Say [O Prophet]: "If you love God, follow me, [and] God will love you and forgive you your sins; for God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace." 31 Say: Obey Allah and the Apostle; but if they turn back, then surely Allah does not love the unbelievers. 32 ۞ Allah chose Adam and Noah, the House of Abraham and the House of Imran above all worlds. 33 Descendants, some of them from others. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing. 34 Remember when Imran's wife prayed to her Lord saying, "I have made a vow to dedicate to Your service whatever is in my womb. Lord, accept it from me. You are All-hearing and All-knowing". 35 So when she gave birth to it, she said, “My Lord! I have indeed given birth to a girl!” And Allah well knows what she gave birth to; and the boy she had prayed for is not like this girl; “And I have named her Maryam and I give her and her offspring in Your protection, against Satan the outcast.” 36 So her Lord fully accepted her (Maryam), and gave her an excellent development; and gave her in Zakaria’s guardianship; whenever Zakaria visited her at her place of prayer, he found new food with her; he said, “O Maryam! From where did this come to you?” She answered, “It is from Allah; indeed Allah gives to whomever He wills, without limit account.” (Miracles occur through the friends of Allah.) 37 There did Zakariya pray to his Lord; he said: My Lord! grant me from Thee good offspring; surely Thou art the Hearer of prayer. 38 And the angels called to him, standing in the Sanctuary at worship, 'Lo, God gives thee good tidings of John, who shall confirm a Word of God, a chief, and chaste, a Prophet, righteous.' 39 "How can I have a son, O Lord," he said, "for I am old and my wife is barren?" "Thus," came the answer, "God does as He wills." 40 Zachariah prayed to God saying, "Lord, show me the evidence (that it is Divine revelation)." The Lord replied, "You must not speak to people for three days except with gestures. Commemorate your Lord often and glorify Him in the early mornings and the evenings." 41