a secret communication, conveyed either in writing—as stated by Mujāhid and al-Suddi—or by gesture, as Mujāhid, Wahb, and Qatādah also maintained.

Mujāhid, ʿIkrimah, Wahb, al-Suddi, and Qatādah said: “His tongue was restrained without any illness.”

Ibn Zayd added: “He could still recite and glorify Allah, but he was unable to converse with people.”

Regarding the divine words, “O John, hold fast to the Scripture with strength; and We granted him wisdom while still a child” (19:12), the Almighty informs us that the child came exactly as the glad tidings had promised his father, Zechariah—peace be upon him—and that Allah taught him writing and wisdom while he was still in early childhood.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak narrated that Maʿmar said: “The youngsters once said to John son of Zechariah, ‘Come and play with us.’ He replied, ‘We were not created for play.’” Maʿmar commented, “That is the meaning of His saying, ‘We granted him wisdom while still a child.’”

As for His words, “and tenderness from Us” (19:13), Ibn Jarīr transmitted—through ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās—that he said, “I do not know what al-ḥanān is.”

Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, ʿIkrimah, Qatādah, and al-Ḍaḥḥāk said that “tenderness from Us” means “a mercy from Us with which We showed mercy to Zechariah and, by it, granted him this son.” ʿIkrimah also explained al-ḥanān as “love for him.” It may additionally describe John’s own tenderness toward people—especially toward his parents—manifested in his affection, compassion, and dutiful conduct toward them.

Concerning zakāh, it signifies purity of character—free of flaws and base traits—while taqwā denotes obedience to Allah through fulfilling His commands and avoiding His prohibitions.

Allah then mentions John’s dutifulness toward his parents—his obedience to their directives and his avoidance of any word or deed that would hurt them—saying, “and he was kind to his parents and was not arrogant or disobedient.” He adds, “Peace be upon him the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he is raised alive.” These three moments are the most difficult for a human being: each marks a passage from one realm to another. In every transition he leaves a world he has grown familiar with and enters one whose conditions are unknown to him. Hence the newborn bursts into cries when he departs the womb’s warmth and softness, only to face the anxieties and griefs of this worldly life. The same holds when he leaves this world and enters the intermediate realm (barzakh) that lies between it and the final abode. There, after palaces and dwellings, he arrives at the plain of the dead, among the inhabitants of the graves, awaiting the trumpet-blast of resurrection—some joyful, others bewildered; some grieved, others doomed; some healed, others broken—until a party will be in the Garden and a party in the Blaze.

A poet has aptly said:
“Your mother bore you wailing, seeking aid,
While all around were laughing, full of cheer;
So strive that, when they grieve at your demise,
You may depart exultant, free from fear.”