Say, (O Muhammad, to mankind): If ye love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. 31 Say, "Obey God and the Messenger," and if they turn away, God does not love those who deny the truth. 32 ۞ Indeed, Allah chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of 'Imran over the worlds - 33 Offspring one of the other; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. 34 (Remember) when the wife of 'Imran said: My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated (offering). Accept it from me. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Hearer, the Knower! 35 And when she had given birth to the child, she said: "O Lord, I have delivered but a girl." -- But God knew better what she had delivered: A boy could not be as that girl was. "I have named her Mary," (she said), "and I give her into Your keeping. Preserve her and her children from Satan the ostracized." 36 And thereupon her Sustainer accepted the girl-child with goodly acceptance, and caused her to grow up in goodly growth, and placed her in the care of Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah visited her in the sanctuary, he found her provided with food. He would ask: "O Mary, whence came this unto thee?" She would answer: "It is from God; behold, God grants sustenance unto whom He wills, beyond all reckoning." 37 There did Zakariya pray to his Lord, saying: "O my Lord! Grant unto me from Thee a progeny that is pure: for Thou art He that heareth prayer! 38 As he stood praying in the sanctuary, the angels called out to him: 'Allah gives you good tidings of John (Yahya), who shall confirm a command of Allah, shall be outstanding among men, utterly chaste, and a Prophet from among the righteous.' 39 "How can I have a son, O Lord," he said, "for I am old and my wife is barren?" "Thus," came the answer, "God does as He wills." 40 'Lord,' said Zachariah, 'appoint to me a sign.' 'Thy sign,' God said, 'is that thou shalt not speak, save by tokens, to men for three days. And mention thy Lord oft, and give glory at evening and dawn.' 41