Some translators of the Qur'an claim that the incident happened to Mary while she was in a dream.. Some hold that she had a vision. Others that it was by miracle. Each guessing at random with no base upon which their conjecture can be supported. The obstruction being that their focus was on Virgin Birth and this eluded reality..

What happened to Mary, happened live and in person, real and natural. Nothing was superstitious. The being whom God of Himself sent and whom she with her physical eyes saw and discoursed verbally with was a man (basharan sawiyyan) Mary was not dreaming nor was she in a trance. She saw a man, not the image of a man, not the spirit of a man, nor the shadow of a man. Mary saw a real man, live and in person. That man was God's Ruhanna. He into whom the Ruh of God was breathed.

Ruhanna was not an angel, he was not a spirit, he was not a boy, he was not a woman, he was not an eunuch. Nor was he the impersonifaction of a man. He was a man perfect in every respect. Manly able to give Mary a son by fatherhood spiritually fit to give her a righteous son by husbandhood..

See Commentary.#2495 By Yusuf Ali for the meaning of basharan sawiyyan

The Purpose:

The purpose of the meeting of Ruhanna and Mary was simply introduction and information. Nothing beyond, there and then. After their dialogue each went their separate ways.

The Big Question:

Ruhanna having tendered his identification and disclosed his mission, the inevitable question is: