English - Chapter 19 - Maryam

H. Z

The mention of thy Lord's mercy to His servant Zachariah

when he called on his Lord with a secret calling

Said he, 'My Lord! verily, my bones are weak, and my head flares with hoariness; - and I never was unfortunate in my prayers to Thee, my Lord

But I fear my heirs after me, and my wife is barren; then grant me from Thee a successor

to be my heir and the heir of the family of Jacob, and make him, my Lord! acceptable

O Zachariah! verily, we, give thee glad tidings of a son, whose name shall be John. We never made a namesake of his before

Said he, 'My Lord! how can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached through old age to decrepitude

He said, 'Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me, for I created thee at first when yet thou wast nothing

Said he, 'O my Lord! make for me a sign.' He said, 'Thy sign is that thou shalt not speak to men for three nights (though) sound

Then he went forth unto his people from the chamber, and he made signs to them: 'Celebrate (God's) praises morning and evening

O John! take the Book with strength;' and we gave him judgment when a boy

and grace from us, and purity; and he was pious

and righteous to his parents, and was not a rebellious tyrant

So peace upon him the day he was born, and the day he died, and the day he shall be raised up alive

And mention, in the Book, Mary; when she retired from her family into an eastern place

and she took a veil (to screen herself) from them; and we sent unto her our spirit; and he took for her the semblance of a well-made man

Said she, 'Verily, I take refuge in the Merciful One from thee, if thou art pious

Said he, 'I am only a messenger of thy Lord to bestow on thee a pure boy

Said she, 'How can I have a boy when no man has touched me, and when I am no harlot

He said, 'Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me! and we will make him a sign unto man, and a mercy from us; for it is a decided matter

So she conceived him, and she retired with him into a remote place

And the labour pains came upon her at the trunk of a palm tree, and she said, 'O that I had died before this, and been forgotten out of mind

and he called to her from beneath her, 'Grieve not, for thy Lord has placed a stream beneath thy feet

and shake towards thee the trunk of the palm tree, it will drop upon thee fresh dates fit to gather

so eat, and drink, and cheer thine eye; and if thou shouldst see any mortal say, "Verily, I have vowed to the Merciful One a fast, and I will not speak today with a human being

Then she brought it to her people, carrying it; said they, 'O Mary! thou hast done an extraordinary thing

O sister of Aaron! thy father was not a bad man, nor was thy mother a harlot

And she pointed to him, and they said, 'How are we to speak with one who is in the cradle a child

He said, 'Verily, I am a servant of God; He has brought me the Book, and He has made me a prophet

and He has made me blessed wherever I be; and He has required of me prayer and almsgiving so long as I live

and piety towards my mother, and has not made me a miserable tyrant

and peace upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised up alive

That is, Jesus the son of Mary, - by the word of truth whereon ye do dispute

God could not take to himself any son! celebrated be His praise! when He decrees a matter He only says to it, 'BE,' and it is

and, verily, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is the right way

And the parties have disagreed amongst themselves, but woe to those who disbelieve, from the witnessing of the mighty day

they can hear and they can see, on the day when they shall come to us; but the evildoers are today in obvious error

And warn them of the day of sighing, when the matter is decreed while they are heedless, and while they do not believe

Verily, we will inherit the earth and all who are upon it, and unto us shall they return

And mention, in the Book, Abraham; verily, he was a confessors,- a prophet

When he said to his father, 'O my sire! why dost thou worship what can neither hear nor see nor avail thee aught

O my sire! verily, to me has come knowledge which has not come to thee; then follow me, and I will guide thee to a level way

O my sire! serve not Satan; verily, Satan is ever a rebel against the Merciful

O my sire! verily,. I fear that there may touch thee torment from the Merciful, and that thou mayest be a client of Satan

Said he, 'What! art thou averse from my gods, O Abraham? verily, if thou dost not desist I will certainly stone thee; but get thee gone from me for a time

Said he, 'Peace be upon thee! I will ask forgiveness for thee from my Lord; verily, He is very gracious to me

but I will part from you and what ye call on beside God, and will pray my Lord that I be not unfortunate in my prayer to my Lord

and we granted them of our mercy, and we made the tongue of truth lofty for them

And mention, in the Book, Moses; verily, he was sincere, and was an apostle,- a prophet

We called him from the right side of the mountain; and we made him draw nigh unto us to commune with him

and we granted him, of our mercy, his brother Aaron as a prophet

And mention, in the Book, Ishmael; verily, he was true to his promise, and was an apostle,- a prophet

and he used to bid his people prayers and almsgiving, and was acceptable in the sight of his Lord

And mention, in the Book, Idris; verily, he was a confessors prophet,- a prophet

and we raised him to a lofty place

These are those to whom God has been gracious, of the prophets of the seed of Adam, and of those whom we bore with Noah, and of the seed of Abraham and Israel, and of those we guided and elected; when the signs of the Merciful are read to them, they fall down adoring and weeping

And successors succeeded them, who lost sight of prayer and followed lusts, but they shall at length find themselves going wrong

except such as repent and believe and act aright; for these shall enter Paradise, and shall not be wronged at all

gardens of Eden, which the Merciful has promised to His servants in the unseen; verily, His promise ever comes to pass

They shall hear no empty talk therein, but only 'peace;' and they shall have their provision therein, morning and evening

that is Paradise which we will give for an inheritance to those of our servants who are pious

We do not descend save at the bidding of thy Lord; His is what is before us, and what is behind us, and what is between those; for thy Lord is never forgetful

the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and of what is between the two; then serve Him and persevere in His service. Dost thou know a namesake of His

Man will say, 'What! when I have died shall I then come forth alive

Does not man then remember that we created him before when he was naught

And by thy Lord! we will surely gather them together, and the devils too; then we will surely bring them forward around hell, on their knees

Then we will drag off from every sect whichever of them has been most bold against the Merciful

Then we know best which of them deserves most to be broiled therein

There is not one of you who will not go down to it,- that is settled and decided by thy Lord

Then we will save those who fear us; but we will leave the evildoers therein on their knees

And when our signs are recited to them manifest, those who misbelieve say to those who believe, 'Which of the two parties is best placed and in the best company

And how many generations before them have we destroyed who were better off in property and appearance

Say, 'Whosoever is in error, let the Merciful extend to him length of days!- until they see what they are threatened with, whether it be the torment or whether it be the Hour, then they shall know who is worse placed and weakest in forces

And those who are guided God will increase in guidance. And enduring good works are best with thy Lord for a reward, and best for restoration

Hast thou seen him who disbelieves in our signs, and says, 'I shall surely be given wealth and children

Has he become acquainted with the unseen, or has he taken a compact with the Merciful

Not so! We will write down what he says, and we will extend to him a length of torment

and we will make him inherit what he says, and he shall come to us alone

They take other gods besides God to be their glory

Not so! They shall deny their worship and shall be opponents of theirs

Dost thou not see that we have sent the devils against the misbelievers, to drive them on to sin

but, be not thou hasty with them. Verily, we will number them a number (of days)

the day when we will gather the pious to the Merciful as ambassadors

and we will drive the sinners to hell like (herds) to water

They shall not possess intercession, save he who has taken a compact with the Merciful

They say, 'The Merciful has taken to Himself a son

ye have brought a monstrous thing

The heavens well-nigh burst asunder thereat, and the earth is riven, and the mountains fall down broken

that they attribute to the Merciful a son

but it, becomes not the Merciful to take to Himself a son

there is none in the heavens or the earth but comes to the Merciful as a servant

He counts them and numbers them by number

and they are all coming to Him on the resurrection day singly

Verily, those who believe and act aright, to them the Merciful will give love

We have only made it easy for thy tongue that thou mayest thereby give glad tidings to the pious, and warn thereby a contentious people

How many a Generation before them have we destroyed? Canst thou find any one of them, or hear a whisper of them