Quran Universe
19:9

قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٞ وَقَدۡ خَلَقۡتُكَ مِن قَبۡلُ وَلَمۡ تَكُ شَيۡـٔٗا

Qala kathalika qala rabbuka huwa AAalayya hayyinun waqad khalaqtuka min qablu walam taku shayan

[An angel] said, "Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, for I created you before, while you were nothing.' "

Word by word
  1. قَالَHe said
  2. كَذَٰلِكَThus
  3. قَالَsaid
  4. رَبُّكَyour Lord
  5. هُوَ'It
  6. عَلَيَّ(is) easy for Me
  7. هَيِّنٞ(is) easy for Me
  8. وَقَدۡand certainly
  9. خَلَقۡتُكَI (have) created you
  10. مِنbefore
  11. قَبۡلُbefore
  12. وَلَمۡwhile not
  13. تَكُyou were
  14. شَيۡـٔٗاanything.'
Maryam · 19:9Makkah

Easy for Me: I made you from nothing.

The bigger miracle answers the smaller one

The reasoning
a child nowseems hard
smaller than
you, from nothingalready done
What is hard for Allah
this is too mucheven for Him
it is easyHe made you first

The angel answered that Allah says it is easy for Him. Then he pointed to something more amazing: Allah created Zakariyya himself when he was nothing. Ibn Kathir links it to the verse about a time when man was not a thing worth mentioning.

You are sitting in the waiting room thinking the problem is too big. Look at your own hands. A while ago, you did not exist at all. The One who did that is not stretched by what you are asking.

My problem is too big to be fixed.

I am proof that Allah makes things from nothing. My problem is small next to that.

Try this

When a worry feels huge today, remind yourself: He made me from nothing.

Related76:1
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 19:8)

He said: "My Lord! How can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached the extreme old age. (8)He said: "Thus your Lord says: 'It is easy for Me. Certainly I have created you before, when you had been nothing!'") (19:8- (9)

His amazement after the acceptance of His Supplication

Zakariyya was amazed when his supplication was answered and he was given the good news of a son. He became extremely overjoyed and asked how this child would be born to him, and in what manner he would come. This was particularly amazing because his wife was an old woman who was barren and had not given birth to any children in her entire life. Even Zakariyya himself had become old and advanced in years, his bones had become feeble and thin, and he had no potent semen or vigor for sexual intercourse.

The Answer of the Angel

قَالَ

(He said:) That is, the angel, in his response to Zakariyya and his was amazement.

كَذَٰلِكَ قَالَ رَبُّكَ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ

("Thus says your Lord: 'It is easy for Me...'") Meaning the birth of the son will be from you and from this wife of yours and not from any other (woman).

هَيِّنٌ

(easy) Meaning, it is simple and easy for Allah to do. Then he (the angel) mentioned to him that which is more amazing than what he was asking about. The angel said that the Lord said,

وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِن قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَكُ شَيْئًا

(Certainly I have created you before, when you had been nothing!) This is similar to Allah's statement,

هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى الْإِنسَانِ حِينٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْئًا مَّذْكُورًا

(Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was not a thing worth mentioning?)[76:1]