10

He said, 'Rabb, appoint for me some sign', namely, some indication of my wife's becoming pregnant. Said He, 'Your sign, for this, is that you shall not speak to people, that is, that you [should] refrain from speaking to them, but not [from speaking] the remembrance of Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, for three nights, that is, together with the days thereof, as [stated] in [sūrat] āl 'Imrān, 'for three days' [Q. 3:41], while [you are] in sound health' (sawiyyan, a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the verb tukallima, 'you shall [not] speak') in other words, despite there being no defect [in you].