The Believers (Al-Mu'minun): (50) And We made the son of Mary...

Know that the son of Mary is Jesus, peace be upon him. Allah made him a Sign by creating him without a father, and by making him speak in infancy. He performed the healing of the blind and the leper, and the raising of the dead through him. As for Mary, Allah made her a Sign because she conceived him without a father.

Al-Hasan said that Mary spoke in her infancy just as Jesus spoke, referring to her statement: {He is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account} (Al 'Imran: 37), and that she never suckled.

The Qadi (Judge) said that if this is established, it is a miracle for Zachariah, peace be upon him, because she was not a prophetess. We reply that the Qadi said this because he deems Irhas (precursors to prophethood) impermissible, and the miracles of the Awliya (saints) impermissible. However, we hold that both are permissible, so there is no need for what he said.

The most probable view is that Allah made both of them a Sign through the very act of birth, because he was born without a father, and she bore him without a father, so they both shared in this wondrous, extraordinary matter.

Two points indicate that this interpretation is preferable:

1. That Allah said: {And We made the son of Mary and his mother a Sign} because the miracle itself inheres in them, not that it appeared through their hands (like raising the dead). This is preferable because the birth itself is a Sign in both of them, as is their speaking in the cradle. Other miracles appeared through his hands, but they were not the Sign inherent in them.
2. That Allah said "a Sign" (singular, āyatan) and did not say "two Signs" (āyatayn). It is more appropriate to apply this singular term to the matter that is only complete through their combination, which is the matter of the birth, rather than the miracles where Jesus, peace be upon him, was independently capable.

As for His saying, {And We made the son of Mary and his mother a Sign}: This means We made their dwelling place Al-Rabwah (the high ground). Al-Rabwah, Al-Rabāwah, and Al-Rabāwah all have the three vowel movements on the rā’ (R), and it means the elevated land.

Qatadah and Abu Al-'Aliyah said it is Iliya (Jerusalem), the land of Bayt al-Maqdis. Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said it is Ramlah. Al-Kalbi and Ibn Zayd said it is in Egypt. The majority said it is Damascus. Muqatil and Al-Dahhak said it is the Ghūtah of Damascus.

{And gave them refuge on a resting place (qarār) with a spring (ma'īn)}:

• Al-Qarār (resting place) is any flat, spread-out land.
• According to Qatadah, it is land with fruits (thimār) and water (ma’in), meaning that because of the fruits, its inhabitants settle there.
• Al-Ma'īn is the apparent, flowing water on the face of the earth. Thus, the Exalted One draws attention to the completeness of His favor upon them with this concise wording.

Regarding Al-Ma'īn, there are two views:

1. It is an object of the passive participle (maf'ūl), because of its visibility, it is perceived by the eye—from ʿayyana (to see). Al-Farra' and Al-Zajjaj said: If you wish, you can make it fa'īl derived from al-māʿūn (aid/utility), and its origin would be from al-maʿn (meaning/purpose), and māʿūn is faʿūl derived from it. Abu 'Ali said: Al-maʿīn is the easy thing that yields and does not resist, and al-māʿūn is what is made easy for the one who gives it.

They further said that the reason for their taking refuge there was that she fled with her son Jesus to the high ground and remained there for twelve years. Her cousin Yusuf took them, and then they returned to their people after their king died. Here ends the story, and Allah knows best.