Mary (Maryam)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Kaf. Ha. Ya. 'Ayn. Sad. 1 This is an account of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zechariah 2 Behold! he cried to his Lord in secret, 3 and said, "My Lord, my bones have become feeble and my hair has turned white with age. Yet I have never been deprived in receiving from You the answer to my prayers. 4 And indeed, I fear the successors after me, and my wife has been barren, so give me from Yourself an heir 5 “He being my successor and the heir of the Descendants of Yaqub (Jacob); and my Lord, make him a cherished* one.” (* Make him a Prophet among the Descendants of Israel.) 6 O Zakariya! surely We give you good news of a boy whose name shall be Yahya: We have not made before anyone his equal. 7 He said: O my Lord! when shall I have a son, and my wife is barren, and I myself have reached indeed the extreme degree of old age? 8 He said, "It will be so! Your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me for I created you when you were nothing before.'" 9 Zachariah asked, " Lord, show me evidence (if this is a heavenly news)." The Lord said, "The evidence for it is that you must not speak (to any mortal) though you are in good health for three nights (and days)." 10 Thereupon Zechariah came out from the sanctuary and directed his people by gestures to extol His glory by day and by night. 11 "O John! Hold the Book with all your strength." We had bestowed wisdom upon him while he was still a child; 12 as well as, by Our grace, [the gift of] compassion and purity; and he was [always] conscious of Us 13 honoring his parents, being neither arrogant nor rebellious. 14 'Peace be upon him, the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he is raised up alive!' 15