AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 16 and kept herself in seclusion from them. We sent her Our angel, who presented himself to her as a full-grown human being. 17 When she saw him, she said, "I seek refuge in the compassionate God from you; [do not come near] if you fear the Lord." 18 If thou fearest God... He said, 'I am but a messenger come from thy Lord, to give thee a boy most pure. 19 She said: How can I have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste? 20 He said, 'Even so thy Lord has said: "Easy is that for Me; and that We may appoint him a sign unto men and a mercy from Us; it is a thing decreed."' 21 ۞ Thereupon she carried him, and retired to a far off 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 “And shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards you – ripe fresh dates will fall upon you.” (This was a miracle – the date palm was dry and it was winter season.) 25 “Therefore eat and drink and appease your eyes; so if you meet any person then say, ‘I have pledged a fast (of silence) to the Most Gracious – I will therefore not speak to any person today.’” 26 Then she came to her people, carrying her baby. They said: "O Mary! You have committed a monstrous thing. 27 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 The child proclaimed, “I am Allah’s bondman; He has given me the Book and made me a Herald of the Hidden (a Prophet).” 30 “And He has made me blessed wherever I be; and ordained upon me prayer and charity, as long as I live.” 31 "(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable; 32 And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive." 33 Such is Isa, son of Marium; (this is) the saying of truth about which they dispute. 34 It is not for God to take a son unto Him. Glory be to Him! When He decrees a thing, He but says to it 'Be,' and it is. 35 God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him alone. That is the right path. 36 But the parties have fallen into variance among themselves, then woe to those who disbelieve for the scene of a Dreadful Day. 37 How [clearly] they will hear and see the Day they come to Us, but the wrongdoers today are in clear error. 38 And warn them of the day of intense regret, when the matter shall have been decided; and they are (now) in negligence and they do not believe. 39 Verily We shall inherit the earth and whosoever is on it, and to Us they will return. 40