What was said to Her after the Birth
Allah tells,
فَنَادَاهَا مِن تَحْتِهَا
Then he cried unto her from below her, saying;
Some reciters read the Ayah as,
مَنْ تَحْتِهَا
(Who was below her),
Meaning the one who was below her called to her.
Others recited it as,
مِن تَحْتِهَا
(from below her),
With the meaning of a preposition (from) instead of a pronoun (who).
The scholars of Tafsir have differed over the interpretation of who was calling out.
Al-`Awfi and others reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said,
فَنَادَاهَا مِن تَحْتِهَا
(Then cried unto her from below her),
"This is referring to Jibril because `Isa did not speak until she brought him to her people."
Similarly, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ad-Dahhak, `Amr bin Maymun, As-Suddi and Qatadah all said,
"Verily, this is referring to the angel Jibril."
This means that he (Jibril) called out to her from the bottom of the valley.
Mujahid said,
فَنَادَاهَا مِن تَحْتِهَا
(Then cried unto her from below her),
"This is referring to `Isa bin Maryam."
Likewise, Abdur-Razzaq reported from Ma`mar that Qatadah said that Al-Hasan said,
"This is referring to her son (`Isa)."
This is also one of the two opinions reported from Sa`id bin Jubayr -- that it was her son, `Isa, speaking.
Sa`id said, "Have you not heard Allah saying,
فَأَشَارَتْ إِلَيْهِ
(Then she pointed to him. Ayah 29),
Ibn Zayd and Ibn Jarir preferred this opinion in his Tafsir.
Allah said,
أَلاَّ تَحْزَنِي
Grieve not;
He called to her saying, "Do not grieve."
قَدْ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحْتَكِ سَرِيًّا
your Lord has provided a Sariy under you.
Sufyan Ath-Thawri and Shu`bah reported from Abu Ishaq that Al-Bara' bin `Azib said,
"This means a small stream."
Likewise, Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said,
"Sariy means a river."
Amr bin Maymun held the same view, as he said,
"It means a river for her to drink from."
Mujahid said,
"It means river in the Syrian language."
Sa`id bin Jubayr said,
"Sariy is a small flowing river."
Others said that Sariy refers to `Isa.
This was said by Al-Hasan, Ar-Rabi bin Anas, Muhammad bin Abbad bin Jafar, and it is one of the two opinions reported from Qatadah.
It is also the view of Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam.
However, the first view seems to be the most obvious meaning. For this reason, Allah said after it