Commemorate Mary in the Book. When she withdrew from her family to a place in the East 16 and drew a curtain, screening herself from people whereupon We sent to her Our spirit and he appeared to her as a well-shaped man. 17 She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah." 18 [The angel] answered: "I am but a messenger of thy Sustainer, [who says,] 'I shall bestow upon thee the gift of a son endowed with purity.'" 19 "How can I have a son," she said, "when no man has touched me, nor am I sinful?" 20 [The angel] replied, "So shall it be; your Lord says, 'This is easy for Me; and We shall make him a sign to people and a blessing, from Us. This has been decreed.'" 21 ۞ Then she conceived him and withdrew with him to a far-off place. 22 And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" 23 He called from below to her: 'Do not sorrow, look, your Lord has provided a rivulet below you, 24 Shake also to thee the palm-trunk, and there shall come tumbling upon thee dates fresh and ripe. 25 "So eat and drink and be glad, and if you see any human being, say: 'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Beneficent (Allah) so I shall not speak to any human being this day. 26 She came to her nation, carrying him; and they said: 'O Mary, you have committed a monstrous thing. 27 “O sister of Haroon, neither was your father an evil man nor was your mother of poor conduct!” 28 She pointed to the child. They said, "How shall we talk to someone who is a child in the cradle?" 29 He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet, 30 "And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; 31 “And has made me good to my mother and not made me forceful, ill-fated.” 32 Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!' 33 Such is 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary). (it is) a statement of truth, about which they doubt (or dispute). 34 It befits not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son [this refers to the slander of Christians against Allah, by saying that 'Iesa (Jesus) is the son of Allah]. Glorified (and Exalted be He above all that they associate with Him). When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, "Be!" and it is. 35 Verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that is straight. 36 But the sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming) Judgment of a Momentous Day! 37 How clearly shall they hear and how clearly shall they see on the day when they come to Us; but the unjust this day are in manifest error. 38 Warn them of the woeful day when the final decree will be issued; they are neglectful and faithless. 39 Lo! We, only We, inherit the earth and all who are thereon, and unto Us they are returned. 40