And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east. 16 She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. 17 She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah." 18 (The angel) said: "I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son." 19 'How shall I bear a son' she answered, 'when I am not touched by a human and not 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 ۞ So she conceived him, and she went away with him to a far place. 22 And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm-tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten! 23 Thereupon the angel below her cried out: "Grieve not, for your Lord has caused a stream of water to flow beneath 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 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 the child to her folk carrying him; and they said, 'Mary, thou hast surely committed a monstrous thing! 27 Sister of Aaron, your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman!" 28 Then she pointed to him. 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 hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, 31 "And dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest. 32 Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! 33 Such was Jesus, the son of Mary. That is the whole truth, about which they still dispute: 34 It befits not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son [this refers to the slander of Christians against Allah, by saying that 'Iesa (Jesus) is the son of Allah]. Glorified (and Exalted be He above all that they associate with Him). When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, "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 (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 shall they hear and how well shall they see on the Day they come to Us! But today the evil-doers are in manifest 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 It is We who will inherit the earth and all who dwell upon it: they shall all return to Us. 40