كهيعص
Kāf. Hā. Yā. 'Ayn. Sād. (1)
ذِكْرُ رَحْمَتِ رَبِّكَ عَبْدَهُ زَكَرِيَّا
AN ACCOUNT of the grace which thy Sustainer bestowed upon His servant Zachariah: (2)
إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ نِدَاءً خَفِيًّا
When he called out to his Sustainer in the secrecy of his heart, (3)
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَهَنَ الْعَظْمُ مِنِّي وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا وَلَمْ أَكُنْ بِدُعَائِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّا
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)
وَإِنِّي خِفْتُ الْمَوَالِيَ مِنْ وَرَائِي وَكَانَتِ امْرَأَتِي عَاقِرًا فَهَبْ لِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ وَلِيًّا
"Now, behold, I am afraid of [what] my kinsfolk [will do] after I am gone, for my wife has always been barren. Bestow, then, upon me, out of Thy grace, the gift of a successor (5)
يَرِثُنِي وَيَرِثُ مِنْ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ وَاجْعَلْهُ رَبِّ رَضِيًّا
who will be my heir as well as an heir [to the dignity] of the House of Jacob; and make him, O my Sustainer, well-pleasing to Thee!" (6)
يَا زَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَامٍ اسْمُهُ يَحْيَىٰ لَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ سَمِيًّا
[Thereupon the angels called out unto him:] "O Zachariah! We bring thee the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son whose name shall be John. [And God says,] `Never have We given this name to anyone before him.'" (7)
قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِي غُلَامٌ وَكَانَتِ امْرَأَتِي عَاقِرًا وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا
[Zachariah] exclaimed: "O my Sustainer! How can I have a son when my wife has always been barren and I have become utterly infirm through old age?" (8)
قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُ شَيْئًا
Answered [the angel]: "Thus it is; [but] thy Sustainer says, `This is easy for Me – even as I have created thee aforetime out of nothing.'" (9)
قَالَ رَبِّ اجْعَلْ لِي آيَةً قَالَ آيَتُكَ أَلَّا تُكَلِّمَ النَّاسَ ثَلَاثَ لَيَالٍ سَوِيًّا
[Zachariah] prayed: "O my Sustainer! Appoint a sign for me!" Said [the angel]: "Thy sign shall be that for full three nights [and days] thou wilt not speak unto men." (10)
فَخَرَجَ عَلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ مِنَ الْمِحْرَابِ فَأَوْحَىٰ إِلَيْهِمْ أَنْ سَبِّحُوا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا
Thereupon he came out of the sanctuary unto his people and signified to them [by gestures]: "Extol His limitless glory by day and by night!" (11)
يَا يَحْيَىٰ خُذِ الْكِتَابَ بِقُوَّةٍ وَآتَيْنَاهُ الْحُكْمَ صَبِيًّا
[And when the son was born and grew up, he was told,] "O John! Hold fast unto the divine writ with [all thy] strength!" – for We granted him wisdom while he was yet a little boy, (12)
وَحَنَانًا مِنْ لَدُنَّا وَزَكَاةً وَكَانَ تَقِيًّا
as well as, by Our grace, [the gift of] compassion and purity; and he was [always] conscious of Us (13)
وَبَرًّا بِوَالِدَيْهِ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ جَبَّارًا عَصِيًّا
and full of piety towards his parents; and never was he haughty or rebellious. (14)
وَسَلَامٌ عَلَيْهِ يَوْمَ وُلِدَ وَيَوْمَ يَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ يُبْعَثُ حَيًّا
Hence, [God's] peace was upon him on the day when he was born, and on the day of his death, and will be [upon him] on the day when he shall be raised to life [again]. (15)
- [Zachariah] prayed: "O my Sustainer! Appoint a sign for me!" Said [the angel]: "Thy sign shall be that for full three nights [and days] thou wilt not speak unto men.9
- 9 See 3:41 and the corresponding note 29.
- (Zakariya) said: "O my Lord! give me a Sign."2464 "Thy Sign," was the answer, "Shall be that thou shalt speak to no man for three nights,2465 although thou art not dumb."
- 2464 The "Sign", I understand, was not in order to convince Zakariya that the Lord's promise was true, for he had faith; but it was a symbol by which he was to show in his conduct that he was to conform to his new destiny as the father of Yahya who was to come. Yahya was to take up the work, and Zakariya was to be silent, although the latter was sound in body and there was nothing to prevent him from speaking.
- 2465 Compare this verse with 3:41. The variations are interesting. Here it is "for three nights": there it is "for three days". The meaning is the same, for a day is a period of 24 hours. But the point of view is different in each case. There it was from the point of view of the Ummah or Congregation, among whom he worked by day; here the point of view is that of his individual soul, which spent the nights in prayer and praise. Notice again that at the end of the next verse, we have here, "In the morning and in the evening", and at the end of 3:41, "In the evening and in the morning"- showing again that the point of view is reversed.
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(Zakariya) said: "O my Lord! give me a Sign." "Thy Sign," was the answer, "Shall be that thou shalt speak to no man for three nights, although thou art not dumb."
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
He said: My Lord! Appoint for me some token. He said: Thy token is that thou, with no bodily defect, shalt not speak unto mankind three nights.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
He said: My Lord! give me a sign. He said: Your sign is that you will not be able to speak to the people three nights while in sound health.
— M. Habib Shakir -
[Zakariya (Zachariah)] said: "My Lord! Appoint for me a sign." He said: "Your sign is that you shall not speak unto mankind for three nights, though having no bodily defect."
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
He said: my Lord appoint for me a sign. Allah said: thy sign is that thou shalt not speak unto mankind for three nights, while sound.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
He (Zachariah) said: 'Lord, make for me a sign. ' He replied: 'Your sign is that you shall not speak to people for three nights being without fault. '
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
He said, `my Lord, appoint for me a Sign?' He said, `thy sign is that thou, though normal, shalt not speak to men for three nights.'
— Ayub Khan -
Zachariah said, 'My Lord appoint for me a commandment.' God said, 'The commandment for thee is that thou shalt not speak to the people for three successive days and nights.'
— Sher Ali -
[Zachariah] prayed: "O my Sustainer! Appoint a sign for me!"
Said [the angel]: "Thy sign shall be that for full three nights [and days] thou wilt not speak unto men."
— Muhammad Asad -
He said, Lord, appoint to me some sign. Said He, Thy sign is that thou shall not speak to men, though being without fault, three nights.
— Arthur Arberry -
Zechariah said: "Lord, grant me a Sign." Said He: "Your Sign is that you shall not be able to speak to people for three nights, though you will be otherwise sound."
— Abu'l Ala Maududi