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 She said, "Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, [so leave me], if you should be fearing of Allah." 18 [The angel] answered: "I am but a messenger of thy Sustainer, [who says,] 'I shall bestow upon thee the gift of a son endowed with purity.'" 19 "How can I have a son," she said, "when no man has touched me, nor am I sinful?" 20 [The angel] replied, "So shall it be; your Lord says, 'This is easy for Me; and We shall make him a sign to people and a blessing, from Us. This has been 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 But he called her from below her, "Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. 24 and shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards thee: it will drop fresh, ripe dates upon thee. 25 So eat and drink and refresh the eye. Then if you see any mortal, say: Surely I have vowed a fast to the Beneficent Allah, so I shall not speak to any man today. 26 Then she brought the child to her folk carrying him; and they said, 'Mary, thou hast surely committed a monstrous thing! 27 O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. 28 So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?" 29 He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me 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 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 That is Jesus, the son of Mary - the word of truth about which they are in dispute. 34 It beseems not Allah that He should take to Himself a son, glory to be Him; when He has decreed a matter He only says to it "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 they will hear and see on the Day when they come before Us! The evildoers are today in clear error. 38 Warn them of that Day of Anguish, when the matter is determined whilst heedlessly they disbelieve. 39 Verily We shall inherit the earth and whosoever is on it, and to Us they will return. 40