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 to her Our Ruh [angel Jibrael (Gabriel)], and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects. 17 She said, "Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, [so leave me], if you should be fearing of Allah." 18 He said, "I am the Messengers of your Lord. I have come to give you a purified son". 19 "How can I have a son," she said, "when no man has touched me, nor am I sinful?" 20 He said, "This is true but your Lord says, "It is very easy for Me. We have decided to give you a son as evidence (of Our existence) for human beings and a mercy from Us. This is a decree already ordained." 21 ۞ So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place. 22 Then the birth pangs drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree and she said: "Oh, would that I had died before this and had been all forgotten." 23 But he called her from below her, "Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. 24 and shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards thee: it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon thee. 25 So eat and drink and be consoled. And if thou meetest any mortal, say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal. 26 She took him to her people and they said, "Mary, this is indeed an strange thing. 27 "O sister (i.e. the like) of Harun (Aaron) [not the brother of Musa (Moses), but he was another pious man at the time of Maryam (Mary)]! Your father was not a man who used to commit adultery, nor your mother was an unchaste woman." 28 She pointed to the child. They said, "How shall we talk to someone who is a child in the cradle?" 29 He said, "I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and has appointed me to be a Prophet. 30 Blessed He has made me, wherever I may be; and He has enjoined me to pray, and to give the alms, so 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 be on me the day I was born and the day I die and the day I shall be raised up alive. 33 Such was the true story of Jesus, the son of Mary, about which they dispute bitterly. 34 It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is. 35 And verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him; this is a way straight. 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 well shall they hear and how well shall they see on the Day they come to Us! But today the evil-doers are in manifest error. 38 Warn them of that day of pining when all matters will have been settled, though they would still be unaware and unbelieving (of the truth). 39 Indeed, it is We who will inherit the earth and whoever is on it, and to Us they will be returned. 40