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 (And when she saw him) she said: 'I take refuge in the Merciful from you! If you are fearful' 18 He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. 19 Said she: "How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me? - for, never have I been a loose woman!" 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 ۞ So she conceived him, and she went away with him to a far place. 22 And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" 23 Then she heard the baby saying, "Do not be sad. Your Lord has caused a stream to run at your feet. 24 "And shake the trunk of date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe-dates upon you." 25 Eat, drink, and rejoice. Should you see a person going by, tell him that on this day you have promised the Beneficent God to fast and never talk to any human being." 26 She took him to her people and they said, "Mary, this is indeed an strange thing. 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was not a wicked person, nor your mother sinful!" 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 [Jesus] said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. 30 and has blessed me wherever I might be and has enjoined upon me Prayer and Zakah (purifying alms) as long as I live; 31 And dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed; 32 Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! 33 Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. 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 [thus it was that Jesus always said]: "Verily, God is my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer; so worship [none but] Him: this [alone] is a straight way." 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 they come to Us! But the evildoers even today 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 who dwell upon it: they shall all return to Us. 40