Tanwīr al-miqbās min tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās, by attributed to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās; compiled by Majd al-Dīn al-Fīrūzābādī (d. compiler d. 817 AH / 1414 CE). A running gloss, phrase by phrase, transmitted under the name of the Prophet’s cousin Ibn ʿAbbās through a chain (al-Kalbī from Abū Ṣāliḥ) that Muslim scholars have long judged weak; it is read as a witness to early Kufan exegesis rather than as Ibn ʿAbbās’s own words.
The complete commentary on The birth of Jesus (19:16-37), covering 19:16-37.
On 19:16-37
19:16. And mention: O Muḥammad; in the Book: in the Qur’an; Mary: the account of Mary; when she withdrew: she went apart and secluded herself; from her family to an eastern place: on the eastern side of their house.
19:17. And took, apart from them: she let down, apart from her family; a screen: a veil, so as to wash herself therein from menstruation; then We sent to her: after she had finished; Our Spirit: Our messenger Gabriel; and he appeared to her: he took on a likeness for her; as a well-proportioned man: in the form of a young man lacking nothing.
19:18. She said: Mary; I seek refuge: I seek protection; in the Most Gracious from you, if you are God-fearing: obedient to the Most Gracious; and it is said, al-Taqī was the name of a wicked man, and she thought that he was that man, and for that reason she sought refuge from him.
19:19. He said: Gabriel, to her; I am only a messenger of your Lord, to grant you: so that God may grant you; a pure boy: a righteous child.
19:20. She said: Mary, to Gabriel (peace be upon him); How shall I have a boy: from where shall I have a child; when no man has touched me: no husband has come near me; and I have not been unchaste: an adulteress.
19:21. He said: Gabriel, to her; Thus: so it is, as I have told you; your Lord has said: It is easy for Me: his creation is easy for Me, without a father; and that We may make him: so that We may make him; a sign: a mark and a lesson; for people: for the Children of Israel, a child without a father; and a mercy from Us: for him who believes in him; and it is a matter decreed: a decree that is to be, that he should be a child without a father.
19:22. So she conceived him: Mary; and her pregnancy with him lasted nine months, and it is said, a single day; and she withdrew: she went apart; with him: with her giving birth to him; to a distant place: far from people.
19:23. And the pangs of childbirth drove her: the labour-pains compelled her; to the trunk of the palm-tree: to the base of a dried-up palm; she said: Would that I had died before this: this child; and it is said, before this day; and had been a thing forgotten, out of mind: a thing abandoned and not remembered; and it is said, a discarded menstrual cloth; and it is said, a miscarriage.
19:24. Then he called to her from beneath her: from below her, meaning Gabriel; Do not grieve: O Mary, over the birth of Jesus; your Lord has placed beneath you a sariyy: a prophet; and it is said, “then he who was beneath her called to her”, if you read it with the fatḥa on the mīm1, meaning Jesus: Do not grieve; your Lord has placed beneath you a sariyy, a small stream.
19:25. And shake towards you: take hold, towards you; the trunk of the palm-tree: the base of the palm, and move it; it will drop upon you fresh ripe dates: tender and fresh.
19:26. So eat: of the fresh dates; and drink: from the stream; and be comforted: be of good cheer at the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him); and if you see of mankind: of human beings; anyone: after this day; then say: I have vowed to the Most Gracious a fast: a silence; so I shall not speak today to any human: to any son of Adam; then keep silent after that, until Jesus speaks in your excuse.
19:27. Then she brought him: Jesus; to her people: to her people; carrying him: when he was forty days old; they said: O Mary, you have done a thing unheard of: a tremendous abomination.
19:28. O sister of Aaron: O you who resemble Aaron in worship; and Aaron was a righteous man, among the best of people; and it is said, Aaron was a wicked man and they likened her to him; and it is said, Aaron was her brother on her father’s side; your father was not a man of evil: a fornicating man; nor was your mother unchaste: an adulteress.
19:29. So she pointed to him: to Jesus (peace be upon him), meaning: speak to him; they said: to her; How can we speak to one who is in the cradle: in the lap; and it is said, in the bed; a child: a small one, forty days old. Then Jesus (peace be upon him) spoke.
19:30. He said: I am the servant of God; He has given me the Book: He taught me the Torah and the Gospel in my mother’s womb; and made me a prophet: after my coming forth from my mother’s womb.
19:31. And He has made me blessed: a teacher of good; wherever I am: wherever I am and wherever I dwell; and has enjoined upon me prayer: the completion of prayer; and almsgiving: charity; as long as I live: as long as I am alive.
19:32. And dutiful to my mother: kind to my mother; and He has not made me a tyrant: in my religion, one who kills in anger; wretched: disobedient to my Lord.
19:33. And peace be upon me the day I was born: safety for me when I was born, from the prick of Satan; and the day I die: when I die, from the squeeze of the grave; and the day I am raised alive: when I am raised alive from the grave.
19:34. That is Jesus son of Mary: the account of Jesus son of Mary; the word of truth: the true report; about which: about Jesus; they doubt: they are in doubt, meaning the Christians: some of them said he is God, some of them said he is the son of God, and some of them said he is His partner.
19:35. It is not for God: it does not befit God; to take any son. Glory be to Him: He declared Himself transcendent above child and partner; when He decrees a matter: when He wills to create a child without a father; He only says to it, Be, and it is: a child without a father, like Jesus. And when Jesus came with the message to his people, he said: I am the servant of God and His Messiah.
19:36. And indeed God: He; is my Lord: my Creator and my Provider; and your Lord: your Creator and your Provider; so worship Him: declare Him One; this: the profession of His oneness which I command you; is a straight path: an upright religion with which He is pleased, and it is Islam.
19:37. But the factions differed: the unbelievers; among themselves: between themselves; some of them said he is God, some of them said he is the son of God, and some of them said he is His partner; so woe: Woe (al-wayl) is a valley in Hell of pus and blood; and it is said, a pit in the Fire; and it is said, “so woe” means severe punishment; to those who disbelieve: who formed factions concerning Jesus; from the witnessing of a tremendous Day: from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection.
About this text
This is a complete English rendering of Tanwīr al-miqbās min tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās on these verses, prepared for this website from the public-domain Arabic text (shamela.ws, book 12877). 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 birth of Jesus (19:16-37): all commentaries · The classical commentaries
Notes
- The reading man taḥtahā, “he who was beneath her”, in place of min taḥtihā, “from beneath her”. ↩