(O Muhammad), recite in the Book the account of Mary, when she withdrew from her people to a place towards the east; 16 So there she screened herself from them; We therefore sent Our Spirit towards her – he appeared before her in the form of a healthy man. (Angel Jibreel – peace be upon him.) 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 just a message-bearer of your Lord, I have come to grant you a most pure boy." 19 "How can I have a son," she said, "when no man has touched me, nor am I sinful?" 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 ۞ So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place. 22 And when the birthpangs came upon her by the trunk of a palmtree, she said: 'Oh, would that I had died before this and become a thing forgotten' 23 But he called her from below her, "Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. 24 "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. 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 Then she brought him to her nation carrying him. They said: Maryam! assuredly thou hast brought a thing unheard Of. 27 O sister of Aaron! Your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman." 28 So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?" 29 [Jesus] said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. 30 and made me blessed wherever I may be; and He has enjoined upon me prayer and charity as long as I live, 31 (He has made me) kind to my mother; He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous. 32 "So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"! 33 This was Jesus, son of Mary: A true account they contend about. 34 It is not for Allah to take a son! Exaltations to Him! When He decrees a thing He only says: 'Be' and it is. 35 [Jesus said], "And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path." 36 Then groups among them differed; so ruin is for the disbelievers from the witnessing of a Great Day. 37 How sharp of hearing, how sharp of sight they will be when they come to Us. But today, these evil-doers are obviously lost in error. 38 And warn them of the Day of anguish when the case hath been decided. Now they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not. 39 Verily We shall inherit the earth and whosoever is on it, and to Us they will return. 40