﴿ فَٱسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُۥ وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُۥ يَحْيَىٰ وَأَصْلَحْنَا لَهُۥ زَوْجَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ يُسَٰرِعُونَ فِى ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ وَيَدْعُونَنَا رَغَبًۭا وَرَهَبًۭا ۖ وَكَانُوا۟ لَنَا خَٰشِعِينَ ﴾

“And so We responded unto him, and bestowed upon him the gift of John, having made his wife fit to bear him a child: [and,] verily, these [three] would vie with one another in doing good works, and would call unto Us in yearning and awe; and they were always humble before Us.”

(Then We heard his prayer, and bestowed upon him John) a righteous son, (and adjusted his wife for him) by bearing a son for him. (Lo! They) i.e. the prophets; and it is also said that they refer to Zachariah and John (used to vie one with the other in good deeds) they used to hasten to acts of obedience (and they cried unto Us in longing and in fear) they used to pray to us out of longing and fear; it is also said that this means: they used to worship Us out of longing for Paradise and fear from hell, (and were submissive unto Us) and they were humble and obedient.