(O Muhammad), recite in the Book the account of Mary, when she withdrew from her people to a place towards the east; 16 out of her people's sight. We sent Our Spirit to her, who stood before her in the shape of a well formed human being. 17 She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah." 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 son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste? 20 He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained. 21 ۞ So she conceived him, and she went away with him to a far place. 22 And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm-tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten! 23 But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; 24 "And shake the trunk of date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe-dates upon you." 25 So eat and drink and refresh the eye. Then if you see any mortal, say: Surely I have vowed a fast to the Beneficent Allah, so I shall not speak to any man today. 26 Then she came to her people, carrying her baby. 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 But she pointed towards him. "How can we talk to one," they said, "who is only an infant in the cradle?" 29 He Said: verily I am a bondman of Allah; He hath vouchsafed me the Book and made me a prophet. 30 and made me blessed wherever I may be; and He has enjoined upon me prayer and charity as long as I live, 31 And duteous unto my mother, and hath not made me high-handed, unblest. 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, in the words of truth, Jesus the son of Mary, about whose nature they so deeply disagree. 34 It does not behove God to have a son. Too immaculate is He! When He decrees a thing He has only to say: "Be", and it is. 35 And verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him; this is a way straight. 36 Then groups among them differed; so ruin is for the disbelievers from the witnessing of a Great Day. 37 How well will they hear and see [the truth] on the Day when they come before Us! Today, however, these evildoers are obviously lost in error: 38 But warn them of the Day of Distress, when the matter will be determined: for (behold,) they are negligent and they do not believe! 39 For We shall inherit the earth and all that are on it. To Us, they shall return. 40