Surah 19. Maryam

Kaf. Ha. Ya. 'Ayn. Sad.¹

  - Mohammad Asad

See Appendix II.

Kaf Ha' Ya' 'Ayn Suad.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Kãf-Ha-Ya-'Aĩn- Ṣãd.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Kaf. Ha. Ya. Ain. Sad.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Kaf. Ha. Ya. `Ain. Sad. ²⁴⁵⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This is the only Sura which begins with these five Abbreviated Letters, K.,H.,Y.,A.,S. For Abbreviated Letters generally, see Appendix 1.

AN ACCOUNT of the grace which thy Sustainer bestowed upon His servant Zachariah:²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "An account of thy Sustainer's grace upon...", etc. According to the account in the Gospels, not contradicted by the Qur'an, Zachariah's wife Elisabeth was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Cf. Luke i, 36).

This is a reminder of blessings that your Rabb bestowed on His servant Zakariya,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'This is' a reminder of your Lord's mercy to His servant Zachariah,

  - Mustafa Khattab

A mention of the mercy of thy Lord unto His servant Zachariah.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(This is) a recital of the Mercy of thy Lord to His Servant Zakariya. ²⁴⁵⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Mercy of Allah to Zakriya was shown in many ways: (1) in the acceptance of his prayer; (2) in bestowing a son like Yahya; and (3) in the love between father and son, in addition to the work which Yahya did as Allah's Messenger for the world. Cf. iii. 38-41 and notes. There the public ministry was the point stressed; here the beautiful relations between the son and the father.

When he called out to his Sustainer in the secrecy of his heart,³

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "with secret calling".

when he invoked his Rabb in secret,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

when he cried out to his Lord privately,

  - Mustafa Khattab

When he cried unto his Lord a cry in secret,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold! he cried to his Lord in secret ²⁴⁵⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In secret: because he feared that his own family and relatives were going wrong (xix. 5), and he wanted to keep the lamp of Allah burning bright. He could not very well mention the fear about his colleagues (who were his relations) in public.

he prayed: "O my Sustainer! Feeble have become my bones, and my head glistens with grey hair. But never yet, O my Lord, has my prayer unto Thee remained unanswered.⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "never have I been unfortunate in my prayer to Thee".

saying: "O Rabb! Surely my bones have weakened and the hair of my head glisten with grey, while I have never been disappointed in my prayer to You, O Rabb!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

saying, 'My Lord! Surely my bones have become brittle, and grey hair has spread across my head, but I have never been disappointed in my prayer to You, my Lord!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Saying: My Lord! Lo! the bones of me wax feeble and my head is shining with grey hair, and I have never been unblest in prayer to Thee, my Lord.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Praying: "O my Lord! infirm indeed are my bones and the hair of my head doth glisten with grey: but never am I unblest O my Lord in my prayer to Thee! ²⁴⁵⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This preface shows the fervent faith of Zakariya. Zakariya was a prophet of the Most High Allah. His office was in the Temple, and his relatives were his colleagues. But he found in them no true spirit of the service of Allah and man. He was filled with anxiety as to who would uphold the godly ideas he had in mind, which were strange to his worldly colleagues.

"Now, behold, I am afraid of [what] my kinsfolk [will do] after I am gone,⁵ for my wife has always been barren. Bestow, then, upon me, out of Thy grace, the gift of a successor

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "after me". He evidently anticipated that his kinsfolk - who, like himself, were priests attached to the Temple - would be morally too weak to fulfil their duties with dignity and conviction (Razi), and thus, perhaps, unable to safeguard the future of Mary, whose guardian he was (cf. the first paragraph of 3:37 ).

Yet I fear about my relatives after me, for my wife is barren, grant me a heir by Your grace

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And I am concerned about 'the faith of' my relatives after me, since my wife is barren. So grant me, by Your grace, an heir,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! I fear my kinsfolk after me, since my wife is barren. Oh, give me from Thy presence a successor

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Now I fear (what) my relatives (and colleagues) (will do) after me: but my wife is barren: so give me an heir as from Thyself ²⁴⁵⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

His was not merely a desire for a son. If it had been, he would have prayed much earlier in his life, when he was a young man. He was too full of true piety to put merely selfish things into his prayers. But here was a public need, in the service of the Lord.