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Kaf. Ha. Ya. `Ayn. Sad.
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AN ACCOUNT of the grace which thy Sustainer bestowed upon His servant Zachariah:
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When he called out to his Sustainer in the secrecy of his heart,
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he prayed: "O my Sustainer! Feeble have become my bones, and my head glistens with grey hair. But never yet, O my Lord, has my prayer unto Thee remained unanswered.
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Now, behold, I am afraid of (what) my kinsfolk (will do) after I am gone, for my wife has always been barren. Bestow, then, upon me, out of Thy grace, the gift of a successor
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who will be my heir as well as an heir (to the dignity) of the House of Jacob; and make him, O my Sustainer, well-pleasing to Thee!"
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(Thereupon the angels called out unto him: "O Zachariah! We bring thee the glad tiding of (the birth of) a son whose name shall be John. (And God says,) `Never have We given this name to anyone before him."
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(Zachariah) exclaimed: "O my Sustainer! How can I have a son when my wife has always been barren and I have become utterly infirm through old age?"
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Answered (the angel): "Thus. it is; (but) thy 'Sustainer says, `This is easy for Me -even as I have created thee aforetime out of nothing.
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(Zachariah) prayed: "O my Sustainer! Appoint a sign for me!" Said (the angel): "Thy sign shall be that for full three nights (and days) thou wilt not speak unto men.
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Thereupon he came out of the sanctuary unto his people and signified to them (by gestures): "Extol His limitless glory by day and by night!"
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(And when the son was born and grew up, he was told,) "O John! Hold fast unto the divine writ with (all thy) strength!" - for We granted him wisdom "while he was yet a little boy,
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as well as, by Our grace, (the gift of) compassion and purity; and he vv as (always) conscious of Us
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and full of piety towards his parents; and never was he haughty or rebellious.
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Hence, (God's) peace was upon him on the day when he was born, and on the day of his death, and. will be (upon him) on the day when he shall be raised to life (again).
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AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place
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and kept herself in seclusion from them, whereupon We sent unto her Our angel of revelation, who appeared to her in the shape of a well-made human being.
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She exclaimed: "Verily, 'I seek refuge from thee with the Most Gracious! (Approach me not) if thou art conscious of Him!"
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(The angel) answered: "I' am but a messenger of thy Sustainer, (who says,) `I shall bestow upon thee the gift of a son endowed with purity.'"
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Said she: "How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me? - for, never have I been a loose woman!"
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(The angel) answered: "Thus it is; (but) thy Sustainer says, `This is easy for Me; and (thou shalt have a son,) so that We might make him a symbol unto mankind and an act of grace from US. And it was a thing decreed (by God):
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and in time she conceived him, and then she withdrew with him to a far-off place.
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And (when) the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree, she exclaimed: "Oh, would that I had died ere this, and had become a thing forgotten, utterly forgotten!"
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Thereupon (a voice) called out to her from beneath that (palm-tree): "Grieve not! Thy Sustainer has provided a rivulet (running) beneath thee;
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and shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards thee: it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon thee.
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Eat, then, and drink, and let thine eye be gladdened! And if thou shouldst see any human being, convey this unto him: `Behold, abstinence from speech have I vowed unto the Most Gracious; hence, I may not speak today to any mortal.
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And in time she returned to her people, carrying the child with her. They said: "O Mary! Thou hast indeed done an amazing thing!
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O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother a loose woman!"
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Thereupon she pointed to him. They exclaimed: "How can we talk to one who (as yet) is a little boy in the cradle?"
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(But) he said: "Behold, I am a servant of God. He has vouchsafed unto me revelation and made me a prophet,
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