The intent is to inform of weakness and old age, and its external and internal traces. (and gray hair has Ashta`al on my head,) means the gray hair has burned into the black hair. (He said: “My Lord! Indeed my bones have grown feeble…”) meaning, “I have become weak and feeble in strength.” ) “Verily, Allah knows the pious heart and he hears the hidden voice.” (When he called out his Lord ﴿with﴾ a call in secret. This is similar to what Qatadah said concerning this Ayah, (When he called his Lord ﴿with﴾ a call in secret.) He only made his supplication secretly because it is more beloved to Allah. In Sahih Al-Bukhari, it is recorded ﴿that the Prophet said about Zakariyya﴾ that He was a carpenter who used to eat from what he earned with his own hand through carpentry. He was a great Prophet from the Prophets of the Children of Israel.

Yahya bin Ya`mar recited it, (?) “He has reminded of your Lord’s mercy to His servant Zakariyya.” The word Zakariyya in the Ayah has been recited with elongation and also shortened. (A reminder of the mercy of your Lord) This means that this is a reminder of Allah’s mercy upon His servant Zakariyya. The Story of Zakariyya and His Supplication for a Son The discussion about the separate letters has already preceded at the beginning of Surat Al-Baqarah. And make him, my Lord, one with whom You are well-pleased!”) “Who shall inherit me, and inherit (also) the posterity of Ya`qub. “And verily, I fear Mawali after me, and my wife is barren. He said: “My Lord! Indeed my bones have grown feeble, and gray hair has Ashta`al on my head, and I have never been unblessed in my invocation to You, O my Lord!”) (5. When he called his Lord ﴿with﴾ a call in secret.) (4. A reminder of the mercy of your Lord to His servant Zakariyya.) (3. In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The narration mentions that Ja`far bin Abi Talib recited the first part of this Surah to An-Najashi and his companions.

Muhammad bin Ishaq recorded a Hadith of Umm Salamah in his Sirah, and Ahmad bin Hanbal recorded from Ibn Mas`ud, the story of the Hijrah (migration) to Ethiopia from Makkah.

Surah maryam in pdf