And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east. 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 She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah." 18 He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. 19 'How shall I bear a son' she answered, 'when I am not touched by a human and not unchaste' 20 He said, "Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, 'It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter [already] decreed.' " 21 ۞ So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote 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 Shake the trunk of the palm-tree towards yourself and fresh and ripe dates shall fall upon you. 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 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 Aaron! Your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman." 28 But she pointed towards him. "How can we talk to one," they said, "who is only an infant in the cradle?" 29 He said: Surely I am a servant of Allah; He has given me the Book 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 dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest. 32 Peace be upon me the day I was born and the day I will die, and the day I will be raised up alive." 33 Such is 'lsa, son of Maryam: this is the word of truth wherein they are doubting. 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 (Baby Jesus said), "Worship God who is my Lord as well as yours. This is the straight path". 36 Then groups among them differed; so ruin is for the disbelievers from the witnessing of a Great 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 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