Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān fī tafsīr kalām al-Mannān, by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāṣir al-Saʿdī (d. 1376 AH / 1956 CE). A modern commentary in plain Arabic that states the sense of each verse and the lesson drawn from it, without chains or digressions.
The complete commentary on The family of ʿImrān (3:33-64), covering 3:33-34 to 3:64.
On 3:33-34
God, Exalted, has among His servants chosen ones whom He selects and singles out, and upon whom He bestows lofty virtues, sublime qualities, beneficial knowledge, righteous deeds and distinctions of many kinds. So He mentioned these great households and the perfect men they contained, men who attained the attributes of perfection, and that excellence and goodness ran on in succession through their offspring, embracing both their males and their females. This is among the greatest of His favours and the finest of the places where His generosity and bounty alight. And God is Hearing, Knowing (3:34): He knows who deserves favour and preferment, and so He places His favour where His wisdom requires.
On 3:35
When He had established the greatness of these households, He mentioned the story of Mary and her son Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him): how the two of them descended from these excellent households, how their circumstances passed from one state to another from the beginning of their affair to its end, and how the wife of ʿImrān said, imploring her Lord and drawing near to Him by this act of devotion which He loves, an act which contains the veneration of His House and constant attendance upon His obedience: I have vowed to You what is in my womb, consecrated, that is, as a servant of the house of worship that was thronged with worshippers; so accept it from me, that is, this deed: make it founded upon faith and sincerity and fruitful in goodness and reward; indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing (3:35).
On 3:36
Then when she delivered her, she said: My Lord, I have delivered a female, and God knew best what she delivered, and the male is not like the female (3:36). It is as though in these words there is a kind of imploring on her part and a brokenness of spirit, since her vow had been made on the basis that the child would be a male, from whom would come the strength, the service and the discharge of that duty which come from people of strength, whereas a female is otherwise.
On 3:37
So God mended her heart and God accepted her vow, and this female became more complete and more perfect than many males, indeed than most of them, and through her were achieved purposes greater than those achieved through a male. For this reason He said: So her Lord accepted her with a goodly acceptance and made her grow with a goodly growth, that is, she was reared with a wonderful upbringing, religious, moral and refined, by which her circumstances were perfected, her words and deeds were made sound, and her perfection grew within her. God made Zachariah easy for her as a guardian, and it is one of God’s favours upon a servant that He appoints as the one who undertakes his upbringing someone from among the perfect and the righteous.
Then God, Exalted, honoured Mary and Zachariah, in that He made easy for Mary provision that came without toil or weariness; it was rather a miraculous favour (karāma) with which God honoured her, since whenever Zachariah entered upon her in the sanctuary, which is the place of worship (in which there is an indication of the abundance of her prayer and her constant attendance in her sanctuary), he found provision with her, wholesome and ready prepared. He said: From where does this come to you? She said: It is from God; indeed God provides for whom He wills without reckoning (3:37).
On 3:38
When Zachariah saw this state, and God’s kindness and gentleness towards her, it reminded him to ask God, Exalted, for the gift of a child at the very time when he despaired of it, and so he said: My Lord, grant me from Yourself a goodly offspring; indeed You are the Hearer of supplication (3:38).
On 3:39
Then the angels called to him while he was standing in prayer in the sanctuary: God gives you glad tidings of John, confirming a word from God, whose name, that is, the word which is from God, is Jesus son of Mary. So the glad tidings of this noble prophet included glad tidings of Jesus son of Mary, the confirmation of him and the testimony to his messengership. This word from God is a noble word with which God singled out Jesus son of Mary; otherwise it is one of the whole body of His words by which He brings creatures into being, as He, Exalted, said: Indeed the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam: He created him from dust, then said to him Be, and he was (3:59).
And His words: and a master and chaste, that is, this one of whom glad tidings are given, John, is a master among the most excellent and noble of the messengers. As for ḥaṣūr (chaste), it was said that it means one who has no children born to him and no desire for women; and it was said that it means one who is protected and guarded from sins and harmful desires, and this is the more fitting of the two meanings. And a prophet from among the righteous (3:39), those who have reached the highest summit of righteousness.
On 3:40
He said: My Lord, how shall I have a boy when old age has reached me and my wife is barren? These are two obstacles, so by what means, my Lord, shall this come about for me in the face of what contradicts it? He said: Thus; God does what He wills (3:40). For just as His wisdom requires that affairs run by their known causes, so He may break through that, because He is the Doer of what He intends, to whose power the causes have submitted and in which His will and His intent take effect; so no cause can defy His power, however great in strength it may be.
On 3:41
He said: My Lord, appoint for me a sign, so that joy and gladness may be obtained, even though I, my Lord, am certain of what You have told me; but the soul rejoices and the heart finds rest in the first tokens of mercy and kindness. He said: Your sign is that you shall not speak to people for three days except by gesture, and during this period remember your Lord much and glorify Him in the evening and the early morning (3:41), the beginning of the day and its end. So he was prevented from speech during this period, and there was in this a fitting correspondence to the coming of a child from between an aged old man and a barren woman; and his being unable to address human beings while his tongue ran freely with the remembrance and glorification of God was a further sign. Then at that point joy and gladness came to him, and he thanked God and multiplied his remembrance and glorification in the evenings and the early mornings.
This newborn was one of the blessings of Mary daughter of ʿImrān upon Zachariah, for the favour God had bestowed upon her of that wholesome provision which came without reckoning reminded him and stirred him to imploring and asking. God, Exalted, is the One who graciously grants both the cause and the thing caused, but He decrees beloved things at the hands of those whom He loves, so that God may raise their rank and magnify their reward.
On 3:42
Then He, Exalted, returned to the mention of Mary, and that she reached a mighty degree in worship and perfection, and so He, Exalted, said: And when the angels said: O Mary, indeed God has chosen you, that is, He has selected you and granted you majestic attributes and beautiful qualities; and purified you from base qualities; and chosen you above the women of the worlds (3:42). For this reason the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Many men attained perfection, but none of the women attained perfection except Mary daughter of ʿImrān, Āsiya daughter of Muzāḥim1 and Khadīja daughter of Khuwaylid; and the excellence of ʿĀʾisha over women is like the excellence of tharīd2 over all other food.”
On 3:43
So the angels called to her, at God’s command to them to do so, that she might rejoice in God’s blessings, give thanks to God, fulfil His rights and busy herself with His service. For this reason the angels said: O Mary, be devoutly obedient to your Lord, that is, multiply obedience, submission and humility before your Lord and persist in it; and prostrate and bow with those who bow (3:43), that is, pray with those who pray. So she carried out all that she was commanded, and she stood out and surpassed others in her perfection.
On 3:44
Since this story and others like it are among the greatest proofs of the messengership of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him), in that he related it in detail and with accuracy, with neither addition nor omission, and that was only because it is revelation from God, the Mighty, the Wise, not something learnt from people, He, Exalted, said: That is of the tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you; and you were not with them when they cast their pens as to which of them should take charge of Mary, when her mother brought her and they disputed over which of them should take charge of her, because she was the daughter of their leader and foremost man, and each of them desired goodness and reward from God, until the dispute brought them to the point of drawing lots over her: they cast their pens to draw lots, and the lot fell to Zachariah, as a mercy from God to him and to her.
So you, O Messenger, were not present at that scene to know it and relate it to people; rather God informed you of it. This is the greatest purpose in the narration of the stories: that a lesson be drawn from them, and the greatest of lessons is the use of them as evidence for the oneness of God, for messengership, for the resurrection and for the other great fundamentals.
On 3:45
When the angels said: O Mary, indeed God gives you glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, eminent in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near (3:45): that is, he possesses eminence and great standing in this world and the Hereafter among created beings; and together with that he is, with God, among those brought near, who are the nearest of creatures to God and the highest of them in degree. This is a glad tiding which no other glad tiding resembles.
On 3:46
Part of the completeness of this glad tiding is that he would speak to people in the cradle, so that his speaking would be one of the signs of God and a mercy from Him to his mother and to created beings. Likewise he would speak to them in maturity, that is, in the state of his mature manhood, and this is the speech of prophethood, of calling and of guidance. His speech in the cradle contained signs and proofs of his truthfulness and his prophethood, and of his mother’s innocence of the evil suspicions that were entertained about her; and his speech in his maturity contained his great benefit to created beings and his being an intermediary between them and their Lord in His revelation and in conveying His religion and His law. Together with that, he is among the righteous: those whose hearts God has made sound through knowledge of Him and love of Him, whose tongues He has made sound through praising Him and remembering Him, and whose limbs He has made sound through obeying Him and serving Him.
On 3:47
She said: My Lord, how shall I have a child when no human being has touched me? This is one of the things that provoke astonishment. He said: Thus; God creates what He wills, so that the servants may know that He has power over all things and that nothing can resist His will: when He decrees a matter, He only says to it Be, and it is (3:47).
On 3:48
And He will teach him the Book, that is, the whole class of the earlier scriptures, and judgement between people, and He will give him prophethood.
On 3:49
And He will make him a messenger to the Children of Israel and support him with clear signs and overwhelming proofs, in that he said: I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, which shows you that I am truly the messenger of God, and that is that I create for you out of clay the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God’s leave; and I heal the one born blind, which is the one whose eyes are effaced, who has lost his sight and his eyes, and the leper, and I give life to the dead by God’s leave, and I inform you of what you eat and what you store up in your houses. Indeed in that, which has been mentioned, is a sign for you, if you are believers (3:49).
On 3:50
And confirming what is before me of the Torah. So God supported him with two kinds of signs and proofs: the extraordinary, astonishing miracles which none but the prophets are able to bring, and the message, the call and the religion that he brought, and the fact that it is the religion of the Torah and the religion of the earlier prophets. This is the greatest of the proofs of the truthfulness of the truthful, for had he been one of the liars he would have opposed what the messengers brought and contradicted them in their fundamentals and their branches. By this it is known that he is the messenger of God and that what he brought is truth in which there is no doubt. And likewise his words: and to make lawful to you some of what was forbidden to you, that is, and to lighten for you some of the burdens and the shackles; so fear God and obey me (3:50).
On 3:51
Indeed God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is what all the messengers call to: the worship of God alone, without partner, and obedience to them. This is the straight path which brings whoever travels it to the Gardens of bliss.
On 3:52
Then at that point the factions of the Children of Israel differed concerning Jesus: among them were those who believed in him and followed him, and among them were those who disbelieved in him, denied him and accused his mother of indecency, like the Jews. Then when Jesus perceived disbelief from them, and their agreement upon rejecting his call, he said, summoning the Children of Israel to support him: Who are my helpers towards God? The disciples said, that is, the helpers: We are the helpers of God; we believe in God, so bear witness that we are Muslims (3:52). This was one of God’s favours upon them and upon Jesus, in that He inspired these disciples to believe in him, to submit to his obedience and to support His messenger.
On 3:53
Our Lord, we believe in what You have sent down and we follow the Messenger. This is a complete commitment to faith in all that God has sent down and to obedience to His messenger. So write us down among those who bear witness (3:53): to You, of Your oneness; to Your prophet, of his messengership; and to Your religion, that it is true and right.
On 3:54
As for those from whom Jesus perceived disbelief, who were the majority of the Children of Israel, they plotted against Jesus, and God plotted against them, and God is the best of plotters (3:54). They agreed upon killing him and crucifying him, but the likeness of Jesus was cast upon another for them, and so they seized the one upon whom his likeness had been cast for them.
On 3:55
And God said to Jesus: I am going to take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve. So God raised him to Himself and purified him from those who disbelieved, and they crucified the one they killed, supposing that he was Jesus, and they incurred a mighty sin.
Jesus son of Mary will descend at the end of this community as a just ruler: he will kill the swine, break the cross and follow what Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) brought, and the liars will know their delusion and their deceit, and that they are deluded and deceived. As for His words: and I am going to make those who follow you above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection, what is meant by those who followed him is the party that believed in him, and God gave them victory over those who deviated from his religion. Then, when the community of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) came, they were his true followers, and God supported them and gave them victory over all the disbelievers and made them prevail through the religion that Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) brought them: God has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors in the earth (24:55), to the end of the verse. But God’s wisdom is just, for it requires that whoever holds fast to the religion, God gives him manifest victory, and that whoever abandons His command and His prohibition, casts aside His law and ventures boldly upon disobedience to Him, He punishes him and gives his enemies power over him. And God is Mighty, Wise.
His words: Then to Me is your return, and I shall judge between you concerning that over which you used to differ (3:55).
On 3:56
I say: then He made clear what He would do with them, and said: As for those who disbelieve, I shall punish them with a severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter, and they shall have no helpers (3:56).
On 3:57
And as for those who believe and do righteous deeds, He will pay them their rewards in full; and God does not love the wrongdoers (3:57). This recompense is general for everyone who is characterised by these attributes from among all the people of the earlier religions. Then, when the master of the messengers and seal of the prophets was sent, and his message abrogated all the messages and his religion abrogated all the religions, whoever holds to any religion other than this one became one of those who perish.
On 3:58
And His words, Exalted:
That is: this mighty Qur’an, which contains the tidings of the first and the last, of the prophets and the messengers, is the clear signs of God; it is that which reminds the servants of everything they need, and it is the wise, the firmly established, truthful in its reports and good in its rulings.
On 3:59
When He had mentioned the story of Mary and Jesus and the true tidings of them both, and that he is a servant upon whom God bestowed favour, and that whoever claims there is anything of divinity in him has lied against God, given the lie to all His prophets and given the lie to Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him): the doubt that presented itself to those who took him as a god is a false doubt, for had it any sound basis, Adam would have had a better claim to it than he, since he was created without mother or father; yet despite that all mankind agree that he is one of the servants of God. So the claim that Jesus is divine because he was created from a mother without a father is one of the most false of claims.
On 3:60
This is the truth in which there is no doubt: that Jesus is as he said of himself: I said to them nothing except what You commanded me: Worship God, my Lord and your Lord (5:117).
On 3:61
A delegation of the Christians of Najrān had come to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and they had hardened themselves in their falsehood after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had set before them the proofs that Jesus is the servant of God and His messenger, since they claimed his divinity. Matters between him and them reached the point where God, Exalted, commanded him to invoke a mutual curse (mubāhala) with them, for the truth had become plain to them but obstinacy and partisanship kept them from it. So the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) called them to the mutual imprecation: that he should come with his household and his sons, and they should come with their households and their sons, and then they would pray to God, Exalted, to send down His punishment and His curse upon the liars. They consulted among themselves whether to accept this from him, and their opinion settled on not accepting it, because they knew that he was truly the prophet of God and that if they imprecated against him they would perish, they and their children and their households. So they made peace with him, offered him the poll-tax (jizya) and asked him for a truce and a treaty, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) granted them that and did not press them hard, because the purpose had been achieved in the clarity of the truth and the exposure of their obstinacy, since they resolved to refuse the mutual imprecation; and that demonstrates that they were wrongdoers.
On 3:62
For this reason He, Exalted, said: Indeed this is the true narrative, that is, that in which there is no doubt; and indeed God is surely the Mighty, who by His power and strength has subdued all existing things, and to whom the inhabitants of the earth and the heavens have submitted; and together with that He is the Wise (3:62), who puts things in their proper places and sets them down in their proper stations.
On 3:64
This noble verse was one the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to write to the kings of the People of the Book. He would sometimes recite in the first unit (rakʿa) of the voluntary dawn prayer Say: We believe in God (2:136), to the end of the verse, and recite this verse in the final unit of the voluntary morning prayer, because it contains the call to a single religion upon which the prophets and messengers agreed, and because it embodies the oneness of divinity (tawḥīd al-ilāhiyya) which is built upon the worship of God alone without partner, and upon the belief that human beings and all created things, every one of them, are at the level of created humanity, and none of them deserves anything of the particular attributes of lordship or the qualities of divinity. If the People of the Book and others submit to this, they are guided; but if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims (3:64), like His words, Exalted: Say: O disbelievers (109:1), to the end of the sūra.
About this text
This is a complete English rendering of Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān fī tafsīr kalām al-Mannān on these verses, prepared for this website from the public-domain Arabic text (tafsir.app, src=saadi). Nothing is abridged: every opinion, every report with its chain of transmission, every verse of poetry and every grammatical note is translated. Qur’anic quotations are in bold; the translator’s own notes are confined to the numbered footnotes and identify names, terms and variant readings only. A second translator has not checked the rendering, and the Arabic is linked so that any passage can be compared. The modern editors’ apparatus is not part of the classical text and is not translated.
The family of ʿImrān (3:33-64): all commentaries · The classical commentaries