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And when she gave birth to her, a girl, and she had been hoping for a boy, since only males were consecrated to the service of Allahu ta’ālā, she said, apologetically, 'O, Rabb, I have given birth to a female' - and Allahu ta’ālā knew very well what she had given birth to: a parenthetical statement constituting Allah’s speech (a variant reading [for wada'at, 'she gave birth', has wada'tu, 'I gave birth' [making these Hanna's words, sc. 'and Allahu ta’ālā knows very well what I have given birth to']); the male, that she had asked for, is not as the female, that was bestowed upon her, because he is designed for the service [of Allahu ta’ālā], while she would not be suitable on account of her lesser physical ability, her private parts, the effects of menstruation on her, and so on. 'And I have named her Mary, and commend her to You with her seed, her children, to protect them from the accursed, the outcast, Satan'. In a hadīth [it is stated]: 'Every new-born is touched by Satan and begins [life] by crying, except for Mary and her son', as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim].