AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 16 Then she took beside them a curtain; then We sent unto her Our Spirit, and he took unto her the form of a human being sound. 17 "I seek refuge in the Merciful from you, if you fear Him," she said. 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 She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?" 20 He said: Even so; your Lord says: It is easy to Me: and that We may make him a sign to men and a mercy from Us, and it is a matter which has been decreed. 21 ۞ When she conceived him she went away to a distant place. 22 Then the pangs of childbirth brought her to the base of the palm-tree; she said, “Oh, if only had I died before this and had become forgotten, unremembered.” 23 Then (a voice) called to her from below: "Grieve not; your Lord has made a rivulet gush forth right below you. 24 "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. 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 Then she came to her people, carrying her baby. They said: "O Mary! You have committed a monstrous thing. 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was not a wicked person, nor your mother sinful!" 28 Then she Pointed to him. They said: how shall we speak to one who is in the cradle, a child? 29 He said, 'Lo, I am God's servant; God has given me the Book, and made me a Prophet. 30 He has blessed me no matter where I dwell, commanded me to worship Him and pay the religious tax for as long as I live. 31 and has made me dutiful to my mother. He has not made me oppressive, nor bereft of God's blessings. 32 And peace on me on the day I was born, and on the day I die, and on the day I am raised to life. 33 SUCH WAS, in the words of truth, Jesus the son of Mary, about whose nature they so deeply disagree. 34 It does not behove God to have a son. Too immaculate is He! When He decrees a thing He has only to say: "Be", and it is. 35 And verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him; this is a way straight. 36 Yet the sectarians differed among themselves. Alas for the unbelievers when they see the Terrible Day! 37 How well will they hear and see [the truth] on the Day when they come before Us! Today, however, these evildoers are obviously lost in error: 38 hence, warn them of [the coming of] the Day of Regrets, when everything will have been decided - for as yet they are heedless, and they do not believe [in it]. 39 Indeed We shall inherit the earth and all that is on it, and only towards Us will they return. 40