Prophets Yaḥyā and ʿĪsā: Part 1 — Five Commands, a Palm Trunk and a Voice From the Cradle
Section 23 of 25 · Lives of the Prophets
I Am the Servant of Allah
فَأَشَارَتْ إِلَيْهِ ۖ قَالُوا۟ كَيْفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَن كَانَ فِى ٱلْمَهْدِ صَبِيًّا قَالَ إِنِّى عَبْدُ ٱللَّهِ ءَاتَىٰنِىَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَجَعَلَنِى نَبِيًّا وَجَعَلَنِى مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَـٰنِى بِٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَٱلزَّكَوٰةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا وَبَرًّۢا بِوَٰلِدَتِى وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْنِى جَبَّارًا شَقِيًّا وَٱلسَّلَـٰمُ عَلَىَّ يَوْمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوْمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ أُبْعَثُ حَيًّا
“So, she pointed towards him (the baby). They said, “How shall we speak to someone who is still a child in the cradle?” Spoke he (the baby), “Verily I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Book, and made me a prophet, and He has made me a blessed one wherever I be, and has enjoined Salāh and Zakāh upon me as long as I am alive, and (He has made me) good to my mother, and he did not make me oppressive (or) ill-fated. And peace is upon me the day I was born, the day I shall die, and the day I shall be raised alive again.”” (19:29–33)
Fa-ashārat ilayh: she didn't speak, because Allah (swt) told her: don't speak. So she pointed to the child, telling them: he is going to respond. Qālū kayfa nukallimu man kāna fī al-mahdi ṣabiyyā: how can we talk to a child who is in the cradle? What's wrong with you? Because she was pointing to ʿĪsā — she's pointing to him, and saying he is going to respond to you. Allah (swt) made him speak. Innī ʿabdu Allāh: he said, I am the slave of Allah.
Qāla innī ʿabdu Allāhi ātāniya al-kitāba wa jaʿalanī nabiyyā: He has given me the Scripture, and made me a prophet. Wa jaʿalanī mubārakan aynamā kuntu: and He made me blessed wherever I am. Wherever Sayyidunā ʿĪsā is, blessing is following him. He is a blessed man.
Wa awṣānī bi-l-ṣalāti wa-l-zakāti mā dumtu ḥayyā: and Allah (swt) has enjoined on me ṣalāh and zakāh as long as I live. So ṣalāh and zakāh are commandments that were given to the umam before — the ummah of ʿĪsā, and the ummah of Mūsā, and all of the umam before. They used to make ṣalāh, and they used to give zakāh.
Wa barran bi-wālidatī: and dutiful to my mother. Wa lam yajʿalnī jabbāran shaqiyyā: and He made me not arrogant, unblessed. And then he said: wa-l-salāmu ʿalayya yawma wulidtu wa yawma amūtu wa yawma ubʿathu ḥayyā.