He said: "So shall it be. Thy Lord hath said: 'Easy is this with me;' and we will make him a sign to mankind, and a mercy from us. For it is a thing decreed."
And she conceived him,10 and retired with him to a far-off place.
And the throes came upon her11 by the trunk of a palm. She said: "Oh, would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!"
And one cried to her from below her:12 "Grieve not thou, thy Lord hath provided a streamlet at thy feet:-
And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee:13 it will drop fresh ripe dates upon thee.
Eat then and drink, and be of cheerful eye:14 and shouldst thou see a man,
Say,-Verily, I have vowed abstinence to the God of mercy.-To no one will I speak this day."
Then came she with the babe to her people, bearing him. They said, "O Mary! now hast thou done a strange thing!
O sister of Aaron!15 Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother."
And she made a sign to them, pointing towards the babe. They said, "How shall we speak with him who is in the cradle, an infant?"