The Supplication of Zakariyya, and the Good News of Yahya's Birth

When Zakariyya saw that Allah provided sustenance for Maryam by giving her the fruits of winter in summer and the fruits of summer in winter, he was eager to have a child of his own. By then, Zakariyya had become an old man, his bones feeble and his head full of gray hair. His wife was an old women who was barren. Yet, he still supplicated to Allah and called Him in secret,

رَبِّ هَبْ لِى مِن لَّدُنْكَ

Commentary

1\. While looking at the first sentence of this verse هُنَالِكَ دَعَا زَكَرِ‌يَّا رَ‌بَّهُ (Thereupon, Zakariyya (علیہ السلام) prayed to his Lord) - we should bear in mind that Sayyidna Zakariyya (علیہ السلام) had no offspring upto that time. He had grown old and one usually does not have children in that age, although he firmly believed that Allah, in His ultimate power, could change the usual phenomenon and bless him with an offspring even at his advanced age. But he had not personally witnessed the unusual divine acts - such as he did when he saw unusual and out-of-season eatables provided for Sayyidah Maryam and that was why he did not have the courage to extend his hand of prayer for an offspring. Now when he saw the miracle with his own eyes, he was persuaded for such prayer under the belief that Allah, who can provide a servant with out-of season fruits, would also bless him with an offspring, even in this late age, and so he prayed.