Tafsir of Maryam 19:10

(He said: "My Lord, grant me a sign")—meaning a mark that guides me to the realization of the request and the occurrence of the news. This request, as Al-Zajjaj said, was to identify the time of conception, for the glad tiding was absolute and lacked a specific designation; it is a hidden matter that cannot be discerned, especially since his wife was someone whose menstruation had ceased due to her old age. He wanted Allah the Exalted to inform him so that he might receive that magnificent blessing with gratitude from the moment of its inception, rather than delaying it until it became manifest in the customary way.

It is said: He requested this to increase in certainty and tranquility, just as Ibrahim, peace be upon him, requested to know the manner of the resurrection of the dead for that same reason. The former [explanation] is more worthy. In sum, he did not request it out of doubt regarding the truthfulness of the promise, nor out of a delusion that it was from other than Allah the Exalted. The report narrated in this regard from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, is not authentic due to the infallibility of the prophets, peace be upon them, from such things.

It is mentioned that this request must have occurred after some time had passed following the glad tiding, based on what is narrated that Yahya was older than Isa, peace be upon them, by six months or three years. There is no doubt that his supplication, peace be upon him, was while Maryam was young, due to the saying of the Exalted: "There, Zakariya called upon his Lord," and she only gave birth to Isa, peace be upon him, when she was ten or thirteen years old.

"Grant" (al-ja'l) here is in the sense of creation (ibda'i), and the prepositional phrase "for me" is connected to it. Its advancement over "a sign," which is the object, follows the pattern mentioned repeatedly before, or it is connected to a deleted element that functions as a state (hal) for "a sign." It is also said that it is in the sense of "making" (tas'ir), which requires two objects: the first being "a sign" and the second the adverbial phrase (for me). Its advancement is necessary because there is no justification for "a sign" being the subject (mubtada')—when the sentence is analyzed into subject and predicate—other than the advancement of the adverbial phrase; thus, their state does not change after the introduction of the abrogator.

(He said: "Your sign is that you shall not speak to the people")—meaning you will not be able to speak to them in their known language used in their conversations. It is narrated from Abu Zayd that when his wife conceived, peace be upon him, he woke up unable to speak to anyone, even though he was still reciting the Torah. If he wished to call someone, he could not do so.

("For three nights")—along with their days, as the days are explicitly mentioned in Surah Al 'Imran, and the story is one. The Arabs use them interchangeably or suffice with one over the other, as Al-Sirafi mentioned. The point in sufficeing with the nights here and the days there, as it is said, is that this surah is Meccan and was revealed earlier, while that one is Medinan. Among them, the nights precede the days because their months and years are lunar and are recognized by the new moons; for this reason, they considered them in history, as the grammarians mentioned. Thus, the prior was given to the prior. "Nights" (layal) is a plural of "night" (layl) that does not follow standard rules, like "ahl" and "ahal," or it is a plural of "laylah." It is also pluralized as "layalil."

("Soundly")—this is a state (hal) from the subject of "speak," indicating that the negation of speech is through miracle and the breaking of habit, not due to a tongue-tied condition or illness. That is, it becomes impossible for you to speak to them, and you are unable to do so while you are sound of creation, with healthy limbs, having no trace of muteness or speechlessness. This is the view held by the majority. From Ibn Abbas, it is reported that "soundly" refers to the nights, meaning they are complete and equal, thus functioning as an adjective for "three." Ibn Abi 'Ablah and Zayd ibn 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with them both, recited "that you shall not speak" (an la tukallima) in the nominative case, considering "an" to be the lightened form of "anna" (that), and its subject is the pronoun of the matter (dhamir al-sha'n), meaning "that it is [the case that] you shall not speak."