(O Muhammad), recite in the Book the account of Mary, when she withdrew from her people to a place towards the east; 16 and kept herself in seclusion from them. We sent her Our angel, who presented himself to her as a full-grown human being. 17 When she saw him, she said, "I seek refuge in the compassionate God from you; [do not come near] if you fear the Lord." 18 He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. 19 She said, "How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?" 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 ۞ So she conceived him; then withdrew herself with him to a remote 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 (The angel) Therefore called her from below her, “Do not grieve – your Lord has made a river flow below you.” 24 and shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards thee: it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon thee. 25 “Therefore eat and drink and appease your eyes; so if you meet any person then say, ‘I have pledged a fast (of silence) to the Most Gracious – I will therefore not speak to any person today.’” 26 Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was never an evil man, nor was your mother unchaste' 28 But she pointed towards him. "How can we talk to one," they said, "who is only an infant in the cradle?" 29 "I am a servant of God," he answered. "He has given me a Book and made 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 duteous unto my mother, and hath not made me high-handed, unblest. 32 Blessed was I on the day I was born, and blessed I shall be on the day I die and on the day I am raised to life again." 33 That is Jesus, the son of Mary - the word of truth about which they are in dispute. 34 It is not for Allah to take a son! Exaltations to Him! When He decrees a thing He only says: 'Be' and it is. 35 And [thus it was that Jesus always said]: "Verily, God is my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer; so worship [none but] Him: this [alone] is a straight way." 36 Then the factions differed [concerning Jesus] from among them, so woe to those who disbelieved - from the scene of a tremendous Day. 37 How sharp of hearing, how sharp of sight they will be when they come to Us. But today, these evil-doers are obviously lost in error. 38 Warn them of the woeful day when the final decree will be issued; they are neglectful and faithless. 39 Surely We inherit the earth and all those who are on it, and to Us they shall be returned. 40