Quran Universe
19:7

يَٰزَكَرِيَّآ إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَٰمٍ ٱسۡمُهُۥ يَحۡيَىٰ لَمۡ نَجۡعَل لَّهُۥ مِن قَبۡلُ سَمِيّٗا

Ya zakariyya inna nubashshiruka bighulamin ismuhu yahya lam najAAal lahu min qablu samiyyan

[He was told], "O Zechariah, indeed We give you good tidings of a boy whose name will be John. We have not assigned to any before [this] name."

Word by word
  1. يَٰزَكَرِيَّآO Zakariya
  2. إِنَّاIndeed,We
  3. نُبَشِّرُكَ[We] give you glad tidings
  4. بِغُلَٰمٍof a boy
  5. ٱسۡمُهُۥhis name
  6. يَحۡيَىٰ(will be) Yahya
  7. لَمۡnot
  8. نَجۡعَلWe (have) assigned
  9. لَّهُۥ[for] it
  10. مِنbefore
  11. قَبۡلُbefore
  12. سَمِيّٗا(this) name
Maryam · 19:7Makkah

The answer came with a name no one had before.

Good news of Yahya

The reply
secret prayeran old man asks
answered with
a boynamed Yahya
a new namegiven to none before
How specific the answer was
maybe heardvague, uncertain
named in advanceAllah chose even the name

The verse skips straight to the result: the prayer was answered. In Surah Al Imran the angels called Zakariyya while he stood praying in the Mihrab. Allah even named the boy, Yahya, a name no one had carried before.

You have asked for something for years. A job, a child, a healing. You start to think it got lost somewhere. This verse shows how fully an answer can arrive, down to the name.

My long-standing prayer has probably been forgotten.

Allah hears it in full detail, and His answer can be more personal than I imagined.

Try this

Bring back one old dua you stopped making, and make it again today.

Related3:38
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

(Allah said:) "O Zakariyya! Verily, We give you the good news of a son, whose name will be Yahya. We have given that name to none before (him). (7)

The Acceptance of His Supplication

This statement implies what is not mentioned, that his supplication was answered. It was said to him,

يَا زَكَرِيَّا إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلَامٍ اسْمُهُ يَحْيَىٰ

((Allah said:) "O Zakariyya! Verily, We give you the glad tidings of a son, whose name will be Yahya...") Similarly Allah, the Exalted, said;

هُنَالِكَ دَعَا زَكَرِيَّا رَبَّهُ ۖ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِن لَّدُنكَ ذُرِّيَّةً طَيِّبَةً ۖ إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ الدُّعَاءِ - فَنَادَتْهُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي فِي الْمِحْرَابِ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُبَشِّرُكَ بِيَحْيَىٰ مُصَدِّقًا بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَسَيِّدًا وَحَصُورًا وَنَبِيًّا مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ

(At that time Zakariyya invoked his Lord, saying: "O my Lord! Grant me from You, a good offspring. You are indeed the All-Hearer of invocation." Then the angels called him, while he was standing in prayer in the Mihrab, (saying): "Allah gives you glad tidings of Yahya, confirming (believing in) the word from Allah, noble, keeping away from sexual relations with women, a Prophet, from among the righteous.")[3:38-39]

Allah said,

لَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُ مِن قَبْلُ سَمِيًّا

(We have given that name to none before (him).)

Qatadah, Ibn Jurayj and Ibn Zayd said, "This means that no one had this name before him." Ibn Jarir preferred this interpretation, may Allah have mercy upon him.