Recount in the Book how Mary withdrew from her people to an eastern place 16 And took cover from them, We sent a spirit of Ours to her who appeared before her in the concrete form of a man. 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 replied: "I am only a messenger from your Lord (sent) to bestow a good son on you." 19 She said: When shall I have a boy and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste? 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 ۞ She conceived the child and retreated with him to a distant and solitary 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 he called her from below her, "Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. 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 contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, 'Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.' " 26 Then she brought him to her people, carrying him. They said, "O Mary, you have certainly done a thing unprecedented. 27 Sister of Aaron, your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman!" 28 Thereupon she pointed to him. They exclaimed: "How can we talk to one who [as yet] is a little boy in the cradle?" 29 He said, 'Lo, I am God's servant; God has given me the Book, and made me a Prophet. 30 He has blessed me no matter where I dwell, commanded me to worship Him and pay the religious tax for as long as I live. 31 He has made me dutiful toward my mother, and He has not made me arrogant or wicked. 32 There was peace on me the day I was born, and will be the day I die, and on the day I will be raised from the dead." 33 That is Jesus, son of Mary, in word of truth, concerning which they are doubting. 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 Surely God is my Lord, and your Lord; So serve you Him. This is a straight path. 36 But different parties began to dispute with one another. A dreadful woe awaits on that great Day for those that reject the Truth. 37 Much will they listen and much will they see, on the Day when they come to Us, but today the unjust are in open 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 We are the heirs of the earth and those living in it will all return to Us. 40