Her Lord accepted the child that is He received Mary from her mother with gracious acceptance and made her grow excellently He made her grow up with excellent character. She would grow in a day by as much as a new-born grew during a year. Her mother took her to the priests the keepers of the Holy House of Jerusalem and said ‘This here before you is the dedication I offered’. They competed for guardianship of her because she was the daughter of their religious leader at which point Zachariah said ‘I am most worthy of her for her maternal aunt lives with me’. The others said ‘No not until we have cast lots’. Thus all twenty nine of them departed to the River Jordan where they cast their quills agreeing that the one whose quill remained fast and floated to the surface of the water would be most worthy of being guardian over her. Zachariah’s quill remained fast and surfaced. He took charge of her and built for her a gallery-room with a ladder in the temple and none apart from him went up to her. He used to bring her food drink and oil and would find her with summer fruits in winter and winter fruits in summer just as God says and Zachariah took charge of her he took her to him a variant reading of kafalahā ‘he took charge of her’ is kaffalahā ‘He God gave Zachariah charge of her’ with Zakariyyā’ or Zakariyyā in the accusative and ‘God’ as the subject of the verb. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary that is the room the most noble seat in the temple where she was he found her with provisions. ‘O Mary’ he said ‘Whence comes this to you?’ She still very young said ‘From God He sends it to me from Paradise’ ‘Truly God provides abundant provision for whomever He will without reckoning’ without consequence.
