AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 16 And she took, in seclusion from them, a screen. Then We sent to her Our Angel, and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man. 17 She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art Allah-fearing. 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 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 is; your Lord has said, ‘This is easy for Me’; and in order that We make him a sign for mankind and a Mercy from Us; and this matter has been decreed.” 21 ۞ Then she conceived him and withdrew with him to a far-off place. 22 And the throes (of childbirth) compelled her to betake herself to the trunk of a palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! 23 Then (a voice) called to her from below: "Grieve not; your Lord has made a rivulet gush forth right below you. 24 Shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards yourself and fresh and ripe dates shall fall upon you. 25 So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, 'Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.' " 26 And in time she returned to her people, carrying the child with her. They said: "O Mary! Thou hast indeed done an amazing thing! 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was not a wicked person, nor your mother sinful!" 28 So she pointed to him (Prophet Jesus). But they replied: 'How can we speak with a baby in the cradle' 29 [But] he said: "Behold, I am a servant of God. He has vouchsafed unto me revelation and made me a prophet, 30 And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive 31 He has made me dutiful toward my mother, and He has not made me arrogant or wicked. 32 Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!' 33 Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which 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 (Jesus had said): "Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so serve Him alone. This is the Straight Way." 36 Then groups among them differed; so ruin is for the disbelievers from the witnessing of a Great 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 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 It is We Who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon: to Us will they all be returned. 40