And mention thou in the Book Maryam, what time she retired from her people to a place eastward. 16 And took cover from them, We sent a spirit of Ours to her who appeared before her in the concrete form of a man. 17 Mary exclaimed: "I surely take refuge from you with the Most Compassionate Lord, if you are at all God-fearing." 18 'I am the Messenger of your Lord' he replied, 'and have come to give you a pure boy' 19 She said, "How can I have a son when no man has touched me; and neither have I been unchaste?" 20 He said, "This is true but your Lord says, "It is very easy for Me. We have decided to give you a son as evidence (of Our existence) for human beings and a mercy from Us. This is a decree already ordained." 21 ۞ So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place. 22 The birth pangs led her to the trunk of a date-palm tree. "Would that I had died before this," she said, "and become a thing forgotten, unremembered." 23 Then [the babe 'Iesa (Jesus) or Jibrael (Gabriel)] cried unto her from below her, saying: "Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you; 24 "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. 25 Eat therefore, and drink, and be comforted; and if thou shouldst see any mortal, say, "I have vowed to the All-merciful a fast, and today I will not speak to any man. 26 Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. 27 "O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!" 28 So she pointed to him (Prophet Jesus). But they replied: 'How can we speak with a baby in the cradle' 29 He said, "I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and has appointed me to be a Prophet. 30 He made me to be blessed wherever I am, and He has charged me with prayer and charity for as long as I shall live. 31 And duteous unto my mother, and hath not made me high-handed, unblest. 32 "And Salam (peace) be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!" 33 Such was (Prophet) Jesus, the son of Mary. A saying of truth, concerning what they doubt. 34 God is too Exalted to have a son. When He decides to bring some thing into existence He needs only command it to exist and it comes into existence. 35 Surely God is my Lord, and your Lord; So serve you Him. This is a straight 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 clearly shall they hear and how clearly shall they see on the day when they come to Us; but the unjust this day are in manifest error. 38 And warn them of the Day of Regret when the matter will have been decided; and they are in neglect, and they do not accept faith. 39 Indeed We shall inherit the earth and all that is on it, and only towards Us will they return. 40