[3:37] Her Lord accepted the child with gracious acceptance, and made her grow excellently, and Zachariah took charge of her.
Inasmuch as He caused her to attain more than what her mother had wished for. It is said that [God] accepted her with a gracious acceptance (qabūl ḥasan) in His making her unique in obedience to Him, and entrusting her with that which He entrusts His friends (awliyāÌ) - so much so that everyone of her time was astonished by the excellence (ḥusn) which He entrusted to her affair even though she was a girl.
It is said that the gracious acceptance was the excellence (ḥusn) of [God's] care for her in spite of His (s) knowing what would be said about Him because of her, for He is not concerned with the shamefulness of the words of enemies.
I find blame in passion
for you delicious.
Out of love of hearing you mentioned,
let them blame me.
Just as it is said:
Let anyone
who wishes
say what he wishes.
I don't care!
It is also said that the gracious acceptance was His causing her to grow in the quality of protection (ʿiṣma) until she said: I seek refuge in the Merciful from you if you fear God [19:18].
And made her grow excellently until she stood straight in obedience and preferred His (s) good pleasure in every moment, and until the fruit from her was such a one as Jesus (ʿa). This was the excellent growth. Zachariah took charge of her and it was part of the gracious acceptance and excellent growth that he made such a one as Zachariah (ʿa) among the prophets her guardian, and the caretaker and protector of her affairs. God revealed to David (ʿa), 'If you see someone seeking me, become a servant to him'.
[3:37 cont'd] Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary, where she was, he found her with provisions. 'O Mary', he said,'Whence comes this to you?' She said, 'From God. Truly God provides for whomever He will without reckoning'.
One of the signs of the gracious acceptance was that she could never be found anywhere except in the sanctuary (miḥrāb). Whoever dwells and stays where He is worshipped, that is where the sanctuary is and that is a rare and precious servant.
It is also said that the gracious acceptance was that all of her affairs and concerns were not subject to Zachariah (ʿa) so that when he entered to care for her with food, he found her with provision. This was so that the people of the worlds might know that God (s) does not burden others with the concerns of His friends (awliyāÌ), and that anyone who serves one of His friends is included in the kind company (rifq) of the friend - there should be no difficulty for him because of the friends. There is an allusion in this to the fact that one who serves the poor (fuqarāÌ) should know that he has been included in the kind company of the friends, not that the poor are beneath him.
Then Zachariah (ʿa) used to say, 'Whence comes this to you?', because he did not believe that she was worthy of this preferred rank and he was afraid that someone other than him was taking the opportunity of caring for her and supplanting him in performing these duties. So he asked, 'Whence comes this to you? Who gave it to you?' Mary said, '[It is] from God, not from any created being'. In that there were two things to comfort Zachariah. One of them was the witnessing of her station and her special gift (karāma) with God Most High, and the second was that no one had supplanted him in serving her. In His words Whenever (kullamā) Zachariah went into the sanctuary, where she was, he found her with provisions, the word kullama means 'repeatedly' and this is an allusion to the fact that Zachariah (ʿa) did not cease caring for her, even though he found her with provision. Rather, every day and at every moment he was studying her state because the special gifts (karāmāt) of the friends do not necessarily persist. It is possible that God will make something appear in them indefinitely or He may not, so Zachariah (ʿa) did not rely on [them persisting] and thus neglect to study her state. So he would question her again saying, 'O Mary, whence comes this to you?' because of the possibility that that which exists today may not be as it was yesterday - this is not something that is incumbent upon God (s).
His words Truly God provides for whomever He will without reckoning is a clarification of divine unity itself (ʿayn al-tawḥī?). It is that His provision and beneficence towards the servants is according to His will, and does not result from their obedience and is not brought about by means of their acts of worship.