Say, "If you love God, follow me and God will love you and forgive you your sins. God is most forgiving, and most merciful." 31 Say: 'Obey Allah and obey the Messenger.' If they turn away from this then know that Allah does not love those who refuse to obey Him and His Messenger. 32 ۞ Surely Allah chose Adam and Nuh and the descendants of Ibrahim and the descendants of Imran above the nations. 33 They are the descendants one of another; and Allah is the All Hearing, the All Knowing. 34 when a woman of [the House of] 'Imran prayed: "O my Sustainer! Behold, unto Thee do I vow [the child] that is in, my womb, to be devoted to Thy service. Accept it, then, from me: verily, Thou alone art all-hearing, all-knowing!" 35 When she gave birth, she said, "My Lord, I have given birth to a girl," God knew very well what she had given birth to: a male is not like a female, "I have named her Mary and placed her and her children in Your protection from the rejected Satan." 36 And thereupon her Sustainer accepted the girl-child with goodly acceptance, and caused her to grow up in goodly growth, and placed her in the care of Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah visited her in the sanctuary, he found her provided with food. He would ask: "O Mary, whence came this unto thee?" She would answer: "It is from God; behold, God grants sustenance unto whom He wills, beyond all reckoning." 37 Forthwith Zakariyya prayed unto his Lord: my Lord bestow on me from Thine presence a goodly offspring; verily Thou! Thou art the Hearer of prayer. 38 Then the angels said to him as he stood in the chamber at prayer: "God sends you good tidings of John who will confirm a thing from God and be noble, continent, and a prophet, and one of those who are upright and do good." 39 He said: 'Lord, how shall I have a son when I am overtaken by old age and my wife is barren' He said: 'Even so, Allah does what He will' 40 'Lord,' said Zachariah, 'appoint to me a sign.' 'Thy sign,' God said, 'is that thou shalt not speak, save by tokens, to men for three days. And mention thy Lord oft, and give glory at evening and dawn.' 41