ABSTRACT
Remember when the wife of ’Imrán 1 said, (when she had become aged, and desired offspring, wherefore she supplicated God, and became sensible of pregnancy,) O my Lord, verily I devote unto Thee what is in my womb, to be dedicated to the service of Thy holy house : then accept [it] from me ; for Thou art the Hearer of prayer, the Knower of intentions. And ’Imrán perished while she was pregnant. And when she gave birth to it, (namely her daughter ; and she was hoping that it might be a boy ; since none but boys were dedicated,) she said, O my Lord, verily I have brought forth a female, (and God well knew what she had brought forth,) and the male is not as the female, the latter not being fit for the service [of the temple] ; and I have named her Mary [Maryam] ; and I beg thy protection for her and her offspring from the accursed devil.2 (In the traditions [it is said], No child is born but the devil hath touched it at the time of its birth, wherefore it first raiseth its voice by crying, excepting Mary and her son.3) And her Lord accepted her (that is, He accepted Mary from her mother) with a gracious acceptance, and caused her to grow with an excellent growth, as though she grew in a day as a child [generally] groweth in a month. Her mother took her to the doctors, the keepers of the Holy House, and said, Receive
ye this devoted child. And they eagerly desired her, because she was the daughter of their chief. But Zechariah said, I am more worthy of having her; for her maternal aunt is with me. They however replied, Nay, but we will cast lots.— So they departed (and they were nine and twenty) to the river Jordan, and cast their divining arrows on the understanding that he whose arrow should become steady in the water and rise should be [acknowledged] most worthy of her ; and the arrow of Zechariah became steady, and he took her, and built for her a chamber in the temple, with stairs to which no one ascended but himself. And he used to bring her her food and her drink and her ointment; and used to find with her the fruits of winter in summer, and the fruits of summer in winter, as He-whose name be exalted !— hath said, And Zechariah maintained her. Whenever Zechariah went in to her in the chamber, he found with her pro visions. He said, O Mary, whence came to thee this ? She answered, (being then a little child) It is from God : He bringeth it to me from Paradise: for God supplieth whom He pleaseth without reckoning.
