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 (And when she saw him) she said: 'I take refuge in the Merciful from you! If you are fearful' 18 He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son. 19 "How can I have a son," she said, "when no man has touched me, nor am I sinful?" 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 ۞ When she conceived him she went away to a distant place. 22 And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, "Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten." 23 But he called her from below her, "Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. 24 And shake toward thee the trunk of the palm-tree it shall drop on thee dates fresh and ripe. 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 And in time she returned to her people, carrying the child with her. They said: "O Mary! Thou hast indeed done an amazing thing! 27 O sister of Haroun! your father was not a bad man, nor, was your mother an unchaste woman. 28 Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? 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 likewise to cherish my mother; He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous. 32 Blessed was I on the day I was born, and blessed I shall be on the day I die and on the day I am raised to life again." 33 That is Jesus, the son of Mary - the word of truth about which they are in dispute. 34 It befitteth not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. 35 And verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him; this is a way straight. 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, [O Muhammad], of the Day of Regret, when the matter will be concluded; and [yet], they are in [a state of] heedlessness, and they do not believe. 39 It is We Who will inherit the earth, and all beings thereon: to Us will they all be returned. 40