قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى وَهَنَ ٱلۡعَظۡمُ مِنِّى وَٱشۡتَعَلَ ٱلرَّأۡسُ شَيۡبًا وَلَمۡ أَكُنۢ بِدُعَآئِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّا
He said, “My Master, indeed my bones have weakened, and my head has blazed with white, and never have I been in my supplication to You, my Master, unhappy [i.e., disappointed].”
The imagery in this supplication is extraordinary. Zechariah (peace be upon him) uses the expression وَهَنَ ٱلۡعَظۡمُ مِنِّى, “the bone has weakened in me.”
Notice that he used the word ٱلۡعَظۡمُ, “the bone”, in the singular, as if all his bones were one single whole and that one bone had weakened.
The whole body is like a building, and the bones are its pillars. When the pillars weaken, everything weakens.
The word وَهَنَ describes something hard becoming soft; a state like rusting metal, wood that rots and softens, or bones that become brittle.
His use of مِنِّى, “from me”, is as if his bones no longer truly belonged to him, or as if there were a foreign presence inside his body. This is arthritis (inflammation of the joints) expressed in the most eloquent and moving style of the Arabic language.
Then comes an even more striking image:
وَٱشۡتَعَلَ ٱلرَّأۡسُ شَيۡبًا
My head has blazed with white.
The verb ٱشۡتَعَلَ carries the meanings of suddenly catching fire, burning intensely and turning to ash; just like a matchstick that flares up and quickly goes out.
He likens his white hair to fire; because once fire has burned something and turned it into white ash, it is not possible to return it to its former state. This is an irreparable condition, a point of no return.
The word شَيۡب literally means whiteness or old age. In Arabic poetry, the term شَيۡب is used for mountain peaks covered in white snow; this is likened to an old man whose summit, that is, whose head, has turned white.
Zechariah (peace be upon him) is saying: “I have now reached an age from which there is no turning back; this process of wearing down cannot be reversed.”
Yet despite this, he says:
وَلَمۡ أَكُنۢ بِدُعَآئِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّا
And never have I been in my supplication to You, my Master, unhappy [i.e., disappointed].
The word شَقِيًّا means wretched, unfortunate or ill-fated.
He is saying: “I have never felt unfortunate when calling upon You. I have never called out to You and thought that You did not listen to me. All my life (until my hair turned white), I have always been hopeful about the answer You would give. I have never been disappointed in You.”
This is what lies at the foundation of his plea: a lifetime of trust in the mercy of Allah.