Story 1: Zakariya and Yahya (upon both of them be peace) – Verses 1-15 

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Kaf-ha-ya-ain-saad. The meaning of this is known only to Allah, Most High. This story which follows is a reminder of your Lord’s being merciful upon the state of his chosen slave Zakariya (as), when he called unto his Lord silently wherein he said, O Lord, my bones, due to old age, have become weak and my head has become aflame with grey hair. That is to say all my hair has become white. This state strongly suggests that in it I should not be requesting children. However, your power and mercy are complete, and I have always been desirous of witnessing this power and wisdom first hand. Hence, in the past, I have never, O Lord, in asking anything of you been unsuccessful. As a result, there is no harm in asking even the most far-fetched of matters, and for this request a specific catalyst has emerged that I fear from my kinsmen after my death. According to my wishes they will not be able to uphold the sacred-law and serve the religion. This matter is a catalyst for wanting a child who possesses special attributes relevant to serving the religion, and along with my old age, since my wife is also barren and has never been able to conceive children even in the prime of my youth, all conventional means for giving birth are non-existent. So, in such a state, you grant me from thyself, i.e. without the medium of conventional means such an heir, meaning a son, who will succeed me in my special knowledge and will succeed the house of my grandfather Yaqub in their special knowledge. That is to say allow him to combine both preceding and succeeding knowledge (uloom laahiqah wa saabiqa), and due to acting on this knowledge, O Lord, make him a favored and accepted one; meaning let him be an aalim, and also an aamil.

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Allah Most High, responds through the angel, O Zakariya, We give you glad tidings of a boy whose name will be Yahya; before him in specific attributes we have not created anyone his equal. In other words, the knowledge and deed you requested will definitely be granted to him. In addition, he will be given certain unique attributes such as a special degree of soft-heartedness due to being abundantly god-fearing. Since this answering of the supplication did not allude to any specific manner of how the birth will occur, in order to seek clarification on this point he, Zakariya (as), said, O Lord, how will there be a child for me whereas on the one hand my wife is barren and on the other I have reached the extreme limit of old age. So it is not clear whether we will be given back our youth, or if I will be asked to remarry, or if the child will be granted in our present state. He pronounced, the state will be as such, and still a child will be born. O Zakariya, it is the declaration of your Lord that this matter is easy for me. What big feat is this? I have done much greater. For instance, I created you (your own self) before, whereas before this creation you were nothing. Likewise conventional means are also nothing. Since bringing out an existent from a non-existent was easy, how then, would creating one existent from another be difficult? All this was to strengthen hope, not to remove doubt; for Zakariya (as) had no doubt. When Zakariya’s (as) hope strengthened, he said, I am completely satisfied with the divine promise. However, upon the drawing near of its fulfillment, i.e. conception, appoint for me a sign so I may engage myself in increased gratitude. The actual birth itself is of course clearly observable. He said, Your sign is that you will not be able to speak to and converse with people for three nights and three days whereas you will be healthy and in good condition without any sickness, and for this reason you will be able to verbally remember Allah.

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Eventually, by Allah’s permission Zakariya’s (as) wife became pregnant, and as informed by Allah, his tongue was made incapable of speech. So he appeared upon his people from the sanctuary and gestured to them, since needless to say he was incapable of speaking with the tongue, that glorify your Lord in the morning and in the evening. This glorification and the instruction thereof was either due to it being a daily habit of his in that he would remind them verbally, but today was unable to so he instructed them through gesture, or in gratitude of this new blessing he began glorifying Allah himself and was telling others to do the same. In any case Yahya (as) was born. When he reached the age of understanding, he was enjoined with the following: O Yahya, take the book, meaning the Tawrah which at the time was the sacred-law (and the gospel was revealed later), firmly by making special effort to act according to it and while still a child We gave him understanding of the deen, and especially from Us the attribute of soft-heartedness, and purity of character. In hukm there is a reference to knowledge and in hanan and zakah to character, and what fallows is in reference to external deeds. He was extremely righteous and dutiful to his parents. This is in reference to fulfilling both the rights of Allah Most High and the rights of the people and he was not oppressive upon the creation, or to Allah azza wa jalla rebellious. He was so dignified in the sight of Allah azza wa jalla and honored that in his benefit the following declaration is being made directly from the presence of Allah, may the “salaam” of Allah reach him on the day he was born and the day he will pass away and the day wherein he will be raised alive.

اللغات عتياً في القاموس عتا الشيخ عتيا كبر وفي البيضاوي جساوة وقحولاً في المفاصل أي صلابة ويبوسة. في الروح أصله عتوو كقعود فاستثقل توالي الضمتين والواوين فكسرت التاء وانقلبت الأولى ياء لسكونها وانكسار ما قبلها ثم انقلبت الثانية أيضاً لإجتماع الواو والياء وسبق إحداهما بالسكون وكسرت العين إتباعاً لما بعدها اه قوله سمياً أي شبيهاً لأن المتشاركين متشابهان في الإسم. قوله أوحى أي أشار

النحو قوله شيباً تمييز وحقيقة الكلام وإشتعل أي فشا شيب الرأس. قوله كذلك أي الأمر كذلك. قوله آيتك الاضافة لأدنى ملابسة ١٢

البلاغة قوله وهن العظم مني تخصيص العظم لأنه إذا وهن فغيره أولى وافراده إشارة إلى الجنس ليشمل كل عظم  قوله إشتعل الرأس شيباً إسناد الإشتعال إلى الرأس الذي هو محل الشيب الذي هو فاعل الإشتعال في الحقيقة مبالغة ومفيد للتفصيل بعد الاجمال. قوله رب أنى يكون لم يخاطب الملاكة مع كونه بشر بواسطتهم إشارة إلى غاية إلتجاءه إلى الله تعالى ١٢

ملحقات الترجمة

في ذكر :This story which follows إشارة إلى كونه خبر مبتدأ وهو إسم إشارة إلى معهود وانما صحت الإشارة إليه مع عدم جريان ذكره لانه باعتبار كونه على جناح الذكر صار في حكم الحاضر المشاهد كما في قولهم هذا ما إشترى فلان ١٢
في عبده :chosen أفاده الاضافة التشريفية ١٢
في قال :wherein إشارة إلى كونه تفسير نادى ١٢
في وليا :son لقوله في آل عمران ذرية ١٢
قوله يا زكريا :through the angle بدليل قوله تعالى في آل عمران فنادته الملاكة ١٢
قوله في من الكبر :extreme limit of إشارة إلى كون من الكبر بيانا لعتيا كذا يفهم من الكشاف ١٢
في ثلاث ليال :and three days لقوله في آل عمران ثلاثة أيام ١٢