Surah Aal-i-Imraan · Ayah 40·Madanī

40

أَنَّىٰ لِى وَقَدْ كَذَٰلِكَ مَا ﴿٤٠﴾

Translation

Saheeh International

He said, "My Lord, how will I have a boy when I have reached old age and my wife is barren?" The angel said, "Such is Allah; He does what He wills."

Compare all 34 translations →

Tafsīr

No commentary indexed for this ayah yet.

Verse DNA · this āyah at a glance

Vocabulary and recitation are counted from the morphology and the Uthmani marks; commentary reports whether an authored tafsīr entry reaches this āyah. A structural read, not a judgement — a denser strip is not a weightier verse.

Vocabulary · 11 roots in 12 of 17 words

Rarest here: ع-ق-ر — 8× in the Qurʾān

Recitation · 22 points across 8 rule families

  • Madd ṭabīʿī10
  • Heavy rāʾ4
  • Ghunnah1
  • Idghām (with ghunnah)2
  • Qalqalah1
  • Lām qamariyyah2
  • Iẓhār shafawī1
  • Heavy Allāh1

Commentary

No tafsīr entry reaches this āyah yet — the interpretive layer covers a pilot, not the whole Book.

Shape

17 words · 62 letters · 1 proper noun · āyah 40 of 200

once in the Qurʾān2–10×11–50×51–300×300+×

Similar verses by meaning

Ranked by semantic similarity over translation embeddings — a model’s proxy for meaning, not a claim about it, and not tafsīr. Verses may be kin in theme while differing entirely in wording.

  • Quran 19:8 · Maryamvery close

    قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِى غُلَٰمٌ وَكَانَتِ ٱمْرَأَتِى عَاقِرًا وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ ٱلْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا

    He said, "My Lord, how will I have a boy when my wife has been barren and I have reached extreme old age?"

  • Quran 3:47 · Aal-i-Imraanvery close

    قَالَتْ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِى وَلَدٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِى بَشَرٌ قَالَ كَذَٰلِكِ ٱللَّهُ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ إِذَا قَضَىٰٓ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ

    She said, "My Lord, how will I have a child when no man has touched me?" [The angel] said, "Such is Allah; He creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it…

  • Quran 37:102 · As-Saaffaatvery close

    فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ ٱلسَّعْىَ قَالَ يَٰبُنَىَّ إِنِّىٓ أَرَىٰ فِى ٱلْمَنَامِ أَنِّىٓ أَذْبَحُكَ فَٱنظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَىٰ قَالَ يَٰٓأَبَتِ ٱفْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِىٓ إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ

    And when he reached with him [the age of] exertion, he said, "O my son, indeed I have seen in a dream that I [must] sacrifice you, so see what you think." He said, "O my father…

  • Quran 37:101 · As-Saaffaatvery close

    فَبَشَّرْنَٰهُ بِغُلَٰمٍ حَلِيمٍ

    So We gave him good tidings of a forbearing boy.

  • Quran 39:4 · Az-Zumarclose

    لَّوْ أَرَادَ ٱللَّهُ أَن يَتَّخِذَ وَلَدًا لَّٱصْطَفَىٰ مِمَّا يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْوَٰحِدُ ٱلْقَهَّارُ

    If Allah had intended to take a son, He could have chosen from what He creates whatever He willed. Exalted is He; He is Allah, the One, the Prevailing.

  • Quran 46:17 · Al-Ahqafclose

    وَٱلَّذِى قَالَ لِوَٰلِدَيْهِ أُفٍّ لَّكُمَآ أَتَعِدَانِنِىٓ أَنْ أُخْرَجَ وَقَدْ خَلَتِ ٱلْقُرُونُ مِن قَبْلِى وَهُمَا يَسْتَغِيثَانِ ٱللَّهَ وَيْلَكَ ءَامِنْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ ٱللَّهِ حَقٌّ فَيَقُولُ مَا هَٰذَآ إِلَّآ أَسَٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

    But one who says to his parents, "Uff to you; do you promise me that I will be brought forth [from the earth] when generations before me have already passed on [into oblivion]?"…

Verses built from the same roots

Ranked by shared vocabulary (idf-cosine over each verse’s root-set). Shared words are a fact about form — they do not by themselves mean two verses are about the same thing.

  • Maryam 19:85 shared roots

    قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِى غُلَٰمٌ وَكَانَتِ ٱمْرَأَتِى عَاقِرًا وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ ٱلْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّا

    ع-ق-رغ-ل-مم-ر-أب-ل-غك-ب-ر

  • Maryam 19:53 shared roots

    وَإِنِّى خِفْتُ ٱلْمَوَٰلِىَ مِن وَرَآءِى وَكَانَتِ ٱمْرَأَتِى عَاقِرًا فَهَبْ لِى مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيًّا

    ع-ق-رم-ر-أك-و-ن

  • Al-Anbiyaa 21:623 shared roots

    قَالُوٓا۟ ءَأَنتَ فَعَلْتَ هَٰذَا بِـَٔالِهَتِنَا يَٰٓإِبْرَٰهِيمُ

    ف-ع-لق-و-لأ-ل-ه

  • As-Saaffaat 37:354 shared roots

    إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوٓا۟ إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ

    ك-ب-رك-و-نق-و-لأ-ل-ه

  • Ash-Shu'araa 26:2262 shared roots

    وَأَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ مَا لَا يَفْعَلُونَ

    ف-ع-لق-و-ل

  • Maryam 19:203 shared roots

    قَالَتْ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِى غُلَٰمٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِى بَشَرٌ وَلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيًّا

    غ-ل-مك-و-نق-و-ل

Questions

Which verses are similar to Quran 3:40?

Verses close in meaning to Quran 3:40 include Quran 19:8 (Surah Maryam), Quran 3:47 (Surah Aal-i-Imraan), Quran 37:102 (Surah As-Saaffaat), and Quran 37:101 (Surah As-Saaffaat). For example, 19:8 reads: “He said, "My Lord, how will I have a boy when my wife has been barren and I have reached extreme old age?"” These are ranked by comparing translations of every verse in the Qurʾān, so they are a measure of similar wording and theme — not a tafsīr ruling.

What does Quran 3:40 say?

In Saheeh International, Quran 3:40 (Surah Aal-i-Imraan, The Family of Imraan) reads: “He said, "My Lord, how will I have a boy when I have reached old age and my wife is barren?" The angel said, "Such is Allah; He does what He wills."”

Which surah is verse 3:40 in?

Quran 3:40 is āyah 40 of Surah Aal-i-Imraan (The Family of Imraan), chapter 3 of the Qurʾān — a Medinan (Madanī) surah of 200 verses.

In how many languages can I read Quran 3:40?

Tartīl presents Quran 3:40 in the original Arabic alongside 34 translations, with audio recitation.