7يا زَكَرِيّا إِنّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلامٍ اسمُهُ يَحيىٰ لَم نَجعَل لَهُ مِن قَبلُ سَمِيًّاMuhammad Asad[Thereupon the angels called out unto him:1] "O Zachariah! We bring thee the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son whose name shall be John. [And God says,] 'Never have We given this name to anyone before him."2See 3:39.Lit., "Never before have We made a namesake for him". The name Yahya (John) signifies "he shall live", i.e., he will be spiritually alive and will be remembered forever; and the fact that God Himself had chosen this name for him was a singular distinction, equivalent to a divine promise (kalimah, cf. note 28 on 3:39).