Deliverance from the Cross — Page 8
reassured her: I am but a messenger from thy Lord, that I may give thee tidings of a righteous son. She marvelled: How shall it be that I shall have a son seeing that no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste? The angel said: So it is, but thy Lord sayeth: It is easy for Me. It is so ordained that We may make him a sign unto the people and a source of Our mercy. It has been so decreed. (Maryam, 19:17-22) So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a remote place. When her time came the pains of child-birth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. Realising her condition, she cried out: Would that I had died before this and had been quite forgotten. The voice of the angel reached her from below: Grieve not; for thy Lord has provided a rivulet below thee wherein thou mayest wash thyself and the child. Then take hold of the branch of the palm tree and shake it; it will shed fresh ripe dates upon thee. Thus eat and drink and be at rest. Shouldst thou see anyone approaching, call out: I have vowed a fast to the Gracious One, and will, therefore, hold no converse with any person today. (Maryam, 19:23-27) 8