AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ, Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place 16 So she took a veil (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our spirit, and there appeared to her a well-made man. 17 Mary exclaimed: "I surely take refuge from you with the Most Compassionate Lord, if you are at all God-fearing." 18 "I am only the messenger of your Lord," he replied. "I shall bestow upon you the gift of a son endowed with purity." 19 She said: "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?" 20 He said, “So it is; your Lord has said, ‘This is easy for Me’; and in order that We make him a sign for mankind and a Mercy from Us; and this matter has been decreed.” 21 ۞ and in time she conceived him, and then she withdrew with him to a far-off place. 22 Then the pangs of childbirth brought her to the base of the palm-tree; she said, “Oh, if only had I died before this and had become forgotten, unremembered.” 23 Thereupon the angel below her cried out: "Grieve not, for your Lord has caused a stream of water to flow beneath you. 24 "And shake the trunk of date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe-dates upon you." 25 Eat and drink, and be at peace. If you see any man, tell him: 'I have verily vowed a fast to Ar-Rahman and cannot speak to any one this day.' 26 Then she brought the child to her people. They exclaimed: "O Mary, you have done a most astonishing thing! 27 O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother a loose woman!" 28 Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? 29 He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet, 30 And blessed me wherever I may be, and enjoined on me worship and zakat for as long as I live, 31 He has made me dutiful toward my mother, and He has not made me arrogant or wicked. 32 Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!' 33 Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning 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 And said Eisa, “Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord – therefore worship Him; this is the Straight Path.” 36 But the parties have fallen into variance among themselves, then woe to those who disbelieve for the scene of a Dreadful Day. 37 (Muhammad), how clearly they will hear and see on the day when they will be brought into Our presence. Today the wrong doers are in manifest 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 Verily! We will inherit the earth and whatsoever is thereon. And to Us they all shall be returned, 40