And mention thou in the Book Maryam, what time she retired from her people to a place eastward. 16 She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects. 17 She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art Allah-fearing. 18 He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son. 19 She said, "How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?" 20 [The angel] answered: "Thus it is; [but] thy Sustainer says, 'This is easy for Me; and [thou shalt have a son,] so that We might make him a symbol unto mankind and an act of grace from US. And it was a thing decreed [by God]: 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 a voice called out to her from below, "Do not despair. Your Lord has provided a brook that runs at your feet, 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 consoled. And if thou meetest any mortal, say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal. 26 Then she brought the child to her folk carrying him; and they said, 'Mary, thou hast surely committed a monstrous thing! 27 Sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother a woman unchaste.' 28 She pointed to the baby (and referred them to him for their answer). They said, "How can we talk to a baby in the cradle?" 29 He (the baby) said: 'I am the worshiper of Allah. Allah has given me the Book and made me a Prophet. 30 And He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and He has enjoined on me prayer and poor-rate so long as I live; 31 And duteous unto my mother, and hath not made me high-handed, unblest. 32 Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!' 33 This is Eisa (Jesus), the son of Maryam; a true statement, in which they doubt. 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 God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him alone. That is the right path. 36 But the sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming) Judgment of a Momentous Day! 37 How keenly would they hear and see when they come before Us then, even though today the evil-doers are lost in palpable error. 38 And warn thou them of the Day of Sighing when the affair shall have been decreed while yet they are in negligence and are not believing. 39 Surely We inherit the earth and all those who are on it, and to Us they shall be returned. 40