Tafsir of Al Imran 3:37

(So her Lord accepted her): That is, He was pleased with Maryam in the fulfillment of the vow in place of a male. There is in this a comparison of the vow to a gift, and the pleasure of Allah, the Exalted, to acceptance. (Her Lord): Meaning the Lord of Maryam who brought her to the perfection appropriate for her. It is said: The pronoun refers to the wife of ‘Imran, because she is the one who addressed and called out, saying: "My Lord, I have delivered it..." (and so on). The former is more appropriate.

(With a gracious acceptance): The ba’ (prefix) is like the one in "I wrote with the pen." Al-Qabul (acceptance) is that by which something is accepted, just as al-sa‘ut and al-ladud are things by which one is treated nasally or through the side of the mouth; meaning, He accepted her with a gracious manner through which vows are accepted. This was His, the Exalted’s, distinguishing her by establishing her in the place of a male in the vow, even though He had not accepted a female before her, or it means He took charge of her from her mother immediately after birth, before she grew and became fit for the service and custodianship of the Temple.

It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that he said: When she delivered her, Hannah feared that a female would not be accepted as a dedicated servant, so she wrapped her in a cloth and placed her in the Temple (Bayt al-Maqdis) before the reciters (priests) there, for she was the daughter of their leader. They debated who would take her, so Zakariya—who was the head of the rabbis—said: "I shall take her, for I have more right to her as her maternal aunt is with me." The reciters said: "Rather, we shall draw lots for her, and whoever’s lot is drawn has the most right to her." They called for their pens with which they wrote the Revelation, gathered them in a place, and covered them. Zakariya said to some of the youths who had not yet reached puberty among those in the Temple: "Put your hand in and pull one out." He inserted his hand and pulled out the pen of Zakariya. They said: "We are not satisfied; rather, we shall cast the pens into the water; whoever’s pen remains in the current of the water and rises [stays afloat], he shall be her guardian." They cast their pens into the Jordan River, and the pen of Zakariya rose in the current. They said: "Let us draw lots a third time; whoever’s pen flows with the water, he shall be her guardian." They cast their pens, and the pen of Zakariya flowed with the water while their pens rose in the current of the water. Zakariya took charge of her at that point.

It is permissible that the ba’ signifies accompaniment (mulabasa), and qabul is an infinitive (a rare form of the infinitive). There is an implicit omitted genitive construction, the meaning being: He was pleased with her, while she was clothed in a matter of acceptance and possessed of a state of satisfaction, which is what established her in the place of males due to the honor with which she was distinguished. It is also permissible for tafa’’ul to take the meaning of istif‘al, like ta‘ajjala (to be in a hurry) meaning ista‘jala; the meaning being: Her Lord received her and met her from the very first moment of her birth with gracious acceptance and manifested honor upon her at that time. There is a proverb: "Take the matter with its acceptances."

It is also permitted that the ba’ is redundant and qabul is an infinitive emphasizing the preceding verb by deleting the redundant elements—meaning: He accepted her with a gracious acceptance. The text deviated from the manifest form to signal that the acceptance was accompanied by perfect pleasure and conformity to His essential care, for the tafa’’ul form suggests, according to its original construction, effort and that the act is contrary to the actor’s nature, even if what is intended regarding Him, the Exalted, is the resulting perfection of the force and frequency of the act.

It is also possible, though remotely, that the ba’ is for accompaniment, meaning "with," so it means: He accepted her vow along with a gracious acceptance for the prayer of her mother on her behalf and the behalf of her progeny, as He protected them from the accursed Satan from the beginning of birth to the end of life.

(And caused her to grow a good growth): Meaning, her Lord raised her with a good upbringing in worship and obedience to her Lord. This was said by Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them. In another narration from him, it means He perfected her creation, so she would grow in a day as much as another grows in a year. It is also said: He took charge of her with whatever would benefit her in all her states. In the statement, there is a representative metaphor or a synecdoche by the relationship of necessity, for the cultivator takes care of his crop by watering it when needed, protecting it from pests, and clearing away the weeds that choke it.

(Nabatan) here is an infinitive of a root different from the mentioned verb (anbata), standing in place of inbatan. It is said the estimation is fanabatat nabatan. Al-nabat and al-nabt carry the same meaning, and sometimes nabat is used to express that which has grown.

(And Zakariya took charge of her): He was from the descendants of Sulayman ibn Dawud, upon them be peace. Meaning, Allah, the Exalted, joined her to him and made him her guardian and the guarantor of her interests, according to what was mentioned in the report of Ibn ‘Abbas. All of this was from the effects of His power, the Exalted, and there was no revelation to him regarding that.

Hamzah, al-Kisa’i, and ‘Asim recited it with a doubled fa (kaffala), and shortened Zakariya (except for ‘Asim in the transmission of Ibn ‘Ayyash), and it is a direct object of the verb. The others recited with a light fa and lengthened Zakariya, elevating it as the subject. There are two other linguistic forms for it: one is Zakari with a doubled ya without an alif, and the second is Zakariya without a ya. It is indeclinable due to being a proper noun and foreign, or, it is said, due to the feminine alif. Ubayy recited akfalaha, and Mujahid recited fataqabbalaha rabbaha wa anbataha wa kaffalaha in the form of a supplication for all three verbs, and rabbaha is in the accusative as a vocative—meaning: "So accept her, O her Lord, and cause her to grow, and make Zakariya her guardian." Allah, the Exalted, answered her prayer in all of that. The majority—and the reports testify to this—hold that the guardianship of Zakariya was from the beginning of her affairs. Some claimed he took charge of her after she was weaned and had grown the "good growth," but that is not strong.

(Whenever Zakariya entered the sanctuary upon her): This is an explanation for her acceptance, which is why al-mihrab is not coordinated with a conjunction. The mihrab, according to what is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, was a room built for her in the Temple, its door placed in the middle of the wall, and one could not ascend to it except by a ladder, like the door of the Ka'bah. It is also said: It refers to the mosque itself, for their places of worship were called maharib. Others say it refers to its most honorable parts, its front, which is the position of the Imam in the mosque. Its root is mih’al, an intensive noun form like mi’taan; the place was named such because the warriors (muharibun) are numerous in it. Some say it is a place-name, named so because it is the place of warring against Satan, or because people compete for it.

The placing of the adverb before the subject is to show the perfection of care for her affair. The accusative of al-mihrab is due to looseness, as the verb is properly transitive by fi or ila. Placing the subject is said to be for separating the sentence. (Kullama) is an adverb on the condition that ma is an infinitive, and the time is omitted or is an indefinite noun described by its meaning: "the time," and the referent is omitted. The agent of the adverb is its response by consensus, for the ma in the time acting as the genitive cannot act upon the genitive. Among the people are those who erred, saying: The agent is the condition verb, claiming it is more appropriate in meaning, thus adding sentences to the board of chess. The meaning is: Every time he entered upon her, or every time he entered in her presence, (he found with her provision)—that is, he encountered and met at her presence that provision, or found it existing in her presence. Ibn Jarir narrated from al-Zubayr that he said: No one would enter upon her except him, and when seven doors were closed upon her, he would find summer fruit with her in winter, and winter fruit in summer. The tanwin is for magnification; it is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that it was from the fruits of Paradise. The majority hold that this was a compensation for her not being breastfed, for it is narrated that she never saw a nursing breast. It is said this was after she had grown up. In the narration of Ibn Bishr from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, Zakariya, upon him be peace, hired a wet nurse for her, and when two years were completed for her, she was weaned and left in the sanctuary alone, the door closed upon her, and no one took care of her affairs but him.

(He said: "O Maryam, whence is this to you?"): This is an explanatory resumption. ("From where is this to you?")—that is, from where did you get this provision which does not resemble the provisions of the world, while the doors are locked against you? The coming of anna (whence) with the meaning of "from where" or "how" has been discussed previously.

This verse is cited as evidence for the permissibility of karamat (miracles of saints) for the Awliya, because Maryam, by common consensus, did not have prophethood. This is the position held by the People of Sunnah and the Shi'ah, while the Mu'tazilah differed. Al-Balkhi from among them answered the verse by saying that this was a irhas (prelude) and foundation for the prophethood of ‘Isa, upon him be peace. Al-Jubba’i answered that it was a miracle for Zakariya, upon him be peace. The latter was refuted by the fact that confusion over the matter for him would reject that; perhaps this is built upon the literal appearance, otherwise there is scrutiny in this expression in the reality of the matter regarding whether it implies confusion, because it is permissible that it was to manifest the wonder in her through her speaking, and so on. The claim that Zakariya’s confusion about whether it was a miracle does not contradict it being a miracle, due to his confusion about whether it was from Paradise or from the orchards of the world, is of no consequence, as is not hidden.

(She said: "It is from Allah"): This is a resumption like the one before it. It is said: She meant from Paradise. It is said: From that which He provided for me, it is from Him, without the mediation of humans, so do not be amazed and do not deem it unlikely. It is said: She spoke of that while young, like ‘Isa, upon him be peace. Those who have spoken in the cradle have been gathered, and they are eleven souls. Jalal al-Suyuti organized them, saying: The Prophet spoke in the cradle, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and Yahya, ‘Isa, the Friend (Ibrahim), Maryam, the one cleared (Jurayj), the witness of Yusuf, the child of the Ditch (as narrated by Muslim), the child who passed by the nation who are told "you commit adultery" and do not speak, the hairdresser’s child in the time of Pharaoh, and in the time of the Guide, the "Blessed One" concludes it.

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(Indeed, Allah chooses Adam, Nuh, the family of Ibrahim, and the family of ‘Imran over the worlds): Selection is more general than love and intimate friendship, so it includes all the prophets, and their ranks differ within it, as indicated by His, the Exalted’s, saying: "Those messengers, We favored some of them over others." The most specific of the ranks is love, and His saying, "And raised some of them in degrees," points to that, then intimate friendship. In its word (khullah), there is an indication of that through the articulation points of the letters, while the most general is selection. He selected Adam by teaching him the attributes, gathering the two Hands, and causing the existents to bow to him; and Nuh, who is the second father, by that fatherhood and what he had with his people. He selected the family of Ibrahim—who are the prophets from his progeny—by the appearance of the lights of His special manifestation upon the horizons of their existence. And the family of ‘Imran, He makes them a foundation for the worlds, a progeny, some of them from others in religion and truth, for birth is of two kinds: physical and spiritual. Every prophet who follows a prophet in monotheism, knowledge, and what pertains to the inner aspects of the fundamentals of religion is his child, just like the children of the masters, and "the child is the secret of his father." It is possible to say: Adam is the soul in the first stages of its appearance; Nuh is it in its second stage of descent; Ibrahim is the heart which Nimrud of the self cast into the fires of trials and threw into it with the catapult of desires; his family are the spiritual powers; ‘Imran is the intellect settled in the holy house of the body; and his family are the followers in that house who emulate him. All of this is progeny, one from another, due to the unity of the source and the agreement of the spring.