[ 49 ] يَا زَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلاَم اسْمُهُ يَحْيَى لَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَّهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ سَمِيّاً(( 7 )) 7- O, ZACHARIAS! WE GIVE YOU THE GOOD NEWS OF HAVING A SON. HIS NAME IS YAHYA". (JOHN) WE HAVE NOT NAMED HIM SUCH A NAMESAKE IN BEFORE. قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِى غُلاَمٌ وَكَانَتْ امْرَأَتِى عَاقِراً وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنْ الْكِبَرِ عِتِيّاً(( 8 )) 8- HE SAID:ِ ``MY LORD! HOW CAN THERE BE A SON FOR ME, WHEN MY WIFE IS BARREN, AND I AM FALLEN OF OLD AGE!?
قَالَ كَذَلِكَ قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَىَّ هَيِّنٌ وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُنْ شَيْئاً(( 9 )) 9- HE (THE ANGEL) SAID:ِ ``SO SHALL IT BE. YOUR LORD SAID; THAT IS EASY FOR ME. AND VERILY I CREATED YOU BEFORE AND YOU WERE NOT A THING!'' قَالَ رَبِّ اجْعَل لِى آيَةً قَالَ آيَتُكَ أَلاَّ تُكَلِّمَ النَّاسَ ثَلاَثَ لَيَال سَوِيّاً(( 10 )) 10- HE SAID:ِ ``MY LORD!
MAKE A SIGN (OF THAT) FOR ME.'' HE SAID:ِ ``YOUR SIGN IS THAT, YOU CANNOT SPEAK TO PEOPLE FOR THREE NIGHTS (AND THREE DAYS) BEING ALL RIGHT!'' فَخَرَجَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ مِنْ الْمِحْرَابِ فَأَوْحَى إِلَيْهِمْ أَنْ سَبِّحُوا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيّاً(( 11 )) 11- THEN HE WENT OUT OF THE SANCTUM TO HIS PEOPLE, (AND BY HINTS) INSPIRED TO THEM THAT, THEY SHOULD GLORIFY (THEIR LORD) IN THE MORNING AND IN THE NIGHT.
[ 50 ] THE COMMENTARY ZACHARIAS GOT HIS EXPRESSED WISH VERSE NO.7ِ11 Allah answered the prayer of His servant Zacharias, and in spite of his old age and barren wife, gave him a prophet son; and named him ``YAHYA"'', (JOHN) who had not a namesake before. Of course, it was not a name given for the first time. Perhaps it was the first among the posterity of Jacob, or among the relative of Zacharias. Evidently it was the first time that God had named one of His elects, ``YAHYA"''.
The Arabic, ``YAHYA"'' for the English version, ``JOHN'' suggest the meaning of giving new life, or to revive and return something to life again, and it was really so in the case of ``JOHN THE BAPTIST''. He was the forerunner of Jesus who paved the way for him, and with the help of his father renewed the Message of God which had been perverted and corrupted by the Israelites.