40. When the angels gave him the good news about John, Zachariah said, ‘O Lord, how can I have a child after I have become old and my wife is unable to bear children?’ Allah replied to him that the example of the creation of John, in spite of his old age and his wife being barren, is like that of the creation of anything that Allah wishes to create, even though it is out of the ordinary. This is because Allah has power over everything and does whatever He wills in His wisdom and knowledge.