AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 16 and kept herself in seclusion from them, whereupon We sent unto her Our angel of revelation, who appeared to her in the shape of a well-made human being. 17 She said: "Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Beneficent (Allah) from you, if you do fear Allah." 18 He said: "I am just a message-bearer of your Lord, I have come to grant you a most pure boy." 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: "So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me (Allah): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (Allah), and it is a matter (already) decreed, (by Allah). 21 ۞ So she conceived him, and withdrew with him to a distant place. 22 Then the pangs of childbirth brought her to the base of the palm-tree; she said, “Oh, if only had I died before this and had become forgotten, unremembered.” 23 Then [the babe 'Iesa (Jesus) or Jibrael (Gabriel)] cried unto her from below her, saying: "Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you; 24 Shake also to thee the palm-trunk, and there shall come tumbling upon thee dates fresh and ripe. 25 Eat, then, and drink, and let thine eye be gladdened! And if thou shouldst see any human being, convey this unto him: 'Behold, abstinence from speech have I vowed unto the Most Gracious; hence, I may not speak today to any mortal. 26 She came to her nation, carrying him; and they said: 'O Mary, you have committed a monstrous thing. 27 O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. 28 Then she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child 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 hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, 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 (Prophet) Jesus, the son of Mary. A saying of truth, concerning what they doubt. 34 it does not befit the majesty of God that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! He is far above that: when He decrees something, He says only, "Be!" and it is. 35 (Baby Jesus said), "Worship God who is my Lord as well as yours. This is the straight path". 36 And yet, the sects [that follow the Bible] are at variance among themselves [about the nature of Jesus Woe, then, unto all who deny the truth when that awesome Day will appear! 37 How [clearly] they will hear and see the Day they come to Us, but the wrongdoers today are in clear error. 38 Warn them of [the coming of] the Day of Remorse, when everything will have been decided, while they are heedless and do not believe. 39 For We shall inherit the earth and all that are on it. To Us, they shall return. 40