Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 9.djvu/43

ⅩⅨ, 1-12. . (ⅩⅨ. Mecca.)

In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.

K. H. Y. ʿH. Z. The mention of thy Lord’s mercy to His servant Zachariah, when he called on his Lord with a secret calling. Said he, ‘ My Lord ! verily, my bones are weak, and my head flares with hoariness ; — and I never was unfortunate in my prayers to Thee, my Lord ! But I fear my heirs after me, and my wife is barren ; then grant me from Thee a successor, to be my heir and the heir of the family of Jacob, and make him, my Lord ! acceptable.’

‘ O Zachariah ! verily, we give thee glad tidings of a son, whose name shall be John. We never made a namesake of his before .’

Said he, ‘ My Lord ! how can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached through old age to decrepitude ?’

He said, ‘ Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me, for I created thee at first when yet thou wast nothing.’

Said he, ‘ O my Lord ! make for me a sign.’ He said, ‘ Thy sign is that thou shalt not speak to men for three nights (though) sound.’

Then he went forth unto his people from the