Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:90

(And We rectified for him his wife) meaning: We made her suitable for companionship by improving her character; for she was ill-tempered and sharp-tongued, as has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, ‘Ata ibn Abi Rabah, Muhammad ibn Ka‘b al-Qurazi, and ‘Awn ibn ‘Abdullah. Or, We rectified her for him—peace be upon him—by restoring her youth and making her fertile, for she had been barren, as has been narrated from Ibn Jubayr and Qatadah. According to the first interpretation, this sentence is a conjunction to the sentence "(So) We answered," because he—peace be upon him—did not pray for the improvement of his wife’s character. Al-Khafaji said: It is permissible to link it to "(We) bestowed," and in that case, linking it with waw (and) is apparent because, since it contains an addition to what was requested, it is not linked with the fa (so) of elaboration. According to the second interpretation, it is a conjunction to "(We) bestowed," and the bestowal of Yahya was mentioned first—despite its dependence on the rectification of the wife for childbirth—because it is the greater objective, and the waw does not necessitate sequence; therefore, there is no need for what has been said, that "the intended meaning of the bestowal is the intention for it." Al-Khafaji said: The Almighty did not say "So We bestowed" because the intended meaning is conferring a favor, not an explanation, as there is no need for it. Furthermore, it does not necessitate that an explanation be made with fa; rather, an explanatory conjunction may be with waw. End quote. The flaws in this are not hidden, so reflect upon it.

And His saying, the Almighty: (Indeed, they used to hasten in good deeds) is a justification for the various types of His beneficence related to the aforementioned prophets—peace be upon them—so the plural pronouns refer to the preceding prophets. It has been said: [They refer] to Zakariya, his wife, and Yahya. The sentence is a justification for what is understood from the speech regarding the attainment of closeness, proximity, and high ranks for them, or it is a resumption serving as an answer to a question, the estimation of which is: "What is their state?" The reliance is upon what has preceded. The meaning is: They used to strive and desire various types of righteous deeds. Often, asra‘a (to hasten) is connected with fi (in) because it contains the meaning of exertion and desire; so fi is not in the sense of ila (to), nor is it for justification, nor is the speech of the category of "He wounds in their heels."

(And they would call upon Us with longing and awe) meaning: longing for Our bounty and fearing Our punishment, or longing for the acceptance of their deeds and fearing their rejection. Thus, raghaban (longing) and rahaban (awe) are verbal nouns in the position of a state, interpreted as active participles. It is permissible that this is by estimating a genitive addition—meaning: "possessors of longing." It is permissible to leave them as they appear to emphasize the meaning. It is also permitted that they be plurals, like khadam (servants), which is the plural of khadim, though they have said that this plural is only heard in rare terms. It is also permitted that they be in the accusative case as a justification—meaning: "because of longing and awe." Abu al-Baqa permitted their accusative case as an absolute object (cognate accusative), such as "I sat a sitting," which is as you see.

In Majma‘ al-Bayan, it is narrated that calling with raghaban (longing) is with the palms of the hands facing upward, and with rahaban (awe) is with them facing downward. Some of our scholars have said: The manifest view is that the sentence is linked to the sentence "(they) hasten," so it is included with it within the scope of "(they) used to." The failure to repeat it symbolizes that the aforementioned supplication is among the consequences of that hastening. A group recited "yad‘una" (they call us) with the omission of the nun of the indicative mood. Talhah recited "yad‘unna" with a doubled nun, assimilating the nun of the indicative mood into the nun of the object pronoun. It was recited as "raghaban and rahaban" with the ra opened and the following letter quiescent, and as "raghaban and rahaban" with the damma and the quiescent letter.

(And they were to Us humble) Meaning: submissive, beseeching, or perpetually fearful. The gist of the justification is that they attained from Allah—the Almighty—what they attained because of their characterization by these praiseworthy traits.