﴿ قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لِى غُلَٰمٌۭ وَكَانَتِ ٱمْرَأَتِى عَاقِرًۭا وَقَدْ بَلَغْتُ مِنَ ٱلْكِبَرِ عِتِيًّۭا ﴾

“[Zachariah] exclaimed: "O my Sustainer! How can I have a son when my wife has always been barren and I have become utterly infirm through old age?"”

He said ‘My Lord how shall I have a son when my wife is barren and I have reached infirm old age?’ ‘itiyyan derives from the verb ‘atā ‘it became withered’ in other words he had reached extreme old age 120 years; and his wife had reached the age of 98 ‘atiya in terms of its root derives from ‘utuwwun but the tā’ is vowelled as -ti- to soften it the first wāw vowel is changed into a yā’ to be in harmony with the –ti- vowelling while the second wāw letter is changed into a yā’ so that the previous yā’ can be assimilated with it.