Recount in the Book how Mary withdrew from her people to an eastern place 16 So she took a veil (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our spirit, and there appeared to her a well-made man. 17 She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah." 18 [The angel] answered: "I am but a messenger of thy Sustainer, [who says,] 'I shall bestow upon thee 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, 'Even so thy Lord has said: "Easy is that for Me; and that We may appoint him a sign unto men and a mercy from Us; it is a thing decreed."' 21 ۞ She conceived the child and retreated with him to a distant and solitary place. 22 And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm-tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten! 23 Thereupon the angel below her cried out: "Grieve not, for your Lord has caused a stream of water to flow beneath you. 24 and if you shake the trunk of this palm-tree, it will drop fresh ripe dates on you. 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 Then she brought him to her nation carrying him. They said: Maryam! assuredly thou hast brought a thing unheard Of. 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste." 28 She pointed to the baby (and referred them to him for their answer). They said, "How can we talk to a baby in the cradle?" 29 The child proclaimed, “I am Allah’s bondman; He has given me the Book and made me a Herald of the Hidden (a Prophet).” 30 "And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; 31 "And dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest. 32 And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive." 33 Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute. 34 It is not [befitting] for Allah to take a son; exalted is He! When He decrees an affair, He only says to it, "Be," and it is. 35 And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serve Him; this is the right path. 36 Then the factions differed [concerning Jesus] from among them, so woe to those who disbelieved - from the scene of a tremendous Day. 37 How wondrous in their hearing and their sight will they be the Day they come unto Us! But today the wrong doers are in error manifest. 38 (O Muhammad), warn those who are steeped in heedlessness and are obstinately rejecting the truth that the Day shall come when things will be finally decided and they shall be left with utter remorse. 39 It is We Who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon: to Us will they all be returned. 40