Zechariah

A mention of your Lord’s mercy upon His servant Zechariah.

When he called upon his Lord in secret

Saying, “My Lord, my bones have weakened, and my hair has turned white with age, yet I have never been disappointed in my prayers to You.”

When he called upon his Lord, “Do not leave me childless, for You are the Best of inheritors.”

“I fear what will happen to my people after me, and my wife is barren. So grant me, from Yourself, an heir,”

“Who will inherit from me and from the family of Jacob, and make him, my Lord, pleasing to You.”

So, the angels called out to him while he stood praying in the sanctuary: ‘Allah gives you good news of John, a confirmer of Allah’s word, noble, chaste, and a prophet among the righteous.

“O Zechariah, We give you good news of a son, whose name is John, a name We have never given before.”

He said, “My Lord, how can I have a son when my wife is barren, and I have reached extreme old age?”

He said, “It will be so. Your Lord says, ‘It is easy for Me. I created you before, when you were nothing.’”

He said, “My Lord, grant me a sign.” He said, “Your sign is that you will not speak to people for three nights, though you are sound.”

Then he emerged from the sanctuary to his people and signalled to them to glorify Allah morning and evening.

So, We answered him and granted him John, making his wife fertile. They raced toward goodness, hands raised in hope, humbled in awe, ever turning to Us.