Mary
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.[19:26]
"So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, ’I
have vowed a fast to (God) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with
any human being’"
* v.26 : Cool thine eye: An idiom for "comfort thyself and be glad". The literal meaning should not, however, be lost sight of. She was to cool her eyes (perhaps full of tears) with the fresh water of the rivulet and take comfort that a remarkable babe had been born to her. She was also to look around, and if any one came near, she was to decline all conversation. It was quite true: she was under a vow, and could not talk to any one.
* She was to decline all conversation with man or woman, on the plea of a vow to Allah. The "fast" here does not mean abstinence literally from eating and drinking. She has just been advised to eat the dates and drink of the stream. It means abstinence from the ordinary household meals, and indeed from human intercourse generally.