(O Muhammad), recite in the Book the account of Mary, when she withdrew from her people to a place towards the east; 16 So there she screened herself from them; We therefore sent Our Spirit towards her – he appeared before her in the form of a healthy man. (Angel Jibreel – peace be upon him.) 17 Mary exclaimed: "I surely take refuge from you with the Most Compassionate Lord, if you are at all God-fearing." 18 (The angel) said: "I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son." 19 She said, 'How shall I have a son whom no mortal has touched, neither have I been unchaste?' 20 He said, “So it is; your Lord has said, ‘This is easy for Me’; and in order that We make him a sign for mankind and a Mercy from Us; and this matter has been decreed.” 21 ۞ Then she conceived him and withdrew with him to a far-off place. 22 Then the birth pangs drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree and she said: "Oh, would that I had died before this and had been all forgotten." 23 Thereupon [a voice] called out to her from beneath that [palm-tree]: "Grieve not! Thy Sustainer has provided a rivulet [running] beneath thee; 24 If you shake the trunk of the palm tree, it will provide you with fresh ripe dates. 25 So eat and drink thou, and cool thine eyes; and if thou beholdest the human beings anyone, say: verily I have vowed to the Compassionate a fast, so I shall not speak today to any human being. 26 She came to her nation, carrying him; and they said: 'O Mary, you have committed a monstrous thing. 27 O sister of Aaron! Your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman." 28 She pointed to the baby (and referred them to him for their answer). They said, "How can we talk to a baby in the cradle?" 29 He said, "I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and has appointed me to be a Prophet. 30 And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, 31 and likewise to cherish my mother; He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous. 32 Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! 33 Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. 34 It is not for God to take a son unto Him. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a thing, He but says to it 'Be,' and it is. 35 Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord therefore worship Him. That is the Straight Path. 36 Then groups among them differed; so ruin is for the disbelievers from the witnessing of a Great Day. 37 How plainly will they see and hear, the Day that they will appear before Us! but the unjust today are in error manifest! 38 And warn them, [O Muhammad], of the Day of Regret, when the matter will be concluded; and [yet], they are in [a state of] heedlessness, and they do not believe. 39 Indeed, it is We who will inherit the earth and whoever is on it, and to Us they will be returned. 40