Recount in the Book how Mary withdrew from her people to an eastern place 16 She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. 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 but a messenger from thy Lord that I may bestow on thee a boy pure. 19 She said: When shall I have a boy and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste? 20 He said: even so! Thy Lord saith: it is with Me easy, and it is in order that We may make him a sign unto mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is an affair decreed. 21 ۞ So she conceived him, and withdrew with him to a distant 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 (The angel) Therefore called her from below her, “Do not grieve – your Lord has made a river flow below you.” 24 And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. 25 So eat and drink and be consoled. And if thou meetest any mortal, say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal. 26 And in time she returned to her people, carrying the child with her. They said: "O Mary! Thou hast indeed done an amazing thing! 27 Aaron's sister, your father was not a bad man nor was your mother unchaste". 28 Thereupon Mary pointed to the child. They exclaimed: "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle, a mere child?" 29 "He ['Iesa (Jesus)] said: Verily! I am a slave of Allah, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet;" 30 Blessed He has made me, wherever I may be; and He has enjoined me to pray, and to give the alms, so long as I live, 31 and likewise to cherish my mother; He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous. 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 This was Jesus, son of Mary: A true account they contend about. 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 (Jesus had said): "Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so serve Him alone. This is the Straight Way." 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 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 We are the heirs of the earth and those living in it will all return to Us. 40