The Qur'an by Alan Jones

Author:Alan Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RELIGION / Islam / Koran & Sacred Writings
Publisher: Gibb Memorial Trust
Published: 2006-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

1 i.e. destroyed.

2 The servant.

3 Moses.

4 The traditional sources give his name as Khiḍr.

Sūra 19

Sūrat Maryam is important in the development of the Qur’ān, as it appears to be the earliest sūra to relate Christian stories at length (2–15: Zachariah and the birth of John the Baptist; 16–33: Mary and the birth of Jesus). Muslim sources treat the whole sūra as early and offer as evidence traditions that they believe to be anchored in the first few years of Muḥammad’s mission; but even if the traditions are authentic – and that is doubtful – and do indicate an early date, they do not necessarily show that the whole sūra is early Meccan. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that the sūra is essentially Meccan, but latish rather than early. The first part of the sūra echoes the first chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, but certain parallels with the apocryphal Gospels, in particular with The Infancy Gospel of James, Chapter 11, are also to be discerned.

The sūra comprises four sections that are complementary to each other: 2–33, mainly narrative with the assonance in -iyyā; 33–40, a piece of argument, with assonance in -īn/ ūn/ īm, that provides a change of mood; 41–74, short narratives about prophets, ending with polemic, again with the assonance of -iyyā; and finally a peroration, 75–98, with assonance in -dā/zā. The assonance in -iyyā, which occurs only in this sūra, is striking. It is also technically difficult, and a number of the rhyme words occur once or twice in this sūra and nowhere else, sometimes raising problems about their meaning. Overall, however, the sūra comes across as a coherent and cogent whole, even though one can be certain that it was originally not one entity.

Mary

In the name of the Merciful and Compassionate God

1. Kāf, Hā’, Yā’, ‛Ayn, Ṣād.1

2. Mention of the mercy of yours Lord to His servant Zachariah,

3. When he called out to his Lord in secret.

4. He said, ‘My Lord,

my bones have become very weak,

and my head is aflame with hoariness.

I have never been unfortunate in my supplications to You.

5. [I am making supplication now, for] I fear [that I shall have no] heirs after me,

because my wife is barren.

So give me, from Yourself, a successor

6. Who will inherit from me and from the family of Jacob,

and make him, my Lord, well-pleasing.’

7. ‘O Zachariah, We give you very good tidings of a son

whose name will be John,

a name We have never given to anyone before.’

8. He said, ‘My Lord, how can I have a son

when my wife is barren,

and I have become infirm through old age?’

9. He said, ‘[It will be] so. Your Lord says,

“It is easy for me,

for I created you before

when you were nothing”.’

10. He said, ‘My Lord, make a sign for me.’

He said, ‘Your sign will be that

you cannot speak to people for three days, though there is nothing wrong with you.’

11. So he left the sanctuary and went to see his people,

and he made a sign to them,

‘Glorify your Lord morning and evening.

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