Tafsir of Maryam 19:17

“So she took a veil from them”

The fact that it was eastern was an incidental matter. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Ibn Abbas that the People of the Scripture were obligated to pray towards the House (al-Bayt) and to perform pilgrimage to it, and nothing diverted them from it except the saying of your Lord, “So she withdrew from her family to a place eastward,” which is why they prayed towards the rising of the sun. In another narration, the Christians adopted the east as their Qiblah because Mary withdrew from her family to a place eastward. We have previously mentioned from some that they were, during the time of Jesus (peace be upon him), facing towards Bayt al-Maqdis, and that they did not face the east until after he was raised up, claiming that he appeared to some of their leaders and commanded them to do so. It is also permissible that God Almighty chose it because it is the rising place of lights, and He (Glorified be He) knew that the time for the manifestation of the Isaic (Jesus-related) light from her had arrived; thus, it was appropriate that the manifestation of the spiritual light be in the direction of the manifestation of the sensory light. This is as you see it.

It is narrated that her place was in the Mosque (Masjid), and when she would menstruate, she would move to her aunt’s house, and when she became pure, she would return to the Mosque. While she was in her place of washing, the Angel (peace be upon him) came to her in the form of a beardless youth with a radiant face and curly hair. This is the meaning of His saying (Exalted be He): “Then We sent to her Our Spirit.” That is, Gabriel (peace be upon him), as the majority have stated. He is expressed as such because religion is revived through him and his revelation; thus, it is a metaphor, and the attribution is for honor, like “the House of God Almighty.” It is also permissible that it is as you say to your beloved, “You are my spirit,” out of love and closeness; this is also a metaphor, though it differs from the first in its aspect, and the honor in the first is superior in making him a spirit. Abu Muslim said: The intent of “the Spirit” is Jesus (peace be upon him), due to the Almighty’s saying, “and a spirit from Him,” and the pronoun of “he appeared” which follows refers to the Angel, but this is nothing (i.e., incorrect). Abu Haywah and Sahl read “rawhana” with a fatha on the ra’, and it also refers to Gabriel (peace be upon him) because he is the cause of that which contains the life (ruh) of the servants, and the attainment of the ruh (rest/mercy) with God Almighty, which is the provision of those brought near, in the Almighty’s saying, “Then for him if he be of those brought near, then rest and fragrance,” or because he (peace be upon him) is among those brought near, and they are those promised the ruh—meaning “Our one brought near” or “possessor of our spirit.” An-Naqqash mentioned that it was read “ruhhuna” with a shadda on the nun, as the name of an angel among the angels (peace be upon them).

“And he appeared to her”—derived from al-mithal (the likeness), and its origin is to exert effort to be the likeness of something; the intent is that he took a form for her, “as a man, well-proportioned.” Sawiyy al-khalq means perfect in structure, lacking nothing of the beautiful traits of humanity. It is said that he appeared in the form of a relative of hers named Yusuf, a servant of the House of the Holy (Bayt al-Maqdis), so that she would find comfort in his speech and receive from him the words he cast toward her. For if he had appeared to her in his angelic form, she would have recoiled from him and would not have been able to converse with him. As for what has been said—that this was to incite her desire so that her sperm would descend into her womb—in addition to the offensiveness therein, from which Mary should be purified, it is refuted by the Almighty’s saying...