Surah Maryam (Mary) in English

1. يا يحيى خذ الكتاب بقوة وآتيناه الحكم صبيا

   12

   ‘O John!’ [We said,] ‘Hold on with power to the Book!’ And We gave him judgement while still a child,

   yā-yaḥyā khudhi l-kitāba bi-quwwatin wa-ʾātaynāhu l-ḥukma ṣabiyyan

2. وحنانا من لدنا وزكاة وكان تقيا

   13

   and a compassion and purity from Us. He was Godwary

   wa-ḥanānan min ladunnā wa-zakātan wa-kāna taqiyyan

3. وبرا بوالديه ولم يكن جبارا عصيا

   14

   and good to his parents, and was not self-willed or disobedient.

   wa-barran bi-wālidayhi wa-lam yakun jabbāran ʿaṣiyyan

4. وسلام عليه يوم ولد ويوم يموت ويوم يبعث حيا

   15

   Peace be to him, the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he is raised alive!

   wa-salāmun ʿalayhi yawma wulida wa-yawma yamūtu wa-yawma yubʿathu ḥayyan

5. واذكر في الكتاب مريم إذ انتبذت من أهلها مكانا شرقيا

   16

   And mention in the Book Mary, when she withdrew from her family to an easterly place.

   wa-dhkur fī l-kitābi maryama ʾidhi ntabadhat min ʾahlihā makānan sharqiyyan

6. فاتخذت من دونهم حجابا فأرسلنا إليها روحنا فتمثل لها بشرا سويا

   17

   Thus did she seclude herself from them, whereupon We sent to her Our Spirit and he became incarnate for her as a well-proportioned human.

   fa-ttakhadhat min dūnihim ḥijāban fa-ʾarsalnā ʾilayhā rūḥanā fa-tamaththala lahā basharan sawiyyan

7. قالت إني أعوذ بالرحمن منك إن كنت تقيا

   18

   She said, ‘I seek the protection of the All-beneficent from you, should you be Godwary!’

   qālat ʾinnī ʾaʿūdhu bi-r-raḥmāni minka ʾin kunta taqiyyan

8. قال إنما أنا رسول ربك لأهب لك غلاما زكيا

   19

   He said, ‘I am only a messenger of your Lord that I may give you a pure son.’

   qāla ʾinnamā ʾana rasūlu rabbiki li-ʾahaba laki ghulāman zakiyyan

9. قالت أنى يكون لي غلام ولم يمسسني بشر ولم أك بغيا

   20

   She said, ‘How shall I have a child seeing that no human being has ever touched me, nor have I been unchaste?’

   qālat ʾannā yakūnu lī ghulāmun wa-lam yamsasnī basharun wa-lam ʾaku baghiyyan

10. قال كذلك قال ربك هو علي هين ولنجعله آية للناس ورحمة منا وكان أمرا مقضيا

    21

    He said, ‘So shall it be. Your Lord says, ‘‘It is simple for Me.’’ And so that We may make him a sign for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a matter [already] decided.’

    qāla ka-dhāliki qāla rabbuki huwa ʿalayya hayyinun wa-li-najʿalahū ʾāyatan li-n-nāsi wa-raḥmatan minnā wa-kāna ʾamran maqḍiyyan

11. فحملته فانتبذت به مكانا قصيا

    22

    Thus she conceived him, then withdrew with him to a distant place.

    fa-ḥamalathu fa-ntabadhat bihī makānan qaṣiyyan

12. فأجاءها المخاض إلى جذع النخلة قالت يا ليتني مت قبل هذا وكنت نسيا منسيا

    23

    The birth pangs brought her to the trunk of a date palm. She said, ‘I wish I had died before this and become a forgotten thing, beyond recall.’

    fa-ʾajāʾahā l-makhāḍu ʾilā jidhʿi n-nakhlati qālat yā-laytanī mittu qabla hādhā wa-kuntu nasyan mansiyyan

13. فناداها من تحتها ألا تحزني قد جعل ربك تحتك سريا

    24

    Thereupon he called her from below her [saying,] ‘Do not grieve! Your Lord has made a spring to flow at your feet.

    fa-nādāhā min taḥtihā ʾallā taḥzanī qad jaʿala rabbuki taḥtaki sariyyan

14. وهزي إليك بجذع النخلة تساقط عليك رطبا جنيا

    25

    Shake the trunk of the palm tree, freshly picked dates will drop upon you.

    wa-huzzī ʾilayki bi-jidhʿi n-nakhlati tusāqiṭ ʿalayki ruṭaban janiyyan