AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family 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 She said, 'I take refuge in the All-merciful from thee! 18 He said: I am only a messenger of your Lord: That I will give you a pure boy. 19 Mary said: "How can a boy be born to me when no man has even touched me, nor have I ever been unchaste?" 20 He said: "So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me (Allah): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (Allah), and it is a matter (already) decreed, (by Allah). 21 ۞ So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place. 22 The birth pangs led her to the trunk of a date-palm tree. "Would that I had died before this," she said, "and become a thing forgotten, unremembered." 23 He called from below to her: 'Do not sorrow, look, your Lord has provided a rivulet below you, 24 and shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards thee: it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon thee. 25 Eat, drink, and rejoice. Should you see a person going by, tell him that on this day you have promised the Beneficent God to fast and never talk to any human being." 26 She took him to her people and they said, "Mary, this is indeed an strange thing. 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was never an evil man, nor was your mother unchaste' 28 But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?" 29 He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet; 30 And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive 31 "And dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest. 32 Peace be upon me the day I was born and the day I will die, and the day I will be raised up alive." 33 Such was (Prophet) Jesus, the son of Mary. A saying of truth, concerning what they doubt. 34 It does not befit Allah to take for Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a thing He only says: "Be" and it is. 35 And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serve Him; this is the right path. 36 Yet different groups differed among themselves. How awful it will be for those who have rejected the truth when a dreadful Day arrives! 37 How clearly shall they hear and how clearly shall they see on the day when they come to Us; but the unjust this day are in manifest error. 38 And warn them of the Day of anguish when the case hath been decided. Now they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not. 39 Indeed We shall inherit the earth and all that is on it, and only towards Us will they return. 40