Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (5/224)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“He said, ‘Thus it will be. Your Lord says: It is easy for Me; and We shall make him a sign for the people and a mercy from Us. It is a matter already decreed.’ So she conceived him, and withdrew with him to a distant place.” (21–22)

Gabriel said, “Thus it will be.” It was said that its meaning is: Just as you have said, Mary, yet your Lord has said... It was also said: Thus has your Lord said: “It is easy for Me”—that is, to create a child without a father—“and We shall make him a sign,” an indication, “for the people,” and a proof of Our power, “and a mercy from Us,” and a blessing for whoever follows him in his religion. “It is a matter already decreed”: that is, it has been determined and brought to completion; it cannot be revoked or altered.

His words, “So she conceived him”: It was said that Gabriel lifted her shift and blew into its neckline, (1) whereupon she conceived when she put it on.

It was also said that he drew open the neckline of her shift with his finger, then blew into it.

And it was said that he blew into the sleeve of her garment; and it was also said: into her mouth.

It was said that Gabriel blew from a distance, and the breath reached her, whereupon she immediately conceived Jesus. (2) “And withdrew with him”: that is, she withdrew with her pregnancy and secluded herself “in a distant place,” far from her family.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: At the far end of the valley—the valley of Bethlehem—fleeing from her people lest they reproach her for giving birth without a husband.

They differed concerning the duration of her pregnancy and the time of her delivery. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The conception and the birth took place within a single hour.

It was also said that her pregnancy lasted nine months, like that of other women.

(1) In manuscript B: “her neckline.” (2) Shaykh al-Shinqiti states in Adwa al-Bayan, 4:241: Allah, Exalted is He, indicated how Mary became pregnant: He caused a breath to be blown into her, which reached her private part, and the pregnancy resulted from this. As He says: “And Mary, daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into it of Our spirit” (Surah al-Tahrim, 12); and: “And she who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her of Our spirit” (Surah al-Anbiya, 91). The view held by the majority of scholars is that this breath refers to Gabriel’s breathing into her by Allah’s permission, whereupon she conceived. This is indicated by the majority reading of Allah’s saying: “I am only a messenger of your Lord, to grant you a pure son.” This does not contradict Allah’s attribution of the aforementioned breathing to Himself in His saying, “So We breathed,” for Gabriel did so only by His permission, command, and will; and it is Allah, Exalted is He, who created the pregnancy through that breath. Gabriel has no power to create a pregnancy through such a breath. Since this occurred only by Allah’s permission, will, and command—and neither the breathing nor the resulting pregnancy could occur except by His will—He attributed it to Himself. The claim that the private part into which the angel breathed was the neckline of her garment is clearly untenable. Rather, the breath directed into the neckline of her garment reached her actual private part, and the pregnancy resulted.

﴿قَالَ كَذَلِكِ قَالَ رَبُّكِ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً لِلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِنَّا وَكَانَ أَمْرًا مَقْضِيًّا (٢١) فَحَمَلَتْهُ فَانْتَبَذَتْ بِهِ مَكَانًا قَصِيًّا (٢٢) ﴾ ﴿قَالَ﴾ جِبْرِيلُ: ﴿كَذَلِكِ﴾ قِيلَ: مَعْنَاهُ كَمَا قُلْتِ يَا مَرْيَمُ وَلَكِنْ، ﴿قَالَ رَبُّكِ﴾ وَقِيلَ هَكَذَا قَالَ رَبُّكِ، ﴿هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ﴾ أَيْ: خَلْقُ وَلَدٍ بِلَا أَبٍ، ﴿وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً﴾ عَلَامَةً، ﴿لِلنَّاسِ﴾ وَدَلَالَةً عَلَى قُدْرَتِنَا، ﴿وَرَحْمَةً مِنَّا﴾ وَنِعْمَةً لِمَنْ تَبِعَهُ عَلَى دِينِهِ، ﴿وَكَانَ﴾ ذَلِكَ، ﴿أَمْرًا مَقْضِيًّا﴾ مَحْكُومًا مَفْرُوغًا عَنْهُ لَا يُرَدُّ وَلَا يُبَدَّلُ. قَوْلُهُ ﷿: ﴿فَحَمَلَتْهُ﴾ قِيلَ: إِنَّ جِبْرِيلَ رَفَعَ دِرْعَهَا فَنَفَخَ فِي جَيْبِهِ (١) فَحَمَلَتْ حِينَ لَبِسَتْ. وَقِيلَ: مَدَّ جَيْبَ دِرْعَهَا بِأُصْبُعِهِ ثُمَّ نَفَخَ فِي الْجَيْبِ. وَقِيلَ: نَفَخَ فِي كُمِّ قَمِيصِهَا. وَقِيلَ: فِي فِيهَا. وَقِيلَ: نَفَخَ جِبْرِيلُ ﵇ نَفْخًا مِنْ بَعِيدٍ فَوَصَلَ الرِّيحُ إِلَيْهَا فَحَمَلَتْ بِعِيسَى فِي الْحَالِ (٢) ﴿فَانْتَبَذَتْ بِهِ﴾ أَيْ تَنَحَّتْ بِالْحَمْلِ وَانْفَرَدَتْ، ﴿مَكَانًا قَصِيًّا﴾ بَعِيدًا مِنْ أَهْلِهَا. قَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ ﵄: أَقْصَى الْوَادِي، وَهُوَ وَادِي بَيْتِ لَحْمٍ، فِرَارًا مَنْ قَوْمِهَا أَنْ يُعَيِّرُوهَا بِوِلَادَتِهَا مِنْ غَيْرِ زَوْجٍ. وَاخْتَلَفُوا فِي مُدَّةِ حَمْلِهَا وَوَقْتِ وَضْعِهَا؛ فَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ ﵄: كَانَ الْحَمْلُ وَالْوِلَادَةُ فِي سَاعَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ. وَقِيلَ: كَانَ مُدَّةُ حَمْلِهَا تِسْعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ كَحَمْلِ سَائِرِ النِّسَاءِ.

(١) في "ب": جيبها. (٢) قال الشيخ الشنقيطي في "أضواء البيان": (٤ / ٢٤١) . أشار الله تعالى إلى كيفية حمل مريم: أنه نفخ فيها، فوصل النفخ إلى فرجها، فوقع الحمل بسبب ذلك، كما قال: "ومريم ابنة عمران التي أحصنت فرجها فنفخنا فيه من روحنا" (سورة التحريم-١٢) وقال: "والتي أحصنت فرجها فنفخنا فيها من روحنا" (سورة الأنبياء-٩١) . والذي عليه الجمهور من العلماء: أن المراد بذلك النفخ نفخ جبريل فيها بإذن الله فحملت، كما تدل لذلك قراءة الجمهور في قوله تعالى: "إنما أنا رسول ربك لأهب لك غلاما زكيا"، ولا ينافي ذلك إسناد الله جل وعلا النفخ المذكور لنفسه في قوله: "فنفخنا" لأن جبريل إنما أوقعه بإذنه وأمره ومشيئته، وهو تعالى الذي خلق الحمل من ذلك النفخ، فجبريل لا قدرة له على أن يخلق الحمل من ذلك النفخ، ومن أجل كونه بإذنه ومشيئته وأمره تعالى، ولا يمكن أن يقع النفخ المذكور ولا وجود الحمل منه إلا بمشيئته جل وعلا - أسنده إلى نفسه. وقول من قال: إن فرجها الذي نفخ فيه الملك هو جيب درعها ظاهر السقوط. بل النفخ الواقع في جيب الدرع وصل إلى الفرج المعروف فوقع الحمل.