Surah 21

Surah 21:91

"And she who guarded her private part – We breathed into her some of Our spirit, and made her and her son a sign to the worlds:"
‘Isa and Maryam the True Believer Verses 21:91
Show Full Scripture Context (21:91) — 1 Verse
Verse 91

وَٱلَّتِيٓ أَحۡصَنَتۡ فَرۡجَهَا فَنَفَخۡنَا فِيهَا مِن رُّوحِنَا وَجَعَلۡنَٰهَا وَٱبۡنَهَآ ءَايَةٗ لِّلۡعَٰلَمِينَ

And she who guarded her private part – We breathed into her some of Our spirit, and made her and her son a sign to the worlds:

Here Allah mentions the story of Maryam and her son Isa, just after mentioning Zakariyya and his son Yahya, may peace be upon them all. He mentions the story of Zakariyya first, followed by the story of Maryam because the one is connected to the other. The former is the story of a child being bom to an old man of advanced years, from an old woman who had been barren and had never given birth when she was younger. Then Allah mentions the story of Maryam which is even more wondrous, for in this case a child was born from a female without (the involvement of) a male. These stories also appear in Surah Al Imran and in Surah Maryam. Here Allah mentions the story of Zakariyya and follows it with the story of Maryam, where He says:

{And she who guarded her chastity,} means, Maryam (peace be upon her). This is like the Ayah in Surah At-Tahrim:

{And Maryam, the daughter of ‘Imran who guarded her chastity. And We breathed into it [her garment] through Our Ruh} [66:12].

Quoted Scripture
"and We made her and her son a sign for the nations."

means, evidence that Allah is able to do all things and that He creates whatever He wills; verily, His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, “Be” - and it is! This is like the Ayah:

{And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind} [19:21]

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.