A Dictionary of Islam Being a cyclopedia of the...

Sūrah iii. 37–43: “And remember when the angels said, ‘O Mary! verily hath God chosen thee, and purified thee, and chosen thee above the women of the worlds! O Mary! be devout towards thy Lord, and prostrate thyself, and bow down with those who bow.’ This is one of the announcements of things unseen by thee: To thee, O Muḥammad! do we reveal it; for thou wast not with them when they cast lots with reeds which of them should rear Mary; nor wast thou with them when they disputed about it. Remember when the angel said, ‘O Mary! Verily God announceth to thee the Word from Him: His name shall be, Messiah Jesus the son of Mary, illustrious in this world, and in the next, and one of those who have near access to God; and he shall speak to men alike when in the cradle and when grown up; and he shall be one of the just.’ She said, ‘How, O my Lord! shall I have a son, when man hath not touched me?’ He said, ‘Thus: God will create what He will; when He decreeth a thing, He only saith, “Be,” and it is.’ And He will teach him the Book, and the Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel; and he shall be an apostle to the children of Israel.”

Sūrah xix. 16–21: “And make mention in the Book, of Mary, when she went apart from her family, eastward, and took a veil to shroud herself from them: and We sent Our spirit to her, and he took before her the form of a perfect man. She said: ‘I fly for refuge from thee to the God of Mercy! If thou fearest Him, begone from me.’ He said: ‘I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a holy son.’ She said: ‘How shall I have a son, when man hath never touched me? and I am not unchaste.’ 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.” ’ ”

[In the earlier part of Sūrah iii. the Virgin Mary is spoken of as the daughter of ʿImrān. Commentators say that ʿImrān died before Mary was born. In the traditions it is stated “that the only two persons born into the world who have not been touched of the Devil are Mary and her son Jesus.” Thus teaching not only the Immaculate Conception of Mary, but also of her mother. “When she went eastward,” Ḥusain says, she went out of her house in an eastward direction, in order to perform her ablutions, when Gabriel appeared to her.]