The Annunciation, the Nativity under the Palm, and Childhood Signs

Luke introduces Mary simply as a virgin living in Nazareth, betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David; her childhood is not narrated.

“Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.”

Anna dedicates three-year-old Mary to the Temple; the priest places her on the altar where she dances; she is nourished like a dove by an angel until age twelve.

“And the priest received her and kissed her and blessed her... and Mary was in the temple of the Lord nurtured like a dove, and received food from the hand of an angel.”

The wife of 'Imran vows her unborn child to Allah's service; Zachariah is appointed Mary's guardian and finds her miraculously provided with sustenance in the sanctuary.

“When the wife of 'Imran said: My Lord! I have vowed unto Thee that which is in my belly as a consecrated offering... So her Lord accepted her with full acceptance and vouchsafed to her a goodly growth; and made Zachariah her guardian. Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary where she was, he found that she had food. He said: O Mary! Whence cometh unto thee this (food)? She answered: It is from Allah. Lo! Allah giveth without stint unto whom He will.”

Mary travels to Bethlehem with Joseph for the census, gives birth, wraps Jesus in swaddling clothes, and lays him in a manger because there is no room in the inn.

“Joseph also went up from Galilee... to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem... to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him, being pregnant. While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

During the flight to Egypt, Mary rests beneath a palm tree longing for its fruit; infant Jesus speaks and commands the tree to bend its branches and open water beneath its roots.

“Then the infant Jesus, sitting with a joyful countenance in His mother's lap, said to the palm: 'O tree, bend thy branches, and refresh my mother with thy fruit.' And immediately at His word the palm bent down its top to the very feet of the blessed Mary... And Jesus said: 'Open, O palm, from thy roots, the veins of water which are hidden under the earth, and let them flow forth, that we may be satisfied.' And it opened straightway, and there began to gush forth water clear, extremely cold and sweet.”

Mary withdraws alone to a distant place; the birth pangs drive her to the trunk of a palm tree; a voice calls to her to shake the palm for fresh dates and drink from a stream beneath her.

“And she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place. And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten! Then (one) cried unto her from below her, saying: Grieve not! Thy Lord hath placed a rivulet beneath thee, and shake the trunk of the palm tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee. So eat and drink and be consoled.”

The child grows and increases in wisdom, with his first recorded public speech taking place at age twelve in the Jerusalem Temple questioning the teachers.

“The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him... After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions.”

Jesus fashions twelve sparrows from soft clay on the Sabbath, claps his hands, and commands them to fly, and they take wing alive; the Arabic Infancy Gospel also records Jesus speaking from the cradle.

“This little child Jesus, being five years old, was playing at the ford of a brook... And having made soft clay, he fashioned thereof twelve sparrows... But Jesus clapped his hands together and cried out to the sparrows and said to them: 'Go!' and the sparrows took flight and went away crying.”

Infant Jesus speaks from the cradle declaring he is a servant of Allah, given scripture and prophethood; he also fashions birds from clay and breathes life into them by Allah's leave.

“Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet... And will make him a messenger unto the Children of Israel, (saying): Lo! I come unto you with a sign from your Lord. Lo! I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, and I breathe into it and it is a bird, by Allah's leave.”