AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 16 and drew a curtain, screening herself from people whereupon We sent to her Our spirit and he appeared to her as a well-shaped man. 17 She said: I verily seek refuge with the Compassionate from thee if thou art God-fearing. 18 He said, "I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy." 19 She said, "How can I have a son when no man has touched me; and neither have I been unchaste?" 20 He said: Even so; your Lord says: It is easy to Me: and that We may make him a sign to men and a mercy from Us, and it is a matter which has been decreed. 21 ۞ So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. 22 And the throes (of childbirth) compelled her to betake herself to the trunk of a palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! 23 Thereupon [a voice] called out to her from beneath that [palm-tree]: "Grieve not! Thy Sustainer has provided a rivulet [running] beneath thee; 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 refresh the eye. Then if you see any mortal, say: Surely I have vowed a fast to the Beneficent Allah, so I shall not speak to any man today. 26 Then she brought the child to her people. They exclaimed: "O Mary, you have done a most astonishing thing! 27 “O sister of Haroon, neither was your father an evil man nor was your mother of poor conduct!” 28 But she pointed towards him. "How can we talk to one," they said, "who is only an infant in the cradle?" 29 "He ['Iesa (Jesus)] said: Verily! I am a slave of Allah, He has given me the Scripture and made me 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 [has endowed me with] piety towards my mother; and He has not made me haughty or bereft of grace. 32 Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!' 33 This is Eisa (Jesus), the son of Maryam; a true statement, in which they doubt. 34 Allah is not one to take to Himself a son. Hallowed be He! whensoever He decreeth an affair he only Saith to it: be, and it becometh. 35 [Jesus said], "And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path." 36 Then the sects differed [i.e. the Christians about 'Iesa (Jesus)], so woe unto the disbelievers [those who gave false witness by saying that 'Iesa (Jesus) is the son of Allah] from the meeting of a great Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection, when they will be thrown in the blazing Fire). 37 How well they will hear and see on the Day when they come before Us! The evildoers are today in clear 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 Verily We shall inherit the earth and whosoever is on it, and to Us they will return. 40