Sura   3 - The Family of Imran
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SURA III  (3) The Family of Iman - (Medina - 200 verses)   (XCVII - 385) 
 
       In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
 
       Elif.  Lam.  Mim.  God! there is no god but He, the Living, the
Merciful!
 
       In truth hath He sent down to thee "the Book," which confirmeth those
which precede it:  For He had sent down the Law, and the Evangel aforetime, as
man's Guidance; and now hath He sent down the "Illumination."  (Furkan.)
 
       Verily for those who believe not in the signs of God, is a severe
chastisement!  And God is Mighty, the Avenger!
 
       God! nought that is in Earth or that is in Heaven, is hidden unto Him.
He it is who formeth you in your mothers' wombs.  There is no god but He; the
Mighty, the Wise!
 
       He it is who hath sent down to thee "the Book."  Some of its signs are
of themselves perspicuous; - these are the basis of the Book - and others are
figurative.  But they whose hearts are given to err, follow its figures,
craving discord, craving an interpretation; yet none knoweth its
interpretation but God.  And the stable in knowledge say, "We believe in it:
it is all from our Lord."  But none will bear this in mind, save men endued
with understanding.
 
       O our Lord! suffer not our hearts to go astray after that thou hast once
guided us, and give us mercy from before thee; for verily thou art He who
giveth.
 
       O our Lord!  For the day of whose coming there is not a doubt, thou wilt
surely gather mankind together.  Verily, God will not fail the promise.
 
       As for the infidels, their wealth, and their children, shall avail them
nothing against God.  They shall be fuel for the fire.
 
       After the wont of the people of Pharaoh, and of those who went before
them, they treated our signs as falsehoods.  Therefore God laid hold of them
in their sins; and God is severe in punishing!
 
3:10   Say to the infidels:  ye shall be worsted, and to Hell shall ye be
gathered together; and wretched the couch!
 
       Ye have already had a sign in the meeting of the two hosts.  The one
host fought in the cause of God, and the other was infidel.  To their own
eyesight, the infidels saw you twice as many as themselves:  And God aided with
his succour whom He would:  And in this truly was a lesson for men endued with
discernment.
 
       Fair-seeming to men is the love of pleasures from women and children,
and the treasured treasures of God and silver, and horses of mark, and flocks,
and cornfields!  Such the enjoyment of this world's life.  But God!  goodly the
home with Him.
 
       Say:  Shall I tell you of better things than these, prepared for those
who fear God, in His presence?  Theirs shall be gardens, beneath whose
pavilions the rivers flow, and in which shall they abide for aye:  and wives of
stainless purity, and acceptance with God:  for God regardeth his servants -
 
       Who say, "O our Lord!  we have indeed believed; pardon us our sins, and
keep us from the torment of the fire;" -
 
       The patient, and the truthful, the lowly, and the charitable, and they
who seek pardon at each daybreak.
 
       God witnesseth that there is no god but He:  and the angels, and mean
endued with knowledge, stablished in righteousness, proclaim "There is no god
but He, the Mighty, the Wise!"
 
       The true religion with God is Islam:  and they to whom the Scriptures
had been given, differed not till after "the knowledge" had come to them, and
through mutual jealousy.  But as for him who shall not believe in the signs of
God - God will be prompt to reckon with him!
 
       If they shall dispute with thee, then Say:  I have surrendered myself to
God, as have they who follow me.
 
       Say to those who have received the Book, and to the common folk, Do ye
surrender yourselves unto God?  If they become Muslims, then are they guided
aright:  but if they turn away - thy duty is only preaching; and God's eye is
on His servants.
 
3:20   But to those who believe not in the signs of God, and unjustly slay the
prophets, and slay those men who enjoin uprightness, - announce an afflictive
chastisement.
 
       These are they whose works come to nought in this world, and in the
next; and none shall they have to help them!
 
       Hast thou not marked those who have received a portion of the
Scriptures, when they are summoned to the Book of God, that it may settle their
differences?  Then did a part of them turn back, and withdrew far off.
 
       This - because they said, "The fire shall by no means touch us, but for
certain days:" - Their own devices have deceived them in their religion.
 
       But how, when we shall assemble them together for the day of (which)
whose coming there is no doubt, and when every soul shall be paid what it hath
earned, and they shall not be wronged?
 
       Say:  O God, possessor of all power, thou givest power to whom thou
wilt, and whom thou wilt thou dost abase!  In thy hand is good; for thou art
over all thing potent.
 
       Thou causest the night to pass into the day, and thou causest the day to
pass into the night.  Thou bringest the living out of the dead, and thou
bringest the dead out of the living; and thou givest sustenance to whom thou
wilt, without measure.
 
       Let not believers take infidels for their friends rather than believers:
whoso shall do this hath nothing to hope from God - unless, indeed, ye fear a
fear from them:  But God would have you beware of Himself:  for to God ye
return.  Say:  Whether ye hide what is in your breasts, or whether ye publish
it abroad, God knoweth it:  He knoweth what is in the heavens and what is in
the earth; and over all things is God potent.
 
       On that day shall every soul find present to it, whatever it hath
wrought of good:  and as to what it hath wrought of evil, it will wish that
wide were the space between itself and it!  But God would have you beware of
Himself; for God is kind to His servants.
 
       Say:  If ye love God, then follow me:  God will love you, and forgive
your sins, for God is Forgiving, Merciful.  Say:  Obey God and the Apostle; but
if ye turn away, then verily, God loveth not the unbelievers.
 
3:30   Verily above all human beings did God choose Adam, and Noah, and the
family of Abraham, and the family of Imran, the one the posterity of the other:
And God Heareth, Knoweth.
 
       Remember when the wife of Imran said, "O my Lord!  I vow to thee what is
in my womb, for thy special service.  Accept it from me, for thou Hearest,
Knowest!"  And when she had given birth to it, she said, "O my Lord!  Verily I
have brought forth a female," - God knew what she had brought forth; a male is
not as a female - "and I have named her Mary, and I take refuge with thee for
her and for her offspring, from Satan the stoned."
 
       So with goodly acceptance did her Lord accept her, and with goodly
growth did he make her grow.  Zacharias reared her.  So oft as Zacharias went
in to Mary at the sanctuary, he found her supplied with food.  "Oh, Mary!" said
he, "whence hast thou this?" She said, "It is from God; for God supplieth whom
He will, without reckoning!"
 
       There did Zacharias call upon his Lord:  "O my Lord!" said he,
"vouchsafe me from thyself good descendants, for thou art the hearer of
prayer." Then did the angels call to him, as he stood praying in the
sanctuary.:
 
       "God announceth John (Yahia) to thee, who shall be a verifier of the
word from God, and a greater one, chaste, and a prophet of the number of the
just."
 
       He said, "O my Lord! how shall I have a son, now that old age hath come
upon me, and my wife is barren?"  He said, "Thus will God do His pleasure."
 
       He said, "Lord! give me a token."  He said, "Thy token shall be, that
for three days thou shalt speak to no man but by signs:  But remember thy Lord
often, and praise him at even and at morn:"
 
       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
Muhammad! 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.
 
3:40   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 why 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.  "Now have I
come," he will say, "to you with a sign from your Lord:  Out of clay will I
make for you, as it were, the figure of a bird:  and I will breathe into it,
and it shall become, by God's leave, a bird.  And I will heal the blind, and
the leper; and by God's leave will I quicken the dead; and I will tell you what
ye eat, and what ye store up in your houses!  Truly in this will be a sign for
you, if ye are believers.
 
       And I have come to attest the law which was before me; and to allow you
part of that which had been forbidden you; and I come to you with a sign from
your Lord:  Fear God, then, and obey me; of a truth God is my Lord, and your
Lord; Therefore worship Him.  This is a right way."
 
       And when Jesus perceived unbelief on their part, He said, "Who my
helpers with God?" The apostles said, "We will be God's helpers!  We believe in
God, and bear thou witness that we are Muslims.
 
       O our Lord!  we believe in what thou hast sent down, and we follow the
apostle; write us up, then, with those who bear witness to him."
 
       And the Jews plotted, and God plotted:  But of those who plot is God the
best.
 
       Remember when God said, "O Jesus! verily I will cause thee to die, and
will take thee up to myself and deliver thee from those who believe not; and I
will place those who follow thee above those who believe not, until the day of
resurrection.  Then, to me is your return, and wherein ye differ will I decide
between you.
 
       And as to those who believe not, I will chastise them with a terrible
chastisement in this world and in the next; and none shall they have to help
them."
 
3:50   But as to those who believe, and do the things that are right, He will
pay them their recompense.  God loveth not the doers of evil.
 
       These signs, and this wise warning do we rehearse to thee.
 
       Verily, Jesus is as Adam in the sight of God.  He created him of dust:
He then said to him, "Be" - and he was.
 
       The truth from thy Lord!  Be not thou, therefore, of those who doubt.
 
       As for those who dispute with thee about Him, after "the knowledge" hath
come to thee, Say:  Come, let us summon our sons and your sons, our wives and
your wives, and ourselves and yourselves.  Then will we invoke and lay the
malison of God on those that lie!
 
       This recital is very truth, and there is no god but God; and verily God
is the Mighty, the Wise.
 
       But if they turn away, then verily God hath knowledge of the corrupt
doers.
 
       Say:  O people of the Book!  come ye to a just judgment between us and
you - That we worship not aught but God, and that we join no other god with
Him, and that the one of us take not the other for lords, beside God.  Then if
they turn their backs, Say:  Bear ye witness that we are Muslims.
 
       O people of the Book!  Why dispute about Abraham, when the Law and the
Evangel were not sent down till after him?  Do ye not then understand?
 
       Lo!  ye are they who dispute about that in which ye have knowledge; but
why dispute about that of which ye have no knowledge?  God hath knowledge, but
ye know nothing.
 
3:60   Abraham was neither Jew nor Christian; but he was sound in the faith, a
Muslim; and not of those who add gods to God.
 
       They among men, who are nearest of kin to Abraham, are surely those who
follow him, and this prophet Muhammad, and they who believe on him.  And God is
the protector of the faithful.
 
       A party among the people of the Book would fain mislead you: but they
only mislead themselves, and perceive it not.
 
       O people of the Book!  why clothe ye the truth with falsehood?  Why
wittingly hide the truth?
 
       Others of the people of the Book say:  "Believe in what hath been sent
down to the believers, at daybreak, and deny it at its close" - Thus do they go
back -
 
       "And believe in those only who follow your Religion" Say:  True guidance
is guidance from God - that to others may be imparted the like of what hath
been imparted to you.  Will they wrangle then with you in the presence of their
Lord?  Say:  Plenteous gifts are in the hands of God:  He imparteth them unto
whom He will, and God is Bounteous, Wise.
 
       He will vouchsafe His mercy to whom He will, for God is of great
bounteousness.
 
       Among the people of the Book are some, to one of whom if thou entrust a
thousand dinars, he will restore them to thee:  And there is of them to whom if
thou entrust a dinar, he will not restore it to thee, unless thou be ever
instant with him.
 
       This - because they say, "We are not bound to keep faith with the
ignorant (Pagan) folk, and they utter a lie against God, and know they do so;"
 
3:70   But whoso is true to his engagement, and feareth God, - verily God
loveth those that fear Him.
 
       Verily they who barter their engagement with God, and their oaths, for
some paltry price - These! no portion for them in the world to come! and God
will not speak to them, and will not look on them, on the day of resurrection,
and will not assoil them! for them, a grievous chastisement!
 
       And some truly are there among them who torture the Scriptures with
their tongues, in order that ye may suppose it to be from the Scripture, yet it
is not from the Scripture.  And they say, "This is from God;" yet it is not
from God:  and they utter a lie against God, and they know they do so.
 
       It beseemeth not a man, that God should give him the Scriptures and the
Wisdom, and the gift of prophecy, and that then he should say to his followers,
"Be ye worshippers of me, as well as of God;" but rather, "Be ye perfect in
things pertaining to God, since ye know the Scriptures, and have studied deep."
 
       God doth not command you to take the angels or the prophets as lord.
What! would he command you to become infidels after ye have been Muslims?
 
       When God entered into covenant with the prophets, he said, "This is the
Book and the Wisdom which I give you.  Hereafter shall a prophet come unto you
to confirm the Scriptures already with you.  Ye shall surely believe on him,
and ye shall surely aid him.  Are ye resolved?" said he, "and do ye accept the
covenant on these terms?"  They said, "We are resolved;"  "Be ye then the
witnesses," said he, "and I will be a witness as well as you.
 
       And whoever turneth back after this, these are surely the perverse."
 
       Other religion than that of God desire they?  To him doth everything
that is in the Heavens and in the Earth submit, in willing or forced obedience!
and to Him do they return.
 
       Say:  We believe in God, and in what hath been sent down to us, and what
hath been sent down to Abraham, and Ismael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the
tribes, and in what was given to Moses, and Jesus, and the Prophets, from their
Lord.  We make no difference between them.  And to Him are we resigned
(Muslims).
 
       Whoso desireth any other religion than Islam, that religion shall never
be accepted from him, and in the next world he shall be among the lost.
 
3:80   How shall God guide a people who, after they had believed and bore
witness that the apostle was true, and after that clear proofs of his mission
had reached them, disbelieved?  God guideth not the people who transgress.
 
       These!  their recompense, that the curse of God, and of angels, and of
all men, is on them!
 
       Under it shall they abide for ever; their torment shall not be assuaged!
nor shall God even look upon them! -
 
       Save those who after this repent and amend; for verily God is Gracious,
Merciful!
 
       As for those who become infidels, after having believed, and then
increase their infidelity - their repentance shall never be accepted. These!
they are the erring ones.
 
       As for those who are infidels, and die infidels, from no one of them
shall as much gold as the earth could contain be accepted, though he should
offer it in ransom.  These!  a grievous punishment awaiteth them; and they
shall have none to help them.
 
       Ye shall never attain to goodness till ye give alms of that which ye
love; and whatever ye give, of a truth God knoweth.
 
       All food was allowed to the children of Israel, except what Jacob forbad
himself, ere the law was sent down; Say:  Bring ye then the law and read it, if
ye be men of truth.
 
       And whoso after this inventeth the lie about God: - These are evil
doers.
 
       Say:  God speaketh truth.  Follow, therefore, the religion of Abraham,
the sound in faith, who was not one of those who joined other gods to God.
 
3:90   The first temple that was founded for mankind, was that in Becca, -
Blessed, and guidance to human beings.
 
       In it are evident signs, even the standing-place of Abraham: and he who
entereth it is safe.  And the pilgrimage to the temple, is a service due to God
from those who are able to journey thither.
 
       And as to them who believeth not - verily God can afford to dispense
with all creatures!
 
       Say:  O people of the Book! why disbelieve ye the signs of God?  But God
is witness of your doings.
 
       Say:  O people of the Book! why repel believers from the way of God?  Ye
fain would make it crooked, and yet ye are its witnesses!  But God is not
regardless of what ye do.
 
       O believers! if ye obey some amongst those who have received the
Scripture, after your very Faith will they make you infidels!
 
       But how can ye become infidels, when the signs of God are recited to
you, and his prophet is among you?  Whoever holdest fast by God, is already
guided to a straight path.
 
       O ye believers! fear God as He deserveth to be feared! and die not till
ye have become Muslims.
 
       And hold ye fast by the cord of God, all of you, and break not loose
from it; and remember God's goodness towards you, how that when ye were
enemies, He united your hearts, and by his favour ye became brethren;
 
       And when ye were on the brink of the pit of fire, he drew you back from
it.  Thus God clearly sheweth you his signs that ye may be guided;
 
3:100  And that there may be among you a people who invite to the Good, and
enjoin the Just, and forbid the Wrong.  These are they with whom it shall be
well.
 
       And be ye not like those who have formed divisions, and fallen to
variance after the clear proofs have come to them.  These!  a terrible
chastisement doth await them,
 
       On the day when faces shall turn white, and faces shall turn black!  And
as to those whose faces shall have turned black "....What! after your belief
have ye become infidels?  Taste then the chastisement, for that ye have been
unbelievers."
 
       And as to those whose faces shall have become white, they shall be
within the mercy of God:  therein shall they abide for ever.
 
       These are the signs of God: we recite them to thee in truth: And God
willeth not injustice to mankind.
 
       Whatever is in the Heavens, and whatever is on the Earth, is God's.  And
to God shall all things return.
 
       Ye are the best folk that hath been raised up unto mankind.  Ye enjoin
the Just, and ye forbid the Evil, and ye believe in God:  And if the people of
the Book had believed, it had surely been better for them!  Believers there are
among them, but most of them are perverse.
 
       They will never inflict on you but a trifling damage; and if they do
battle with you, they shall turn their backs to you: then they shall not be
succoured.
 
       Shame shall be stamped upon them wherever found, unless they ally them
with God and men!  And the wrath of God will they incur, and poverty shall be
stamped upon them!  This - for that they believed not in the signs of God, and
slew the prophets unjustly:  This - because they rebelled, and became
transgressors.
 
       Yet all are not alike:  Among the people of the Book is an upright folk,
who recite the signs of God in the night-season, and adore:
 
3:110  They believe in God and in the latter day, and enjoin justice, and
forbid evil, and speed on in good works.  These are of the righteous.
 
       And of whatever good ye do, ye shall not be denied the meed.  God
knoweth those who fear Him.
 
       But as for the infidels, their wealth, and their children shall avail
them nothing against God.  They shall be the inmates of the fire, to abide
therein eternally.
 
       The alms which they bestow in this present life, are like a freezing
wind, which falleth upon and destroyeth the cornfields of a people who have
been to themselves unjust.  God doeth them to injustice, to to themselves are
they unjust.
 
       O ye who have believed!  form not intimacies among others than
yourselves.  They will not fail to corrupt you.  They long for your ruin.
Hatred hath already shewn itself out of their mouths, but more grievous is what
their breasts conceal.  The tokens thereof we have already made plain to you,
if ye will comprehend.
 
       See now!  ye love them, but they love not you.  Ye believe the entire
Book.  And when they meet you, they say, "We believe;" but when they are apart,
they bite their fingers' ends at you, out of wrath.  Say:  "Die in your wrath!"
God truly knoweth the very recesses of your breasts.
 
       If good befalleth you it grieveth them, and when ill lighteth on you,
they rejoice in it.  But if ye be steadfast and fear God, their craft shall in
no way harm you.  For God is round about their doings.
 
       And remember when thou didst leave thy household at early morn, that
thou mightest prepare the faithful a camp for the war; - God heard, knew it -
 
       When two troops of you became full of anxious thoughts, and lost heart,
and when God became the protector of both!  In God, then, let the faithful
trust.
 
       God had already succoured you at Bedr, when ye were the weaker!  Fear
God,.  then, that ye may be thankful.
 
3:120  Then thou didst say to the faithful, "is it not enough for you that your
Lord aideth you with three thousand angels sent down from on high?"
 
       Aye:  but if ye be steadfast and fear God, and the foe come upon you in
hot haste, your Lord will help you with five thousand angels in their
cognisances!
 
       This, as pure good tidings for you, did God appoint, that your hearts
might be assured - for only from God, the Mighty, the Wise, cometh the Victory
- and that He might cut off the uttermost part of those who believed not, or
cast them down so that they should be overthrown, defeated without resource.
 
       It is none of thy concern whether He be turned unto them in kindness or
chastise them: for verily they are wrongful doers.
 
       Whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth is God's!  He forgiveth whom He
will, and whom He will, chastiseth: for God is Forgiving, Merciful.
 
       O ye who believe! devour not usury, doubling it again and again!  But
fear God, that ye may prosper.
 
       And fear the fire which is prepared for them that believe not; and obey
God and the apostle, that ye may find mercy:
 
       And vie in haste for pardon from your Lord, and a Paradise, vast as the
Heavens and the Earth, prepared for the God-fearing.
 
       Who give alms, alike in prosperity and in success, and who master their
anger, and forgive others!  God loveth the doers of good.
 
       They who, after they have done a base deed or committed a wrong against
their own selves, remember God and implore forgiveness of their sins - and who
will forgive sins but God only? - persevere not in what they have wittingly
done amiss.
 
3:130  As for these!  Pardon from their Lord shall be their recompense, and
gardens 'neath which the rivers flow; for ever shall they abide therein:  And
goodly the reward of those who labour!
 
       Already, before your time, have examples been made!  Traverse the earth,
then, and see what hath been the end of those who treat prophets as liars.
 
       This Koran is a manifest to man, and a guidance, and a warning to the
God-fearing!
 
       And be not fainthearted, and be not sorrowful:  For ye shall gain the
upper hand if ye be believers.
 
       If a wound hath befallen you, a wound like it hath already befallen
others: we alternate these days of successes and reverses among men, that God
may know those who have believed, and that He may take martyrs from among you,
- but God loveth not the wrongful doers -
 
       And that God may test those who believe, and destroy the infidels.
 
       Thought ye that ye should enter Paradise ere God had taken knowledge of
those among you who did valiantly, and of those who steadfastly endure?
 
       Ye had desired death ere ye met it.  But ye have now seen it - and ye
have beheld it - and fled from it!
 
       Muhammad is no more than an apostle; other apostles have already passed
away before him:  if he die, therefore, or be slain, will ye turn on your
heels?  But he who turneth on his heels shall not injure God at all:  And God
will certainly reward the thankful!

       No one can die except by God's permission, according to the Book that
fixeth the term of life.  He who desireth the recompense of this world, we will
give him thereof; And he who desireth the recompense of the next life, we will
give him thereof!  And we will certainly reward the thankful.
 
3:140  How many a prophet hath combated those who had with them many myriads!
Yet were they not daunted at what befel them on the path of God, nor were they
weakened, nor did they basely submit!  God loveth those who endure with
steadfastness.
 
       Nor said they more than this:  "O our Lord! forgive us our sins and our
mistakes in this our work; and set our feet firm; and help us against the
unbelieving people."  And God gave them the recompense of this world, and the
excellence of the recompense of the next.  For God loveth the doers of what is
excellent.
 
       O ye who have believed!  if ye obey the infidels, they will cause you to
turn upon your heels, and ye will fall back into perdition:
 
       But God is your liege lord, and He is the best of helpers.
 
       We will cast a dread into hearts of the infidels because they have
joined gods with God without warranty sent down; their abode shall be the fire;
and wretched shall be the mansion of the evil doers.
 
       Already had God made good to you His promise, when by His permission ye
destroyed your foes, until your courage failed you, and ye disputed about the
order, and disobeyed, after that the Prophet had brought you within view of
that for which ye longed.
 
       Some of you were for this world, and some for the next.  Then, in order
to make trial of you, He turned you to flight from them, - yet hath He now
forgiven you; for all-bounteous is God to the faithful -
 
       When ye came up the height and took no heed of any one, while the
Prophet in your rear was calling you to the fight!  God hath rewarded you with
trouble upon trouble, that ye might learn not to be chagrined at your loss of
booty, or at what befel you!  God is acquainted with your actions.
 
       Then after the trouble God sent down security upon you.  Slumber fell
upon a part of you:  as to the other part - their own passions stirred them up
to think unjustly of God with thoughts of ignorance!  They said - What gain we
by this affair?  Say:  Verily the affair resteth wholly with God.  They hid in
their minds what they did not speak out to thee, saying, "Were we to have
gained aught in this affair, none of us had been slain at this place."  Say:
Had ye remained in your homes, they who were decreed to be slain would have
gone forth to the places where they lie: - in order that God might make trial
of what was in your breasts, and might discover what was in your hearts, for
God knoweth the very secrets of the breast.
 
       Of a truth it was Satan alone who caused those of you to fail in duty
who turned back on the day when the hosts met, for some of their doings!  But
now hath God pardoned them; For God is Forgiving, Gracious.
 
3:150  O ye who believe!  be not like the infidels, who said of their brethren
when they had travelled by land or had gone forth to war, "Had they kept with
us, they had not died, and had not been slain!"|  God purposed that this affair
should cause them heart sorrow!  God maketh alive and killeth; and God
beholdeth your actions.
 
       And if ye shall be slain or die on the path of God, then pardon from God
and mercy is better than all your amassings;
 
       For if ye die or be slain, verily unto God shall ye be gathered.
 
       Of the mercy of God thou hast spoken to them in gentle terms.  Hadst
thou been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from thee.
Therefore, forgive and ask for pardon for them, and consult them in the affair
of warn, and when thou art resolved, then put thou thy trust in God, for God
loveth those who trust in Him.
 
       If God help you, none shall overcome you; but if He abandon you, who is
he that shall help you when He is gone?  In God, then, let the faithful trust.
 
       It is not the Prophet who will defraud you; - But he who shall defraud,
shall come forth with his defraudings on the day of the resurrection:  then
shall every soul be paid what it hath merited, and they shall not be treated
with injustice.
 
       Shall he who hath followed the good pleasure of God be as he who hath
brought on himself wrath from God, and whose abode shall be Hell?  and wretched
the journey thither!
 
       There are varying grades with God: and God beholdeth what ye do.
 
       Now hath God been gracious to the faithful, when he raised up among them
an apostle out of their own people, to rehearse unto them his signs, and to
cleanse them, and to give them knowledge of the Book and of Wisdom: for before
they were in manifest error.
 
       When a reverse hath befallen you, the like of which ye had before
inflicted, say ye, "Whence is this?"  Say:  It is from yourselves.  For God
hath power over all things.
 
3:160  And that which befel you on the day when the armies met, was certainly
by the will of God, and that he might know the faithful, and that he might know
the hypocrites!  And when the word was "Advance, fight on the path of God, or
drive back the foe," - they said "Had we known how to fight, we would have
followed you."  Nearer were some of them on that day to unbelief than to faith:
 
       They said with their lips what was not in their hearts!  But God knew
what they concealed,
 
       Who said of their brethren while themselves sat at home, "Had they
obeyed us, they had not been slain." Say:  Keep back death from yourselves if
ye speak truth.
 
       And repute not those slain on God's path to be dead.  Nay, alive with
their Lord, are they richly sustained;
 
       Rejoicing in what God of his bounty hath vourchsafed them, filled with
joy for those who follow after them, but have not yet overtaken them, that on
them nor fear shall come, nor grief;
 
       Filled with joy at the favours of God, and at his bounty: and that God
suffereth not the reward of the faithful to perish.
 
       As to those who after the reverse which befel them, respond to God and
the Apostle - such of them as do good works and fear God, shall have a great
reward:
 
       Who, when men said to them, "Now are the Meccans mustering against you;
therefore fear them!" it only increased their faith, and they said, "Our
sufficiency is God, and He is an excellent protector."
 
       They returned, therefore, with the favour of God, enriched by Him, and
untouched by harm; and they followed what was well pleasing to God.  And God is
of great Munificence.
 
       Only would that Satan instill the fear of his adherents:  Fear them not,
but fear me if ye are believers.
 
3:170  Let not those who view in haste after infidelity grieve thee: Verily not
one whit shall they injure God!  God will refuse them all part in the life to
come:  a severe chastisement shall be their lot.
 
       They truly who purchase infidelity at the price of their faith, shall
not injure God on whit! and a grievous chastisement shall be their lot.
 
       Let not the infidels deem that the length of days we give them is good
for them!  We only give them length of days that they may increase their sins!
and a shameful chastisement shall be their lot.
 
       It is not in God to leave the faithful in the state in which they are,
until he sever the bad from the good:
 
       Nor is God minded to lay open the secret things to you, but God chooseth
whom he will of his apostles to know them.  Believe, therefore, in God and his
apostles: and if ye believe and fear God, a great reward awaited you.
 
       And let not those who are niggard of what God hath vouchsafed them in
his bounty, think that this will be good for them - Nay, it will be bad for
them -
 
       That of which they have been niggard shall be their collar on the day of
the resurrection.  God's, the heritage of the Heavens and of the Earth!  And
God is well-informed of all ye do.
 
       Now hath God heard the saying of those who said:  "Aye, God is poor and
we are rich." We will surely write down their sayings, and their unjust
slaughter of the prophets; and we will say, "Taste ye the torment of the
burning.
 
       This, for what your hands have sent before you; and because God will not
inflict a wrong upon his servants!:
 
       To those who say, "Verily, God hath enjoined us that we are not to
credit an apostle until he present us a sacrifice which fire out of Heaven
shall devour,"
 
3:180  Say:  Already have apostles before me come to you with miracles, and
with that of which ye speak.  Wherefore slew ye them?  Tell me, if ye are men
of truth.
 
       And if they treat thee as a liar, then verily apostles have been treated
as liars before thee, though they came with clear proofs of their mission, and
with Scriptures, and with the light-giving Book.
 
       Every soul shall taste of death:  and ye shall only receive your
recompenses on the day of resurrection.  And whoso shall scape the fire, and be
brought into Paradise, shall be happy.  And the life of this world is but a
cheating fruition!
 
       Ye shall assuredly be tried in your possessions and in yourselves.  And
many hurtful things shall ye assuredly hear from those to whom the Scriptures
were given before you, and from those who join other gods with God.  But if ye
be steadfast, and fear God - this verily is needed in the affairs of life.
 
       Moreover, when God entered into a covenant with those to whom the
Scriptures had been given, and said, "Ye shall surely make it known to mankind
and not hide it," they cast it behind their backs, and sold it for a sorry
price!  But vile is that for which they have sold it.
 
       Suppose not that they who rejoice in what they have brought to pass, and
love to be praised for what they have not done - suppose not they shall escape
the chastisement.  And afflictive chastisement doth await them,
 
       For the Kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth is God's, and God hath
power over all things.
 
       Verily, in the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth, and in the
succession of the night and of the day, are signs for men of understanding
heart;
 
       Who standing, and sitting, and reclining, bear God in mind, and muse on
the creation of the Heavens and of the Earth.  "O our Lord!" say they, "thou
hast not created this in vain.  No. Glory be to Thee!  Keep us, then, from the
torment of the fire.
 
       O our Lord! surely thou wilt put him to shame whom thou shalt cause to
enter into the Fire, and the wrong-doers shall have none to help them.
 
3:190  O our Lord!  we have indeed heard the voice of one that called.  He
called us to the faith - 'Believe ye on your Lord' - and we have believed.
 
       O our Lord! forgive us then our sin, and hide away from us our evil
deeds, and cause us to die with the righteous.
 
       O our Lord! and give us what thou has promised us by thine apostles, and
put us not to shame on the day of the resurrection.  Verily, Thou wilt not fail
thy promise."
 
       And their Lord answereth them, "I will not suffer the work of him among
you that worketh, whether of male or female, to be lost.  The one of you is the
issue of the other.
 
       And they who have fled their country and quitted their homes and
suffered in my cause, and have fought and fallen, I will blot out their sins
from them, and I will bring them into gardens beneath which the streams do
flow."
 
       A recompense from God!  and God!  with Him is the perfection of
recompense!
 
       Let not prosperity in the land on the part of those who believe not,
deceive thee.  'Tis but a brief enjoyment!  Then shall Hell be their abode; and
wretched the bed!
 
       But as to those who fear their Lord - for them are the gardens 'neath
which the rivers flow:  therein shall they abide for aye.  Such their reception
with God - and that which is with God is best for the righteous.
 
       Among the people of the Book are those who believe in God, and in what
He hath sent down to you, and in what He hath sent down to them, humbling
themselves before God.  they barter not the signs of God for a mean price.
 
       These!  their recompense awaiteth them with their Lord:  aye! God is
swift to take account.
 
3:200  O ye who believe! be patient and vie in patience, and be firm, and fear
God, that it may be well with you.
-- Sura   3 - The Family of Imran