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).