AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family 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: "Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Beneficent (Allah) from you, if you do fear Allah." 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 She said, 'How shall I have a son whom no mortal has touched, neither have I been unchaste?' 20 He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained. 21 ۞ So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a remote place. 22 Then the pangs of childbirth brought her to the base of the palm-tree; she said, “Oh, if only had I died before this and had become forgotten, unremembered.” 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 towards you the trunk of the palmtree, it will drop on you fresh ripe 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 came to her people, carrying her baby. They said: "O Mary! You have committed a monstrous thing. 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was never an evil man, nor was your mother unchaste' 28 She pointed to the child. They said, "How shall we talk to someone who is a child in the cradle?" 29 He said, 'Lo, I am God's servant; God has given me the Book, and made me a Prophet. 30 And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, 31 And be dutiful to my mother. He has not made me haughty or rebellious. 32 "And Salam (peace) be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!" 33 This was Jesus, son of Mary: A true account they contend about. 34 It is not for Allah to take a son! Exaltations to Him! When He decrees a thing He only says: 'Be' and it is. 35 And lo! Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path. 36 Then groups among them differed; so ruin is for the disbelievers from the witnessing of a Great Day. 37 (Muhammad), how clearly they will hear and see on the day when they will be brought into Our presence. Today the wrong doers are in manifest error. 38 Warn them of [the coming of] the Day of Remorse, when everything will have been decided, while they are heedless and do not believe. 39 Surely We inherit the earth and all those who are on it, and to Us they shall be returned. 40