"And mention in the Book [wa-udhkur fi al-kitab]," he says to the Prophet: Read to them the story of Maryam (Mary), "when she withdrew [idh intabadhat]," meaning: when she separated herself, "from her family to an eastern place [min ahliha makana sharqiyyan]," up to His saying: "(a boy) pure [taqiyya]." Zakariya (Zechariah) was the guardian of Maryam, and her sister was his wife. She used to be in the sanctuary (mihrab). When she reached puberty, whenever she had her menses, she would leave for his house to stay with her sister, and when she became pure, she would return to the sanctuary. Once, she became pure; after she finished her ritual washing, she sat in an elevated place in a corner of the house and hung a [garment] as a screen for herself. Then Jibril (Gabriel) came to her in that place in the form of a human being.