Of the Biblical personages appearing in the Holy Qur’an, Islam’s scripture, the most prominent are Abraham, Moses and Jesus. One of the Qur’anic chapters revealed to Prophet Muhammad in Makkah is in fact honorifically entitled “Mary” (Maryam in Arabic) and has a section devoted to the annunciation, conception and birth of Jesus. The reverence in which Jesus and Mary are held by Muslims, combined with the poignancy of the Virgin’s circumstances, the touching tenor of the text, and the melodious rhythm of the verses in the original Arabic, have earned this passage universal appeal in the world of Islam. The following rendering of some of the relevant verses of “Mary” (Chapter XIX, vv. 16-34) attempts to translate what is humanly untranslatable: the pregnant meaning and inimitable beauty of the sonorous Arabic. This soul-stirring passage has moved, and continues to move, millions of devout Muslims to ecstasy and tears.

Mention Mary in the Scripture, when she withdrew

from her people to an eastern place,

and she placed a screen to seclude herself from them;

then We sent unto her Our Spirit, who presented

himself to her as a perfect man.

She said, “I take refuge in the All-merciful

from thee, if thou art God-fearing.”

Said he, “I am but a messenger of thy Lord,

that I may bestow on thee a boy most pure.”

She said, “How can I have a son when

no mortal has touched me, nor have

I been a loose woman?”

Said he, “So shall it be! Thy Lord has said,

‘It is easy for Me; and We will make him

a sign unto humankind, and a mercy from Us;

it is a matter decreed.’”

So she conceived him, and withdrew

with him to a remote place.

And the birth pangs drove her to the trunk

of the palm tree. She said, “Would that

I had died before this, and become a thing

forgotten, utterly forgotten.”

Then he called to her from below her,

“Grieve not! Thy Lord has placed

beneath thee a brooklet.

Shake also towards thee the palm-trunk;

it will drop upon thee

dates fresh and ripe.

So eat and drink and be joyful, and if

thou dost see any mortal, say, ‘I have

vowed to the All-merciful a fast, and

I will not this day speak with any

human being.’”

In time she brought the child to her folk,

Carrying him. They said, “Mary, thou hast

surely done a monstrous thing!

Kinswoman of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked

Man, nor was thy mother unchaste.”

Then she pointed to the babe. They said,

“How can we talk to one who is a child

in the cradle?”

He said, “I am the servant of God. He has

given me the Scripture, and made me a Prophet.

Blessed has He made me wherever I may be,

and He has enjoined on me prayer and

almsgiving, so long as I live;

and He has made me dutiful to my mother;

He has not made me overbearing, unblest.

Peace be upon me the day I was born,

the day that I die, and the day that I

shall be raised up alive!”

Such was Jesus, son of Mary, in word of

truth, about which they dispute....

— Interpreted by Ismail Ibrahim Nawwab

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