Mary (Maryam)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Kaf-Ha-Ya-A’in-Sad. (* Alphabets of the Arabic language – Allah and to whomever He reveals know their precise meanings.) 1 AN ACCOUNT of the grace which thy Sustainer bestowed upon His servant Zachariah: 2 When he called to his Lord inwardly, 3 saying: 'O my Lord, my bones are enfeebled, and my head glows silver with age. Yet, never Lord, have I been unblessed in prayer to You. 4 "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 who shall be my inheritor and the inheritor of the House of Jacob; and make him, my Lord, well-pleasing.' 6 We answered his prayers with the glad news of the birth of a son by the name of John and told him, "We have never given such a name to anyone else." 7 "My Lord!" [said Zachariah], "How shall I have a son when my wife is barren and I have reached such extreme old age?" 8 He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me, even as I created thee before, when thou wast naught. 9 [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 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 [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 And compassion from Ourselves, and chastity; and he was extremely pious. 13 And duteous unto his parents, and was not high-handed rebel. 14 Peace be on him on the day of his birth, and on the day of his death, and peace will be on him on the day he is raised up to life again. 15