While Mary was bathing after her period was over...

While Mary was bathing after her period was over, having chosen a sunny spot because it was then winter and that day was the shortest day of the year and placed a curtain between her and the rest of the house residents, arch-angel Gabriel appeared. He gave her the glad tiding of Jesus, then he blew in the pocket of her outer loose garment. Al-Hasan says that the Nazarenes had taken the east as their qibla because Mary had taken a place facing the east [prior to her conception].

When she was big with Jesus, her cousin Joseph the carpenter was in her company, and they were both going to the temple one day near Mount Zion. That temple was their greatest. They used to repair it, heat it, and sweep it, and nobody knew anyone more diligent or dedicated that both of them. The first person who found it objectionable that she should be pregnant was this same cousin and fellow servant of the temple, Joseph the carpenter.

When he saw what had happened to her, he thought it was monstrous and horrible, and he did not know what to do or what to say to her. Whenever he contemplated upon charging her, he remembered her uprightness, adoration, and innocence and the fact that she was never out of his sight even for one hour. If he desired to think of her as innocent, he saw the signs of her pregnancy. When he could not keep it to himself any longer, he decided to discuss it with her.

The first thing he said to her was, “I have noticed something about you to which I have found myself reacting, and I have been trying to keep it to myself, but I finally decided that discussing it with you may set my mind at ease.” She said to him, “Say it nicely.” He asked her, “Tell (54) me, Mary, has there been any trees growing without seeds?” She said, “Yes!” He asked her again, “Then has there been trees growing without rain?” She said, “Yes!” Then he said, “Can there be children without parents?” She said, “Yes!

Don't you know that Allah Almighty caused all the trees to grow when He created them without first sowing their seeds, for seeds come from trees? Have you not come to know that Allah caused the trees to grow without rain, and through His might He caused the rain to sustain the species of trees after having created each species separately?