Aslam

Zakariya was an elderly priest who cared for Maryam in the temple. Every time he visited her prayer chamber, he found fresh provisions — fruits out of season, food he had not brought. He asked: "O Maryam, from where is this?" She said: "It is from Allah."

Seeing this miracle kindled a longing in Zakariya's heart. Though he was old and his wife was barren, he prayed in secret: "My Lord, indeed my bones have weakened, and my head has filled with white hair, and never have I been in my supplication to You, my Lord, unhappy. And indeed, I fear my relatives after me, and my wife has been barren, so give me from Yourself an heir."

Allah answered: "O Zakariya, indeed We give you good tidings of a boy whose name will be Yahya. We have not assigned to any before him that name." Zakariya was overcome: "My Lord, how will I have a boy when my wife has been barren and I have reached extreme old age?" Allah said: "It is easy for Me — I created you before, when you were nothing."