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, 'I take refuge in the All-merciful from thee! 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, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?" 20 He said: even so! Thy Lord saith: it is with Me easy, and it is in order that We may make him a sign unto mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is an affair decreed. 21 ۞ She conceived the child and retreated with him to a distant and solitary place. 22 And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, "Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten." 23 He called from below to her: 'Do not sorrow, look, your Lord has provided a rivulet below you, 24 And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. 25 "So eat and drink and be glad, and if you see any human being, say: 'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Beneficent (Allah) so I shall not speak to any human being this day. 26 And she came to her people with him, carrying him (with her). They said: O Marium! surely you have done a strange thing. 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was not a wicked person, nor your mother sinful!" 28 Then she Pointed to him. They said: how shall we speak to one who is in the cradle, a child? 29 He Said: verily I am a bondman of Allah; He hath vouchsafed 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 duteous unto my mother, and hath not made me high-handed, unblest. 32 Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!' 33 That is Jesus, son of Mary, in word of truth, concerning which they are doubting. 34 It befits not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son [this refers to the slander of Christians against Allah, by saying that 'Iesa (Jesus) is the son of Allah]. Glorified (and Exalted be He above all that they associate with Him). When He decrees a thing, 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 (The followers of Jesus) turned themselves into quarrelling sects. The disbelievers shall face a woeful condition on the great Day (of Judgment). 37 How sharp of hearing, how sharp of sight they will be when they come to Us. But today, these evil-doers are obviously lost in error. 38 And warn them, [O Muhammad], of the Day of Regret, when the matter will be concluded; and [yet], they are in [a state of] heedlessness, and they do not believe. 39 Verily We! We shall inherit the earth and whatsoever is thereon: and unto Us they shall be returned. 40