And he went forth unto his people from the chamber, and made a sign unto them, [as though he would say] Glorify [God] in the morning and in the evening _as usual_. _And he knew by his being prevented from speaking unto them that his wife had conceived John. And after his birth, by some years, God said unto him_, O John, receive the book (_that is, the Law_) with resolution. And We bestowed on him wisdom (_the gift of prophecy_) [when he was yet] a child, _three years of age_, and compassion from Us _for mankind_, and [a disposition to bestow] alms _upon them_. And he was pious, and dutiful to his parents, and was not proud [nor] rebellious _toward his Lord_; and peace _from Us_ [was] on him on the day when he was born, and on the day of his death, and [shall be] on the day when he shall be raised to life. (xix. 12-15.) And _remember_ when the angels (_that is, Gabriel_) said, O Mary, verily God hath chosen thee and hath purified thee and hath chosen thee above the women of the peoples _of thy time_. O Mary, be devout towards thy Lord and prostrate thyself and bow down with those who bow down: _pray with those who pray_.—This is [one] of the announcements of things unseen _by thee_: We reveal it unto thee, _O Moḥammad_; for thou wast not with them when they cast their divining arrows _that it might appear to them_ which of them should rear Mary, and thou wast not with them when they disputed together _as to rearing her_.—_Remember_ when the angels (_that is, Gabriel_) said, O Mary, verily God promiseth thee [the] Word from Him, whose name [shall be] the Messiah [El-Meseeḥ], Jesus the son of Mary, honourable in this world _by his prophetic office_, and in the world to come _by his intercession and high stations_, and of those admitted near _unto God_; and he shall speak unto men in the cradle, and when of full age,[329] and [he shall be] of the righteous.—She said, O my Lord, how shall I have a son, when a man hath not touched me?—He answered, _It shall be_ thus; God will create what He pleaseth: when He determineth a thing, He only saith unto it, Be,—and it is. And He will teach him writing and wisdom and the Law and the Gospel, and _constitute him_ an apostle to the children of Israel, _in youth or after adolescence_. _And Gabriel breathed into the bosom of her shift; whereupon she conceived; and those events of her history which are related in the Soorat Maryam_ [Ḳur. xix.] _happened_. (iii. 37-43.)