AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 16 So there she screened herself from them; We therefore sent Our Spirit towards her – he appeared before her in the form of a healthy man. (Angel Jibreel – peace be upon him.) 17 "I seek refuge in the Merciful from you, if you fear Him," she said. 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 shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?" 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 throes (of childbirth) compelled her to betake herself to the trunk of a palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! 23 But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): "Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; 24 "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee. 25 "So eat and drink and be glad, and if you see any human being, say: 'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Beneficent (Allah) so I shall not speak to any human being this day. 26 Carrying her child, she brought him to her people. They said, "O Mary, you have indeed done something terrible! 27 O sister of Haroun! your father was not a bad man, nor, was your mother an unchaste woman. 28 Mary pointed to the child then; but they said, 'How shall we speak to one who is still in the cradle, a little child?' 29 He said, "I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and has appointed me to be a Prophet. 30 "And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live; 31 “And has made me good to my mother and not made me forceful, ill-fated.” 32 "And Salam (peace) be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!" 33 Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. 34 it does not befit the majesty of God that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! He is far above that: when He decrees something, He says only, "Be!" and it is. 35 (Jesus had said): "Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so serve Him alone. This is the Straight Way." 36 Then the sects differed [i.e. the Christians about 'Iesa (Jesus)], so woe unto the disbelievers [those who gave false witness by saying that 'Iesa (Jesus) is the son of Allah] from the meeting of a great Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection, when they will be thrown in the blazing Fire). 37 How well will they hear and see [the truth] on the Day when they come before Us! Today, however, these evildoers are obviously lost in 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 Indeed, it is We who will inherit the earth and whoever is on it, and to Us they will be returned. 40