42. " and (remember) when the angels said:
` o' mary! verily allah has chosen you and purified you and preferred
you above the women of the worlds '."

commentary
it is cited in some commentary books such as: al-minar, qurtubi,
maraq­i, rouhul-bayan, and fakhr-razi that the preeminents of the
women of the world were four persons: mary, 'asiyah, khadijah, and
fatimah (a.s.). some islamic literature, narrated from ahlul-bayt (a.s.),
also denotes that mary was the preeminent woman among the women
of her time, while fatimah (a.s.) is the preeminent throughout of the
history.1 it should be noted, of course, that when allah, the wise,
chooses a person as preeminent it is because of a special series of
efficiencies and eligibilities that the one has. so, this preeminence of
mary over all women of the world was not but because of her piety and
virtues. yes, she had been chosen to give birth to a prophet such as
jesus (a.s.).

explanations:
 1. angels may speak to human beings other than prophets, too.

2. a woman can reach the rank of divine sainthood so that
allah sends messages to her.

3. mary was both chosen for virtues and became the preeminent
of the women. that is why the arabic phrase /'istafaki/ (has chosen
you) has been repeated twice in the verse.

" and (remember) when the angels said:
` o' mary! verily allah has chosen you and purified you and preferred
you above the women of the worlds '."

1 al-mizan, vol. 4, p. 65 (persian version)