My Lord, my bones have weakened and my head has filled with white, but never have I been unhappy in my supplication to You.
“My Lord, my bones have weakened and my head has filled with white, but never have I been unhappy in my supplication to You.”
He said: “My Lord, indeed my bones have become weak, the white hairs on my head have increased, and I was not unsuccessful in my supplicating You. In fact, every time I supplicated You, You accepted.
The plain meaning, from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى وَهَنَ ٱلْعَظْمُ مِنِّى وَٱشْتَعَلَ ٱلرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا وَلَمْ أَكُنۢ بِدُعَآئِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّا
He said, "My Lord, indeed my bones have weakened, and my head has filled with white, and never have I been in my supplication to You, my Lord, unhappy i.e., disappointed.
What does Quran 19:4 mean?
Zakariyya (peace be upon him) is old, his wife cannot bear children, and he is asking for a son anyway. The reason he gives is not his own worthiness but his record with Allah: I have never been disappointed in calling on You. Ibn Kathir notes that the opening of this surah was what Ja‘far ibn Abi Talib recited to the Negus when the Muslims sought refuge in Abyssinia.
Written from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir