Al-Qur'an Surah Ali 'Imran Verse 42

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And when the angels said: “O Maryam, Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you over the women of all the worlds.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember˺ when the angels said, “O Mary! Surely Allah has selected you, purified you, and chosen you over all women of the world.

Ruwwad Translation Center

And [remember] when the angels said, “O Mary, Allah has chosen you, purified you, and chosen you over all women.

A. J. Arberry

And when the angels said, 'Mary, God has chosen thee, and purified thee; He has chosen thee above all women.

Abdul Haleem

The angels said to Mary: ‘Mary, God has chosen you and made you pure: He has truly chosen you above all women.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And recall what time the angels said: O Maryam! verily Allah chose thee and purified thee and chose thee above the women of the worlds.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Behold! the angels said; "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee- chosen thee above the women of all nations.

Abul Ala Maududi

Then came the time when the angels said: 'O Mary! Behold, Allah has chosen you, and made you pure, and exalted you above all the women in the world.

Ahmed Ali

The angels said: "O Mary, indeed God has favoured you and made you immaculate, and chosen you from all the women of the world.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when the angels said, “O Maryam! Indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you, and has this day, chosen you among all the women of the world.”

Ali Quli Qarai

And when the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah has chosen you and purified you, and He has chosen you above the world’s women.

Ali Ünal

And (in due time came the moment) when the angels said: "Mary, God has chosen you and made you pure, and exalted you above all the women in the world.

Amatul Rahman Omar

(Recall the time) when the angels said, `O Mary! surely Allâh has chosen you and has rid you of all impurities and has preferred you to the women of all (contemporary) people.

English Literal

And when the angels said: "You, Mary, that God chose/purified you , and purified you , and chose/purified you over the creations all together/(universes`) women."

Faridul Haque

And when the angels said, “O Maryam! Indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you, and has this day, chosen you among all the women of the world.”

Hamid S. Aziz

And when the angels said, "O Mary! Verily, Allah has chosen you, and has purified you, and has chosen you above the women of the world.

Hilali & Khan

And (remember) when the angels said: "O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allah has chosen you, purified you (from polytheism and disbelief), and chosen you above the women of the 'Alamin (mankind and jinns) (of her lifetime)."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

He said: My Lord, appoint a sign for me. Said He: Thy sign is that thou speak not to men for three days except by signs. And remember thy Lord much and glorify (Him) in the evenings and early morning.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when the angels said: O Marium! surely Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the world.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah hath chosen thee and made thee pure, and hath preferred thee above (all) the women of creation.

Muhammad Sarwar

"Behold," the angels told Mary, "God had chosen you, purified you, and given you distinction over all women.

Qaribullah & Darwish

And when the angels said to Mary: 'Allah has chosen you and purified you. He has chosen you above all women of the worlds.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And (remember) when the angels said: "O Maryam! Verily, Allah has chosen you, purified you, and chosen you above the women of the nations."

Wahiduddin Khan

The angels said, "Mary, God has selected you and purified you. He has selected you over [all] the women of your time.

Talal Itani

The angels said, “O Mary, God has chosen you, and has purified you. He has chosen you over all the women of the world.

Tafsir jalalayn

And, mention, when the angels, namely, Gabriel, said, `O Mary, God has preferred you, He has elected you, and made you pure, of the touch of men; He has preferred you above all women of the worlds, that is, the inhabitants of your time.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Virtue of Maryam Over the Women of Her Time

Allah tells;

وَإِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَيِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَى نِسَاء الْعَالَمِينَ



And (remember) when the angels said;"O Maryam! Verily, Allah has chosen you, purified you, and chosen you above the women of the nations."

Allah states that the angels spoke to Maryam by His command and told her that He chose her because of her service to Him, because of her modesty, honor, innocence, and conviction.

Allah also chose her because of her virtue over the women of the world.

At-Tirmidhi recorded that Ali bin Abi Talib said,

"I heard the Messenger of Allah say,

خَيْرُ نِسَايِهَا مَرْيَمُ بِنْتُ عِمْرَانَ وَخَيْرُ نِسَايِهَا خَدِيجَةُ بِنْتُ خُوَيْلِد

The best woman (in her time) was Maryam, daughter of Imran, and the best woman (of the Prophet's time) is Khadijah (his wife), daughter of Khuwaylid."

The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith.

Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Musa Al-Ashari said that the Messenger of Allah said,

كَمُلَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ كَثِيرٌ وَلَمْ يَكْمُلْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلاَّ مَرْيَمُ بِنْتُ عِمْرَانَ وَ اسِيَةُ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْن

Many men achieved perfection, but among women, only Maryam the daughter of Imran and Asiah, the wife of Fir`awn, achieved perfection.

The Six -- with the exception of Abu Dawud - recorded it.

Al-Bukhari's wording for it reads,

كَمُلَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ كَثِيرٌ وَلَمْ يَكْمُلْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلاَّ اسِيَةُ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَرْيَمُ بِنْتُ عِمْرَانَ

وَإِنَّ فَضْلَ عَايِشَةَ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ كَفَضْلِ الثَّرِيدِ عَلى سَايِرِ الطَّعَام

Many men reached the level of perfection, but no woman reached such a level except Asiah, the wife of Fir`awn, and Maryam, the daughter of Imran.

The superiority of Aishah (his wife) to other women, is like the superiority of Tharid (meat and bread dish) to other meals.

We mentioned the various chains of narration and wordings for this Hadith in the story of `Isa, son of Maryam, in our book, Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, all the thanks are due to Allah.

Allah states that the angels commanded Maryam to increase acts of worship, humbleness, submission, prostration, bowing, and so forth, so that she would acquire what Allah had decreed for her, as a test for her. Yet, this test also earned her a higher grade in this life and the Hereafter, for Allah demonstrated His might by creating a son inside her without male intervention.

Allah said,

يَا مَرْيَمُ اقْنُتِي لِرَبِّكِ وَاسْجُدِي وَارْكَعِي مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ