AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 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: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art Allah-fearing. 18 "I am only the messenger of your Lord," he replied. "I shall bestow upon you the gift of a son endowed with purity." 19 Said she: "How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me? - for, never have I been a loose woman!" 20 He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': It is a matter (so) decreed." 21 ۞ So she conceived him, and withdrew with him to a distant place. 22 And [when] the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree, she exclaimed: "Oh, would that I had died ere this, and had become a thing forgotten, utterly 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 the palm-tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee. 25 Eat and drink, and be at peace. If you see any man, tell him: 'I have verily vowed a fast to Ar-Rahman and cannot speak to any one this day.' 26 She came to her nation, carrying him; and they said: 'O Mary, you have committed a monstrous thing. 27 Aaron's sister, your father was not a bad man nor was your mother unchaste". 28 Thereupon she pointed towards the child; they said, “How can we speak to an infant who is in the cradle?” 29 The child cried out: "Verily I am Allah's servant. He has granted me the Book and has made me a Prophet 30 "And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined on me Salat (prayer), and Zakat, as long as I live." 31 and [has endowed me with] piety towards my mother; and He has not made me haughty or bereft of grace. 32 And peace on me on the day I was born, and on the day I die, and on the day I am raised to life. 33 Such is 'lsa, son of Maryam: this is the word of truth wherein they are doubting. 34 It beseems not Allah that He should take to Himself a son, glory to be Him; when He has decreed a matter He only says to it "Be," and it is. 35 Surely God is my Lord, and your Lord; So serve you Him. This is a straight path. 36 (The followers of Jesus) turned themselves into quarrelling sects. The disbelievers shall face a woeful condition on the great Day (of Judgment). 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 of the day of intense regret, when the matter shall have been decided; and they are (now) in negligence and they do not believe. 39 Verily We shall inherit the earth and whosoever is on it, and to Us they will return. 40