Mary
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[19:17]
and kept herself in seclusion from them, whereupon We sent unto her Our angel of revelation, who appeared to her in the shape of a well-made human being.

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* v.17 : Apparently, in order to devote herself undisturbed to prayer and meditation. The “eastern place” may possibly, as Ibn Kathīr suggests, signify an eastern chamber of the Temple, to the service of which Mary had been dedicated by her mother (cf. 3:35-37).
* As pointed out in sūrah 2, note 71, and sūrah 16, note 2, the term rūh often denotes “divine inspiration.” Occasionally, however, it is used to describe the medium through which such inspiration is imparted to God’s elect: in other words, the angel (or angelic force) of revelation. Since – as is implied in 6:9 – mortals cannot perceive an angel in his true manifestation, God caused him to appear to Mary “in the shape of a well-made human being,” i.e., in a shape accessible to her perception. According to Rāzī, the designation of the angel as rūh (“spirit” or “soul”) indicates that this category of beings is purely spiritual, without any physical element.