Dua of Zakariyya for offspring

When. By anyone asking for children, and by parents asking about the children they already have — the second half of the request is about quality, and that part does not expire. It is said in private, and the verse it comes from records it as a call made alone.

The words. Hab li is from hibah, a gift: something given outright, with nothing owed in return, the root behind the name al-Wahhab. He does not say 'grant me' in the sense of a due; he asks to be given something he has no claim on. Then min ladunka — 'from directly with You'. Ladun is nearer than min alone; it points at the source itself, bypassing the ordinary channels. Zakariyya was old and his wife had not borne children, and the phrase quietly acknowledges that the usual route is closed.

Dhurriyyatan tayyibah. Not many children — good ones. Tayyib is wholesome, sound, clean. The request is aimed at what the child will be, not how many arrive, and it is the whole of what is asked about the child.

The closing clause. Innaka sami'ud-du'a — 'You are the Hearer of supplication'. It is a reason given for asking, placed after the request rather than before, and it is what a person says when the thing asked for looks unlikely.

Where it is. The Qur'an, Al Imran (3:38), said in the prayer-niche after he saw the provision that came to Maryam — that is, the request follows the sight of something Allah had already done outside the ordinary course.