Tafsir of Maryam 19:23

{فأجاءها} (Drove her): The verb ajā’a is derived from jā’a (to come), but its usage changed after the derivation to mean iljā’ (compelling/forcing). Do you not see that you say: "I came to the place" (ji’tu al-makān), and "Zayd compelled me to come to it" (ajā’anīhi Zayd), just as you say: "I reached it" (balaghtuhu) and "He made me reach it" (ablaghanīhi)? A parallel is ātā (to give), which is only used in the sense of giving, for one does not say: "I came to the place" (ataytu al-makān) and "So-and-so made me come to it" (ātānīhi). Ibn Kathīr read al-makhāḍ with a kasra (on the mīm). It is said: makhadat al-ḥāmil makhāḍan wa makhāḍan, meaning the child moved within her womb.

The Trunk: She sought the trunk to conceal herself behind it and to lean upon it during childbirth. It was the trunk of a dry palm tree in the desert, having neither top, nor fruit, nor greenery, and it was winter. The definite article (al-) in al-jidhʿ (the trunk) is either:

1. A definite article of well-known entities: Like the al- in al-najm (the star) or al-ṣaʿq (the thunderbolt), as if that desert had a specific palm trunk known to people; when "the palm trunk" was mentioned, it was understood to be that one and no other.
2. A generic definite article: Meaning the trunk of this specific tree. It is as if Allah guided her to the palm tree to feed her from it the fresh dates, which are the appropriate food for a woman in labor. Because the palm tree is the most resilient to cold, and its fruit comes from its core (jumār), He chose it for her and compelled her toward it due to its suitability and the gathering of signs within it.

{نَسِيًّا} (Forgotten): Read with both ḍamma and kasra on the nūn. It is said: māta yamūtu and māta yumātu. Nasī refers to that which, by its nature, should be cast aside and forgotten, like a menstruating woman’s rag and the like. Similar to dhibḥ (slaughtered animal), which is a name for that which is meant to be slaughtered, as in His saying: "And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice (dhibḥ)" (al-Ṣāffāt: 107).

Yūnus said: When the Arabs would depart from a house, they would say, "Look at your ansā’," meaning the trivial things like a stick, a cup, or a tent-rope. She wished she were a trivial thing, of no consequence, whose nature and right it is to be forgotten in custom—and indeed, it was forgotten and cast aside, so she found in it the "forgetfulness" that was its due. This was due to the extreme modesty and shame she felt before people, according to human nature, not out of dislike for Allah’s decree. Or, it was due to the intensity of the burden upon her when they accused her, while she knew her own innocence and the opposite of what she was accused of.

It is among the unique honors and high status Allah bestowed upon her, for this is a slippery position where feet rarely stand firm: that you know you are blessed with a great matter and a dazzling virtue for which you deserve praise and honor, yet you see it in the eyes of people—due to their ignorance—as a defect for which one is blamed and rebuked. Or, perhaps she feared that people would disobey Allah because of her.

Ibn Waththāb, al-Aʿmash, Ḥamzah, and Ḥafṣ read nasayan with a fatḥa. Al-Farrā’ said: These are two dialects, like witr and watar, or jisr and jasr. It is also possible that it is named after the verbal noun, like ḥaml. Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī read nas’an with a hamza, which is milk mixed with water, which its owners "delay" (yansauhu) due to its scarcity. Al-Aʿmash read mansiyan with a kasra for assimilation, like al-mughīrah and al-munkhir.

{فَنَادَاهَا مِن تَحْتِهَا أَلَّا تَحْزَنِي قَدْ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحْتَكِ سَرِيًّا} "Then he called to her from below her, 'Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream.'"