AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 16 And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our Spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. 17 Mary exclaimed: "I surely take refuge from you with the Most Compassionate Lord, if you are at all 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 mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste? 20 "Even so" he replied, "as such your Lord has said: 'Easy it is for Me. And We shall make him a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us. It is a matter decreed.'" 21 ۞ Then she conceived him and withdrew with him to a far-off place. 22 And [when] the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree, she exclaimed: "Oh, would that I had died ere this, and had become a thing forgotten, utterly forgotten!" 23 But a voice called out to her from below, "Do not despair. Your Lord has provided a brook that runs at your feet, 24 Shake the trunk of the date-palm tree, and it will drop ripe dates for you. 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 Then she brought him to her people, carrying him. They said, "O Mary, you have certainly done a thing unprecedented. 27 “O sister of Haroon, neither was your father an evil man nor was your mother of poor conduct!” 28 Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? 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 has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined on me Salat (prayer), and Zakat, as long as I live." 31 "(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; 32 Blessed was I on the day I was born, and blessed I shall be on the day I die and on the day I am raised to life again." 33 Such was the true story of Jesus, the son of Mary, about which they dispute bitterly. 34 It does not behove God to have a son. Too immaculate is He! When He decrees a thing He has only to say: "Be", and it is. 35 And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serve Him; this is the right path. 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 well will they hear and see [the truth] on the Day when they come before Us! Today, however, these evildoers are obviously lost in error: 38 But warn them of the Day of Distress, when the matter will be determined: for (behold,) they are negligent and they do not believe! 39 Behold, We alone shall remain after the earth and all who live on it have passed away, and [when] unto Us all will have been brought back. 40