Surah Maryam (Mary) 19 : 23

Overview (Verses 22 - 26)

The story then continues, and we are shown the outcome of all this. We see this baffled virgin going through something much harder for her: “So she conceived him, and retired to a far-off place. And the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree. [In her anguish] she cried: ‘Would that I had died before this and passed into complete oblivion!’” (Verses 22-23) This was the third great shock Mary received.
 
How Jesus Was Born
 
The sūrah does not mention how she conceived Jesus or the length of her pregnancy. It gives no details about whether it was an ordinary pregnancy, with the breathing of spirit into Mary starting the life process within the egg, which then goes through the growth process, with the implantation of the conceived egg that becomes a germ-cell then a morsel, to which bones are then added before they are covered with flesh. That would mean that the foetus completed its normal period of nine- months gestation. All this is possible. Equally possible in this special case is that the female egg took a different course so as to reduce the different stages of growth, and ensure the development of the foetus so rapidly that the period of pregnancy was made much shorter. There is nothing in the text of the sūrah to indicate either. Hence, there is no point in pursuing this avenue further.
 
As we read on, we see Mary in a remote place, away from her family and community. She is now in a far more terrible situation. Previously, she was up against all that her upbringing has instilled in her of moral values; but that was an internal struggle with herself. Now she is about to be faced with a public scandal. Besides, she was in great physical pain added to her psychological distress. In the midst of labour and childbirth she is driven to lean against the trunk of a palm tree. She is all alone, a true virgin and suffering the pains of childbirth, not knowing about how to cope with the situation and having none to give her even moral support. In her anguish she cries: “Would that I had died before this and passed into complete oblivion!” (Verse 23) We almost see her face, feel her confusion, and sense her agony as she wishes herself into oblivion.
 
In the midst of all this anguish, she is confronted with the greatest surprise:
 
But [a voice] from below cried out to her: Do not give in to grief. Your Lord has provided a brook running beneath you. And if you shake the trunk of the palm tree towards you, it will drop you fresh ripe dates. So eat and drink and be happy. Should you see any human being, just convey this to him: I have vowed a fast to the Most Merciful and will not speak today to any human being.’ (Verses 24-26)
 
O God! What is happening here! A child born this very moment crying out to her, comforting her and reaffirming her bond with her Lord, directing her as to how to obtain food and drink, and providing her with the argument and evidence to use when she sees people.
 
The first thing the voice says to her is that she must not grieve. “Your Lord has provided a brook running beneath you.” (Verse 24) God has not forsaken you. Indeed, He has made this brook run at your feet, which most probably started its course at that very moment, either from a spring or from a high point nearby. Besides, the palm tree against which she leant provided food. She only need to shake it and “it will drop you fresh ripe dates.” (Verse 25) Thus she has essential food and water. Sweet food is good for a mother who has just delivered her baby. Dates are perhaps the best food she could eat. “So eat and drink and be happy.” (Verse 26) All the necessary reassurance is given her.
 
Then she is told how to deal with her predicament when she meets other people. She need only impart to anyone by signal, not words, that she has made a vow not to speak to anyone. She is in full and complete devotion which prevents her from answering any questions: “Should you see any human being, just convey this to him: I have vowed a fast to the Most Merciful and will not speak today to any human being.” (Verse 26)
 
We imagine that her surprise lingered long, and that she took a while to take stock of her situation and stretch her hand to the trunk of the tree and shake it for her meal of dates. But when she fully realized what was happening, she was reassured that God would not abandon her. Indeed, He had given her all the proof she needed. He gave her a child who spoke from the moment of his birth to explain the miracle that had brought him into being.