And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east. 16 and kept herself in seclusion from them. We sent her Our angel, who presented himself to her as a full-grown human being. 17 She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art Allah-fearing. 18 He replied: "I am only a messenger from your Lord (sent) to bestow a good son on you." 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): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': It is a matter (so) decreed." 21 ۞ and in time she conceived him, and then she withdrew with him to a far-off 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 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 toward thee the trunk of the palm-tree it shall drop on thee dates fresh and ripe. 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 him to her nation carrying him. They said: Maryam! assuredly thou hast brought a thing unheard Of. 27 Sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother a woman unchaste.' 28 But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?" 29 He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a prophet; 30 And He hath made me blest wheresoever I may be, and enjoined on me the prayer and the poor-rate as long as I am alive. 31 (He has made me) kind to my mother; He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous. 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 This is Jesus, the son of Mary; and this is the truth about him concerning which they are in 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 Surely God is my Lord, and your Lord; So serve you Him. This is a straight path. 36 But the parties have fallen into variance among themselves, then woe to those who disbelieve for the scene of a Dreadful 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 For We shall inherit the earth and all that are on it. To Us, they shall return. 40