Surah Maryam English Translation & Transliteration

¹Kaf, Ha, Ya, Ayn, Sad.

²These verses are a remembrance of your Lord's mercy to His servant Zechariah.

³Recall when he implored his Lord from the depths of his heart, saying:

⁴My Lord, my bones have truly wasted away/my strength has failed me, and my hair and beard have turned white. My Lord, never until now have I come away empty-handed from my prayers to You.

⁵I am anxious about my relatives after I am gone, and my wife, moreover, is barren. So grant me from Yourself a worthy child to take my place!

⁶Let him be heir both to me and to the descendants of Jacob. My Lord, make him one with whom You are pleased.

⁷O Zechariah, We give you good news of a son named John (Yahya). We have never before given this name to anyone.

⁸—Zechariah said: My Lord, my wife is barren, and I am frail and old; how can I possibly have a son?

⁹—The angel said: Yes, that is true, it is so; but your Lord says: "This is very easy for Me. Do not forget that when I created you before, you were nothing at all."

¹⁰—He said: My Lord, then give me a sign! —His Lord said: Your sign is that you will not be able to speak to people for three full days and nights.

¹¹Thereupon Zechariah came out from his chamber in the sanctuary before his people and, by gestures, directed them: "Keep glorifying Allah morning and evening."

¹²—O John, hold fast to the Book. We had given him, while still a child, sound reason and the ability to make right judgments.

¹³We had also granted him from Ourselves a compassionate heart and a spotless character, and he was most heedful of Our commands and prohibitions.

¹⁴He was very good to his mother and father. He was never overbearing or rebellious toward them.

¹⁵That is why he was embraced by divine peace and well-being on the day he was born, and so he will be on the day he dies and on the day he is raised to life again.

¹⁶—Bring Mary, too, to the fore in this Book! Recall when she left her family and withdrew to a place east of the sanctuary.

¹⁷Mary had drawn a curtain between herself and them. We had sent Our Spirit (Ruh) to her, and he appeared to her in the form of a perfectly formed human being.

¹⁸—Mary said: "I seek refuge from you in Allah, the Most Merciful (ar-Rahman). If you are one who fears Allah and guards himself against defying Him, do not come near me."

¹⁹—I am only a messenger from your Lord; I have come to give you a pure and spotless son.

²⁰—Mary said: How can I have a son when no human hand has touched me? Besides, I am not an unchaste woman.

²¹—That is so, but your Lord says: "This is very easy for Me; moreover, We will make him a proof of Our power to all humankind and a mercy from Us." And so the matter that had been decreed came to pass.

²²Thus Mary conceived, and when the birth drew near, she withdrew to a remote place.

²³When the pains of labor drove her to the foot of a date palm, she lamented: "If only I had died before this and become one of those utterly forgotten!"

²⁴A voice called out to her from below her: —Do not grieve, for your Lord has granted honor to the child you have borne.

²⁵Come, pull the palm branch toward you and shake it, so that fresh ripe dates may fall upon you.

²⁶Eat, drink, and be comforted. If you meet any human being, say: "I have vowed a fast to the Most Merciful, so today I will not speak to anyone."

²⁷Later Mary took the child in her arms and brought him to her people. —They said: O Mary, you have done a vile and shameful thing!

²⁸They said: O daughter of the line of Aaron, your father was not a bad man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman.

²⁹Thereupon Mary pointed to the child. —They said: How can we talk to a child in the cradle?

³⁰Jesus said: —I am Allah's servant. He will give me revelation and appoint me a prophet.

³¹He has made me blessed in whatever circumstances I may be, and He has commanded me to perform the prayer and give the zakat.

³²He has commanded me to be good to my mother, and He has not made me overbearing and insolent.

³³Indeed, I was embraced by divine peace and well-being on the day I was born, and so I will be on the day I die and on the day I am raised to life again, he said.

³⁴This is the true word concerning Jesus, son of Mary, about whom people argue and fall into doubt.

³⁵It is unthinkable that Allah should take a child. He is free of/far removed from such things. When He decrees a thing to be, He says to it "Be!" and it at once enters the process of becoming.

³⁶Allah is surely my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him alone; this is the straight path.

³⁷Even so, the factions fell into dispute among themselves. Woe to those disbelievers who do not believe in this, on that great day when everything will be attested by witnesses!

³⁸On the day they come before Us, how clearly they will hear and how clearly they will see everything! But on that day the wrongdoers who persist in this error will be utterly bewildered.

³⁹—So warn them of that day when the verdict is finalized and great remorse will be felt! For they care nothing for that day; what is more, they do not believe in it.

⁴⁰Surely on that day the earth and everyone on it will pass away, and only We will remain; and in the end they will all be brought to Us to give account.

⁴¹Bring Abraham, too, to the fore in this Book. He was a man true in heart and word, and a prophet.

⁴²—One day he said to his father: My dear father, why do you serve things that neither hear nor see and are of no use to you at all?

⁴³My dear father, knowledge/revelation has truly come to me that has not come to you. So follow me, and I will guide you to the straight path.

⁴⁴My dear father, please do not serve Satan any longer! For Satan has rebelled against the Most Merciful.

⁴⁵My dear father, I fear that, at this rate, you will take Satan as your protector/friend and be struck by the punishment of the Most Merciful.

⁴⁶His father said: Are you turning away from my gods, O Abraham? If you do not put an end to this, I swear I will stone you to death! Now get out of my sight, and never show your face to me again!

⁴⁷Abraham said: —Peace be upon you, my dear father. I will implore my Lord to forgive you, for He is most gracious to me.

⁴⁸I am now leaving both you and those you place between yourselves and Allah and implore, for I pray to my Lord alone. I hope that my Lord will not leave my prayer unanswered.

⁴⁹When at last he left them and the things they placed between themselves and Allah and served, We gave him Isaac and, after him, Jacob as a gift, and We made each of them a prophet.

⁵⁰Moreover, We bestowed on them abundant favors from the treasury of Our mercy, and granted them lofty renown, so that they would be remembered as paragons of truthfulness.

⁵¹—Bring Moses, too, to the fore in this Book. He was truly a sincere and distinguished servant, a chosen messenger, and a prophet.

⁵²Long ago We called to him from the right slope of Mount Sinai and drew him near to convey Our revelation to him.

⁵³And, as a token of Our mercy, We made his brother Aaron a prophet and appointed him as his helper.

⁵⁴—Bring Ishmael, too, to the fore in this Book. He was true to his promise/word. He was a messenger and a prophet.

⁵⁵He used to command his family to perform the prayer and give the zakat. In his Lord's sight, he was one who had won His good pleasure.

⁵⁶—Bring Idris, too, to the fore in this Book. He was a prophet who was a paragon of truthfulness.

⁵⁷We raised him to a lofty position in Our sight.

⁵⁸All these prophets mentioned here are some of the prophets on whom Allah bestowed blessings: from the descendants of Adam and of those We carried in the ship with Noah, and from the line of Abraham and Israel (Jacob), people whom We guided to the right path and chose. Whenever the verses of the Most Merciful were recited to them, they would all fall down in prostration, in tears.

⁵⁹Then after them came a generation who squandered/hollowed out the salat/prayer and followed their lustful desires and whims. They will soon end up in Ghayy, the abyss of Hell.

⁶⁰Except those who turn back in repentance, believe, and do good and beneficial deeds; they will enter Paradise and will not be wronged in any way.

⁶¹These are the Gardens of Adn (Eden), whose beauty is beyond the capacity of comprehension, which the Most Merciful has promised His servants. His promise will certainly be fulfilled.

⁶²There they will hear no idle talk, only greetings of happiness and peace (salam), and they will find their food ready for them morning and evening.

⁶³These are the very gardens that We will give as an inheritance to those of Our servants who guard themselves against defying Allah.

⁶⁴We have settled here only by your Lord's command. Everything before us/that we can know, everything behind us/that we cannot know, and every state in between lies within His knowledge; for your Lord is never forgetful of anything.

⁶⁵For He is the Lord of the heavens, the earth, and all that is between them. So serve Him alone, and be steadfast in serving Him! Do you know of anyone equal to Him in name and glory?

⁶⁶Yet the human being goes so far as to say: "Once I have died, will I really be raised to life again?"

⁶⁷Does this human being, then, never consider that We created him before, when he was nothing at all?

⁶⁸By your Lord, We will gather them together with the devils they followed, and then We will bring them all, on their knees, right to the edge of Hell.

⁶⁹Then from every group We will single out and bring forward the one most insolent in defying the Most Merciful.

⁷⁰For We know best which of them deserves to be cast into Hell before the others.

⁷¹And you insolent ones! Every one of you, without exception, will end up in Hell! For this is a definite decree that your Lord has undertaken to fulfill.

⁷²Then We will rescue those who guarded themselves against defying Allah, but We will leave those insolent wrongdoers in Hell, on their knees.

⁷³(While in the world,) whenever Our verses were recited to them in all their clarity, those who did not believe in Our verses used to say to those who believed: "Which of these two groups is superior in rank and position, and more esteemed in the eyes of society?"

⁷⁴Yet before them We destroyed many civilizations that surpassed them in wealth and splendor.

⁷⁵Say: —So what if the Most Merciful grants a little respite in this world to those who have sunk into the swamp of misguidance? When at last they see either the Hour, the breakup of this world, or the punishment of Hell they were warned of, then they will understand whose position is worse and who is weaker and more powerless.

⁷⁶Allah strengthens the faith of those who are on the right path. And good and beautiful deeds that endure are better in your Lord's sight as a reward, and greater as a gain.

⁷⁷Do you see this type who does not believe in Our verses and then goes so far as to say: "I will certainly be given wealth and children"?

⁷⁸Does this man know the unseen, or has he received a covenant/promise from the Most Merciful on this matter?

⁷⁹We will record these words of his, and We will prolong his punishment ever further.

⁸⁰The wealth and children he speaks of will be left to Us, and he will come before Us all alone.

⁸¹They have taken certain gods besides Allah, so that these might give them strength and prestige.

⁸²No! Quite the contrary—those gods they served will both reject the worship rendered to them and turn into their enemies.

⁸³Do you not see how the devils go after the disbelievers and incite them?

⁸⁴—So do not be impatient about them. We are counting the days for them.

⁸⁵When that day comes, We will gather those who guarded themselves against sins before the Most Merciful as honored guests.

⁸⁶And We will drive those steeped in sin into Hell like a herd of animals being driven to water.

⁸⁷On that day no one will have any authority to intercede; only the Most Merciful will intercede for those who have stayed faithful to the covenant of faith they made.

⁸⁸—And they said: "The Most Merciful has taken a child."

⁸⁹Truly, you have put forward a most hideous slander.

⁹⁰Because of this slander of theirs, the heavens nearly cracked apart, the earth split open, and the mountains collapsed and were leveled to the ground.

⁹¹All because they attributed a child to the Most Merciful.

⁹²Yet it does not befit the glory of the Most Merciful to take a child.

⁹³For everyone in the heavens and on the earth will come before the Most Merciful only and solely as a servant.

⁹⁴Truly, Allah has encompassed them with His infinite knowledge and has recorded everything they have done, one by one.

⁹⁵And every one of them will come before the Most Merciful on the Day of Resurrection alone.

⁹⁶But as for those who believe and do good and beneficial deeds, the Most Merciful will draw near to them with a love beyond description.

⁹⁷We have made this Quran easy in your own language so that you may give good news to the God-conscious (muttaqin), who guard themselves, and warn a people who stubbornly persist in disbelief.

⁹⁸Yet before them We destroyed many generations. Can you now sense the presence of a single one of them, or hear the faintest sound of them?