That is, he is one of the righteous servants.

“She said, ‘My Lord, how can I have a child when no human being has touched me?’ He said, ‘Thus Allah creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is.’” (47)

“And He will teach him the Book and wisdom, the Torah and the Gospel, (48) and make him a messenger to the Children of Israel: ‘I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I fashion for you from clay the form of a bird, then breathe into it, and it becomes birds by Allah’s permission. I heal the blind and the leper, and give life to the dead by Allah’s permission. I will also tell you what you eat and what you store in your houses. Surely, in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.’” (49)

“‘My Lord’”—that is, “O my master”—was addressed to Gabriel. It was also said that she addressed it to Allah, exalted is He. “How can I have a child when no human being has touched me?” That is, no man has had relations with me. She said this in astonishment, since it was not customary for a child to be born without a father. “When He decrees a matter,” that is, the coming into existence of a thing, “He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is,” as He wills.

Regarding His words, “And He will teach him the Book”: the people of Medina, Asim, and Yaqub recited it with the third-person prefix, in accordance with His words, “Thus Allah creates what He wills.” It was also said that it refers back to His words, “Allah gives you glad tidings”: “and He will teach him.” The others recited it with the first-person plural prefix, as an expression of majesty, like His words, “That is from the accounts of the unseen which We reveal to you.” “The Book” means writing and script, and “wisdom” means knowledge and understanding. Allah taught Jesus the Torah and the Gospel.

“And a messenger,” that is, “And We shall make him a messenger,” “to the Children of Israel.” It was said that he was a messenger while still a child; and it was said that he became a messenger only after reaching maturity. Joseph was the first of the prophets of the Children of Israel, and Jesus, peace be upon him, was their last. When he was sent as a messenger, he said, “I have come to you.” Al-Kisa'i said that it is read with an initial a-vowel because it is taken as the content of the message. It was also said that its meaning is, “with the message that I have come to you with a sign”—that is, a proof—“from your Lord,” confirming the truth of my words. Although he brought several signs, he said, “a sign,” because all of them indicated one and the same thing: his truthfulness in his mission.

When Jesus, peace be upon him, said this to the Children of Israel, they asked, “And what is it?” He said, “I…” Nafiʿ recited it with an initial i-vowel, as a new sentence, whereas the rest recited it with an initial a-vowel, in the sense of, “that I fashion.” That is, I shape and proportion “for you from clay the form of a bird.” Abu Jaʿfar recited “the form of the bird” here and in Surat al-Ma'idah. A form is a shape prepared and made ready, as in the expression, “I prepared a thing,” meaning that I measured it and set it right. “Then I breathe into it,” that is, into the bird, “and it becomes birds by Allah’s permission.” Most recited it in the plural, because he fashioned many birds. The people of Medina and Yaqub recited it here in the singular.

In Surat al-Ma'idah, they understood it to mean one kind of bird, because he fashioned no bird other than the bat. He singled out the bat because it is the most complete of birds in its physical formation: it has breasts and teeth, and it menstruates. Wahb said: It would fly so long as people were looking at it, but once it passed from their sight, it fell dead, so that the act of a created being might be distinguished from the act of the Creator.