And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east. 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 When she saw him, she said, "I seek refuge in the compassionate God from you; [do not come near] if you fear the Lord." 18 He said: I am but a messenger from thy Lord that I may bestow on thee a boy pure. 19 She said: in what wise shall there be a boy unto me, whereas not a human being hath touched me, nor have I been a harlot? 20 He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': It is a matter (so) decreed." 21 ۞ She conceived the child and retreated with him to a distant and solitary place. 22 And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish): "Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!" 23 But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; 24 If you shake the trunk of the palm tree, it will provide you with fresh ripe dates. 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 She took him to her people and they said, "Mary, this is indeed an strange thing. 27 O sister of Aaron, your father was never an evil man, nor was your mother unchaste' 28 Thereupon she pointed to him. They exclaimed: "How can we talk to one who [as yet] is a little boy in the cradle?" 29 The child proclaimed, “I am Allah’s bondman; He has given me the Book and made me a Herald of the Hidden (a Prophet).” 30 and has blessed me wherever I might be and has enjoined upon me Prayer and Zakah (purifying alms) as long as I live; 31 And duteous unto my mother, and hath not made me high-handed, unblest. 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 befits not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son [this refers to the slander of Christians against Allah, by saying that 'Iesa (Jesus) is the son of Allah]. Glorified (and Exalted be He above all that they associate with Him). When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, "Be!" and it is. 35 And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serve Him; this is the right path. 36 Then groups among them differed; so ruin is for the disbelievers from the witnessing of a Great Day. 37 How clearly will they (polytheists and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) see and hear, the Day when they will appear before Us! But the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers) today are in plain error. 38 And warn them of the Day of anguish when the case hath been decided. Now they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not. 39 Indeed, it is We who will inherit the earth and whoever is on it, and to Us they will be returned. 40