Quran Universe
21:91

وَٱلَّتِيٓ أَحۡصَنَتۡ فَرۡجَهَا فَنَفَخۡنَا فِيهَا مِن رُّوحِنَا وَجَعَلۡنَٰهَا وَٱبۡنَهَآ ءَايَةٗ لِّلۡعَٰلَمِينَ

Waallatee ahsanat farjaha fanafakhna feeha min roohina wajaAAalnaha waibnaha ayatan lilAAalameena

And [mention] the one who guarded her chastity, so We blew into her [garment] through Our angel [Gabriel], and We made her and her son a sign for the worlds.

Word by word
  1. وَٱلَّتِيٓAnd she who
  2. أَحۡصَنَتۡguarded
  3. فَرۡجَهَاher chastity
  4. فَنَفَخۡنَاso We breathed
  5. فِيهَاinto her
  6. مِنof
  7. رُّوحِنَاOur Spirit
  8. وَجَعَلۡنَٰهَاand We made her
  9. وَٱبۡنَهَآand her son
  10. ءَايَةٗa sign
  11. لِّلۡعَٰلَمِينَfor the worlds
Al-Anbya · 21:91Makkah

Maryam guarded her chastity; she and her son became a sign.

A wonder even greater than Zakariyya's

The sign
Maryamguarded her chastity
and
'Isaborn without a father
a signfor the worlds
What the sign says
limitsthis can't happen
Be, and it isHe creates what He wills

Zakariyya's story, a child to an old man and barren wife, comes first because the two are connected. Then comes Maryam's, even more wondrous: a child born without a father. The tafsir says she and her son are evidence that Allah is able to do all things.

Doctors gave you the odds. The bank said no. Your situation looks closed by every normal rule. Allah's power is not bound by the odds. Keep your own purity, and leave the impossible to Him.

Some outcomes are simply impossible in my situation.

Allah creates what He wills. My part is to stay upright, like Maryam.

Try this

Make one dua today for something you had written off as impossible.

Related66:1219:21
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And she who guarded her chastity, We breathed into her through Our Ruh, and We made her and her son a sign for nations (91)

Isa and Maryam the True Believer

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 born 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 Āl-'Imrān and in Surah Maryam. Here Allah mentions the story of Zakariyya and follows it with the story of Maryam, where He says:

وَالَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا

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

وَمَرْيَمَ ابْنَتَ عِمْرَانَ الَّتِي أَحْصَنَتْ فَرْجَهَا فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِنَا

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

وَجَعَلْنَاهَا وَابْنَهَا آيَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ

(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:

وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ 

(And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind)(19:21)