RECORD OF ZAKRIA [ZACHARIAH] AND YAHIA [JOHN THE BAPTIST], WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF MARIAM [MARY]— SALUTATIONS TO THEM.

God the Most Magnificent and Glorious has said: ‘Allah hath surely chosen Adam and Nûh, and the family of Ebrahim, and the family of E’mrân, above the [rest of the] world; a race [descending] the one from the other. Allah is He who heareth and knoweth. [Remember] when the wife of E’mrân said, Lord, verily I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my womb to be dedicated [to Thy service]; accept it, therefore, of me.’* God—t. w. m. a. gl.—also said: ‘A commemoration of the mercy of thy Lord [towards] His servant Zakria,’* thus distinguishing him above all the persons mentioned in the Qurân [by revealing a whole chapter about him and his].

With reference to this subject, historians and narrators of traditions have mentioned that the father of Zakria Badhân—Be-dhân by name—was of the progeny of great prophets, and that E’mrân Bin Mâthân, the father of Mariam, was a descendant of Sulimân Bin Dâud. The wife of E’mrân and mother of Mariam was called Hanna, who had also another and elder daughter than Mariam, of the name of Ashbaa’, who slept on the bed of Zakria (u. w. b., etc.). Hanna despaired in her old age of obtaining a child, and was sitting in the shadow of a tree, when she perceived a bird opening an egg and producing a young one from it. At this sight the desire of bearing a child originated [again] in the breast of Hanna, and she besought the Infinite Granter to bestow an infant upon her. That very moment her courses came upon her, after which she had intercourse with her husband and conceived. After her pregnancy had become manifest she made a vow, that in case the embryo in her womb should remain free from injury, she would make her child a Muharrar, which word means a person not at all mixing in the affairs of the world, but remaining absorbed in the adoration of the Most Holy Essence of God—who is the necessary Cause of all things— in the mosque of Jerusalem, and engaged in no other busi­ness. Females, however, being excused as unfit for such occupations, Hanna was much distressed and grieved when she gave birth to Mariam, on account of her inability to fulfil her vow. God—w. n. b. e.—has said, in the words of Hanna: ‘I have brought forth a female—and Allah knew what she had brought forth; and a male is not as a female —I have called her Mariam, and I commend her to Thy protection, and [also] her issue against Satan driven away with stones.’* Then Hanna wrapped Mariam in swaddling clothes, and carried her to the Jewish priest in the mosque [sic]. The U’lâma were displeased with this proceeding; but a Divine allocution reached Zakria as follows: ‘I have accepted the daughter instead of a son.’ He whose name be magnified has said: ‘Therefore the Lord accepted her with a gracious acceptance.’* On that occasion the prophet officiating at the sacrificial altar was Zakria; but as Mariam had been accepted by the Lord of lords, the priests vied with each other in trying to obtain the authority of raising and educating her. Zakria, however, said: ‘I have the best right to take charge of her, because her sister is in my house.’ The priests, however, rejoined, saying: ‘Con­sanguinity is not a reason for preference in the tutorship of a minor.’ At last they agreed to draw lots, wrote their names upon the pens with which the Mosaic Law had been written, collected them all, covered them with a cloth, and decided that a small child should take out one of the pens, and that he whose name occurred thereon should become the protector of Mariam. One of the Muharrar children did so, and drew out the name of Zakria. The priests, however, still refused to comply, and said: ‘Let us throw our pens into a running water, and the individual whose pen shall sink to the bottom shall become the guardian of Mariam.’ When the pens were thrown into the water, that of Zakria sank, whilst all the others were borne away by the water. Then they said: ‘Let us again throw the pens into the water, and the owner of the pen which the water will not carry off shall become the tutor of Mariam.’ Also this was done, but the pen of Zakria did not swim away. He whose words be glorified has said: ‘And I was not with them when they were throwing their pens, which of them should maintain Mariam.’ After the priests had thus drawn lots, they yielded at last to the decree of fate, whereon Zakria sent Mariam to her sister Ashbaa’ into his own house to be instructed in piety, adoration, and service in the mosque. Zakria had prepared a closet in the mosque to be a lodging for Mariam, and this chamber was nicely adorned. When his lordship the prophet left the mosque he locked the door of the closet. On several occasions when Zakria paid visits to Mariam he perceived various summer and winter fruits near her which were out of season, wherefore he asked her: ‘O Mariam, whence hast thou this?’ She answered: ‘This is from Allah, because Allah provideth for whom He pleaseth without measure.’*

Noticing the circumstances of Mariam, Zakria said to him­self: ‘The Omnipotent has granted fruits to Mariam which are out of season. It is possible that He will also bestow a child upon me out of time.’ Zakria at this time was very old, and so was his spouse; he nevertheless turned his face to the Qiblah of prayer, and said: ‘Lord, give me from Thee a good offspring, for Thou art a hearer of prayer.’* The Creator—w. n. b. e.—granted his prayer, and despatched a company of angels to Zakria, whilst he was at his prayers, to inform him of the birth of Yahia. Allah—w. n. b. e.— has said: ‘And the angels called him while he stood pray­ing in the chamber [saying], Verily, Allah promiseth thee [a son named] Yahia.’* And in another place He said: ‘O Zakria, verily we bring thee tidings of a son whose name [shall be] Yahia. We have not caused any to bear the same name before him.’* Many U’lâma assert that in several passages of the glorious Qurân the word ‘angels’ means ‘Jebrâil,’ and the above verse is a similar one. ‘Who shall bear witness to the Word [which cometh] from Allah; an honourable person, chaste.’* The etymological signification of ‘chaste’ denotes a man who abstains from intercourse with females on account of his continence, and not on account of his loss of the feeling of lust; he namely restrains himself with a pious mind from having sexual intercourse with women.

When these glad tidings reached the hearing of Zakria, while he was yet engaged in prayers for obtaining a son, he was astonished, and said: ‘Lord, how shall I have a son, when old age hath overtaken me, and my wife is barren?’* Then her courses came upon the wife of Zakria, and after her purification he had connection with her, so that she became pregnant with Yahia. Zakria then left her, and had not the strength to utter a single word for three days. ‘Thou shalt speak unto no man for three days otherwise than by gesture.’* After the termination of pregnancy Yahia was born, and both his parents were highly rejoiced on beholding him. A short time afterwards the Creator of light and darkness illuminated the casket of his heart with the lights of knowledge and science. ‘O Yahia, receive the book [of the Law] with a resolution [to study and observe it]. And we bestowed on him wisdom [when he was yet] a child.’* Ebn A’bbâs—u. w. b., etc.—says that when Yahia was four years old he happened to pass near a company of children who were playing. They called out to him to share their sport, but Yahia replied: ‘Praise be to God! we have not been created for play.’ It is related that when Yahia was yet very small, he requested his parents to dress him in monastic garments. He then wore the garb of a monk, entered the mosque of the Holy House in company with others, engaged in prayers, and was satisfied with but little food and drink, so that his full moon became a crescent, and his body [lean] like a toothpick. Both his parents then requested him to adapt his devotions to his [physical] power of endurance, and to eat more; but he complied not with their demand, weeping so much from awe and fear of God—w. n. b. e.—that his tears left traces on his cheeks like two small brooks; wherefore his mother placed two rags of felt on his cheeks to absorb the tears.

It is said that every time Yahia assisted at his father’s preaching, Zakria refrained from mentioning hell, because Yahia could not bear to hear it named. Once he happened to be in his father’s congregation, plunged in deep medita­tion, and Zakria, not being aware of his presence, said on that occasion: ‘Jebrâil has informed me that in hell there is a mountain named Sakrân; adjoining to it there is a Vâdi called A’siân [valley of sin], the distress wherein originates from the wrath of God—whose memory be glorified.’ When Yahia heard these words, he uttered a shriek and fell senseless upon his face. Then Zakria departed from the assembly, informed the mother of Yahia of what had taken place, and said: ‘Arise; let us see in what state our child is.’ Both left the house and sought him during three days and nights, but unsuccessfully. On the fourth day, however, they discovered him sitting near a fountain, in one of the declivities about Jerusalem, with his blessed feet immersed in the water, and looking toward heaven. His parents spoke to him very tenderly, and succeeded in conveying him back to their home. They forced him to eat a little food; his mother took off his woollen garment from his body, put him to bed, and Yahia fell asleep, so that he missed his prayers. When he awoke he exclaimed: ‘Bring my coarse woollen garments, for I do not want thy soft bed.’ Zakria said to his spouse: ‘Let Yahia live as he likes. I hope his aspirations will be ful­filled in the next world.’ As Yahia was constantly weep­ing beyond all measure, Zakria said: ‘O my darling, I besought God—w. n. b. e.—to grant me a child, that would be a joy and comfort to me, but thou embitterest my life by constantly weeping, and hast become an occasion of distress of mind to me.’ Yahia replied: ‘Hast thou not said that Jebrâil informed thee of the existence of a desert full of fire between paradise and hell, and that the fire cannot be extinguished except with tears?’ Zakria said: ‘Yes;’ and Yahia continued: ‘Do not prohibit me from weeping, because possibly the water of my eyes may extinguish the fire of that desert.’ Zakria then began himself to weep, and said: ‘Verily thou hast a right to weep.’

It is said that, as I’sa [Jesus]—u. w. b., etc.—was the possessor of a religious Law, Yahia spent most of his time in his company. One day I’sa said to Yahia: ‘I see thee always with a distressed mind; perhaps thou hast despaired of the mercy of God’—w. n. b. e. Yahia replied: ‘I see thee always smiling; perchance thou art sure of not incur­ring the displeasure of the Lord?’ After this controversy a revelation arrived from the Lord of glory to both of them, of the following import: ‘The case is as I’sa, and not as Yahia, supposes.’