the shape of a man. She thought it was a man. She was frightened, and she adjured him not to invade her privacy.
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Apparently, in order to devote herself undisturbed to prayer and meditation. The "eastern place" may possibly, as Ibn Kathir suggests, signify an eastern chamber of the Temple, to the service of which Mary had been dedicated by her mother (cf. {3: 35-37}).
As pointed out in surah {2}, note [71], and surah {16}, note [2], the term ruh often denotes "divine inspiration". Occasionally, however, it is used to describe the medium through which such inspiration is imparted to God's elect: in other words, the angel (or angelic force) of revelation. Since - as is implied in 6:9 - mortals cannot perceive an angel in his true manifestation, God caused him to appear to Mary "in the shape of a well-made human being", i.e., in a shape accessible to her perception. According to Razi, the designation of the angel as ruh ("spirit" or "soul") indicates that this category of beings is purely spiritual, without any physical element.
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Allah had destined her to be the mother of the Prophet Jesus Christ, and now had come the time when this should be announced to her.
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Cf. the identical phrase in verse {9} above, relating to the announcement of John's birth to Zachariah. In both these cases, the implication is that God can and does bring about events which may be utterly unexpected or even inconceivable before they materialize. In connection with the announcement of a son to Mary, the Qur'an states in {3 :47} that "when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, 'Be' - and it is": but since neither the Qur'an nor any authentic Tradition tells us anything about the chain of causes and effects (asbab) which God's decree "Be" was to bring into being, all speculation as to the "how" of this event must remain beyond the scope of a Qur'an-commentary. (But see also note [87] on {21: 91}.)
One of the several meanings of the term ayah is "a sign" or, as elaborately defined by Raghib, "a symbol" (cf. surah {17}, note [2]). However, the sense in which it is most frequently used in the Qur'an is "a [divine] message": hence, its metonymic application to Jesus may mean that he was destined to become a vehicle of God's message to man - i.e., a prophet - and, thus, a symbol of God's grace. - As regards the words "thou shalt have a son" interpolated by me between brackets, a statement to this effect is implied in the subsequent phrase beginning with "so that" (Zamakhshari and Razi).
The mission of Jesus is announced in two ways (1) he was to be a Sign to men; his wonderful birth and wonderful life were to turn an ungodly world back to Allah; and (2) his mission was similar to that of all prophets of Allah. But the point here is that the Israelites, to whom Jesus was sent, were a hardened race, for whom the message of Jesus was truly a gospel of Mercy.
For anything that Allah wishes to create, He says "Be", and it is (Cf. iii. 47). There is no interval between His decree and its accomplishment, except such as He imposes by His decree. Time may be only a projection of our own minds in this world of relativity.
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The annunciation and the conception, we may suppose, took place in Nazareth (of Galilee), say 65 miles north of Jerusalem. The delivery took place in Bethlehem about 6 miles south of Jerusalem. It was a remote place, not only with reference to the distance of 71 miles, but because in Bethlehem itself the birth was in an obscure corner under a palm-tree, from which perhaps the babe was afterwards removed to a manger in a stable.
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I.e., compelling her to cling to it for support: thus stressing the natural, normal circumstances of this childbirth, attended - as is the case with all women - by severe labour pains.
She was but human, and suffered the pangs of an expectant mother, with no one to attend on her. The circumstances being peculiar, she had got far away from her people.
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Or: "from beneath her". However, Qatadah (as quoted by Zamakhshari) interprets this as meaning "from beneath the palm-tree".
This was the voice of baby Jesus. Some say it was Gabriel.
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Unseen Providence had seen that she should not suffer from thirst or from hunger. The rivulet provided her with water also for ablutions.
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