al-Imran (The Family of Imran, The House of Imran) at IslamAwakened.com

3:6 Allah — Him from Whom nothing is hidden, either on earth or in heaven. It is He who forms you in the womb however He wills. There is no god but Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise.

3:7 It is He who sent down the Book to you from Him: ayats containing clear judgements — they are the core of the Book — and others which are open to interpretation. Those with deviation in their hearts follow what is open to interpretation in it, desiring conflict, seeking its inner meaning. No one knows its inner meaning but Allah. Those firmly rooted in knowledge say, ´We have iman in it. All of it is from our Lord.´ But only people of intelligence pay heed.

3:8 ´Our Lord, do not make our hearts swerve aside after You have guided us. And give us mercy from You. You are the Ever-Giving.

3:9 Our Lord, You are the Gatherer of mankind to a Day of which there is no doubt. Allah will not break His promise.´

3:10 As for those who are kafir, their wealth and children will not help them against Allah in any way. They are fuel for the Fire,

3:11 as was the case with the people of Pharaoh and those before them. They denied Our Signs so Allah seized them for their wrong actions. Allah is fierce in retribution.

3:12 Say to those who are kafir: ´You will be overwhelmed and crowded into Hell. What an evil resting-place!´

3:13 There was a sign for you in the two parties which met face to face, one party fighting in the Way of Allah and the other kafirun. You saw them as twice their number with your own eyes. Allah reinforces with His help whoever He wills. There is instruction in that for people of insight.

3:14 To mankind the love of worldly appetites is painted in glowing colours: women and children, and heaped-up mounds of gold and silver, and horses with fine markings, and livestock and fertile farmland. All that is merely the enjoyment of the life of this wotld. The best homecoming is in the presence of Allah.

3:15 Say, ´Shall I tell you of something better than that?´ Those who have taqwa will have Gardens with their Lord, with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever, and purified wives, and the Pleasure of Allah. Allah sees His slaves:

3:16 those who say, ´Our Lord, we have iman, so forgive us our wrong actions and safeguard us from the punishment of the Fire.´

3:17 The steadfast, the truthful, the obedient, the givers, and those who seek forgiveness before dawn.

3:18 Allah bears witness that there is no god but Him, as do the angels and the people of knowledge, upholding justice. There is no god but Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise.

3:19 The deen in the sight of Allah is Islam. Those given the Book only differed after knowledge had come to them, envying one another. As for those who reject Allah´s Signs, Allah is swift at reckoning.

3:20 If they argue with you, say, ´I have submitted myself completely to Allah, and so have all who follow me.´ Say to those given the Book and those who have no Book, ´Have you become Muslim?´ If they become Muslim, they have been guided. If they turn away, you are only responsible for transmission. Allah sees His slaves.

3:21 As for those who reject Allah´s Signs, and kill the Prophets without any right to do so, and kill those who command justice, give them news of a painful punishment.

3:22 They are the ones whose actions come to nothing in this world or the Next World. They will have no helpers.

3:23 Do you not see those who have been given a portion of the Book being invited to let Allah´s Book be the judge between them? But then a group of them turn away.

3:24 That is because they say, ´The Fire will only touch us for a number of days.´ Their inventions have deluded them in their deen.

3:25 But how will it be when We gather them all together for a Day about which there is no doubt? Every self will be paid in full for what it earned. They will not be wronged.

3:26 Say, ´O Allah! Master of the Kingdom! You give sovereignty to whoever You will You take sovereignty from whoever You will. You exalt whoever You will You abase whoever You will. All good is in Your hands. You have power over all things.

3:27 You merge the night into the day. You merge the day into the night. You bring out the living from the dead. You bring out the dead from the living. You provide for whoever You will without any reckoning.´

3:28 The muminun should not take kafirun as friends rather than muminun. Anyone who does that has nothing to do with Allah at all — unless it is because you are afraid of them. Allah advises you to beware of Him. Allah is the final destination.

3:29 Say, ´Whether you conceal what is in your breasts or make it known, Allah knows it. He knows what is in the heavens and what is on earth. Allah has power over all things.´

3:30 On the Day that each self finds the good it did, and the evil it did, present there in front of it, it will wish there were an age between it and then. Allah advises you to beware of Him. Allah is Ever-Gentle with His slaves.

3:31 Say, ´If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you and forgive you for your wrong actions. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.´

3:32 Say, ´Obey Allah and the Messenger.´ Then if they turn away, Allah does not love the kafirun.

3:33 Allah chose Adam and Nuh and the family of Ibrahim and the family of ´Imran over all other beings —

3:34 descendants one of the other. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

3:35 Remember when the wife of ´Imran said, ´My Lord, I have pledged to You what is in my womb, devoting it to Your service. Please accept my prayer. You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.´

3:36 When she gave birth, she said, ´My Lord! I have given birth to a girl´ — and Allah knew very well what she had given birth to, male and female are not the same — ´and I have named her Maryam and placed her and her children in Your safekeeping from the accursed Shaytan.´

3:37 Her Lord accepted her with approval and made her grow in health and beauty. And Zakariyya became her guardian. Every time Zakariyya visited her in the Upper Room, he found food with her. He said, ´Maryam, how did you come by this?´ She said, ´It is from Allah. Allah provides for whoever He wills without any reckoning.´

3:38 Then and there Zakariyya called on his Lord and said, ´O Lord, grant me by Your favour an upright child. You are the Hearer of Prayer.´

3:39 The angels called out to him while he was standing in prayer in the Upper Room: ´Allah gives you the good news of Yahya, who will come to confirm a Word from Allah, and will be a leader and a celibate, a Prophet and one of the righteous.´

3:40 He said, ´My Lord, how can I possibly have a son when I have reached old age and my wife is barren?´ He said, ´It will be so. Allah does whatever He wills.´

3:41 He said, ´My Lord, appoint a Sign for me.´ He said, ´Your Sign is that you will not speak to people for three days, except by gesture. Remember your Lord much and glorify Him in the evening and after dawn.´

3:42 And when the angels said, ´Maryam, Allah has chosen you and purified you. He has chosen you over all other women.

3:43 Maryam, obey your Lord and prostrate and bow with those who bow.´

3:44 This is news from the Unseen which We reveal to you. You were not with them when they cast their reeds to see which of them would be the guardian of Maryam. You were not with them when they quarrelled.

3:45 When the angels said, ´Maryam, Allah gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, ´Isa, son of Maryam, of high esteem in this world and the Next World, and one of those brought near.

3:46 He will speak to people in the cradle, and also when fully grown, and will be one of the righteous,´

3:47 she said, ´My Lord! How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me?´ He said, ´It will be so.´ Allah creates whatever He wills. When He decides on something, He just says to it, ´Be!´ and it is.

3:48 He will teach him the Book and Wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel,

3:49 as a Messenger to the tribe of Israel, saying: ´I have brought you a Sign from your Lord. I will create the shape of a bird out of clay for you and then breathe into it and it will be a bird by Allah´s permission. I will heal the blind and lepers, and bring the dead to life, by Allah´s permission. I will tell you what you eat and what you store up in your homes. There is a Sign for you in that if you are muminun.

3:50 I come confirming the Torah I find already there, and to make lawful for you some of what was previously forbidden to you. I have brought you a Sign from your Lord. So have taqwa of Allah and obey me.

3:51 Allah is my Lord and your Lord so worship Him. That is a straight path.´

3:52 When ´Isa sensed kufr on their part, he said, ´Who will be my helpers to Allah?´ The disciples said, ´We are Allah´s helpers. We believe in Allah. Bear witness that we are Muslims.

3:53 Our Lord, we have iman in what You have sent down and have followed the Messenger, so write us down among the witnesses.´

3:54 They plotted and Allah plotted. But Allah is the best of plotters.*

3:55 When Allah said, ´´Isa, I will take you back and raise you up to Me and purify you of those who are kafir. And I will place the people who follow you above those who are kafir until the Day of Rising. Then you will all return to Me, and I will judge between you regarding the things about which you differed.

3:56 As for those who are kafir, I will punish them with a harsh punishment in this world and the Next World. They will have no helpers.´

3:57 As for those who have iman and do right actions, We will pay them their wages in full. Allah does not love wrongdoers.

3:58 That is what We recite to you of the Signs and the wise Reminder.

3:59 The likeness of ´Isa in Allah´s sight is the same as Adam. He created him from earth and then He said to him, ´Be!´ and he was.

3:60 It is the truth from your Lord so do not be among the doubters.

3:61 If anyone argues with you about him after the knowledge that has come to you, say, ´Come then! Let us summon our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves. Then let us make earnest supplication and call down the curse of Allah upon the liars.´

3:62 This is the true account: there is no other god besides Allah. Allah — He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.

3:63 And if they turn away, Allah knows the corrupters.

3:64 Say, ´People of the Book! come to a proposition which is the same for us and you — that we should worship none but Allah and not associate any partners with Him and not take one another as lords besides Allah.´ If they turn away, say, ´Bear witness that we are Muslims.´

3:65 ´People of the Book! why do you argue concerning Ibrahim when the Torah and Injil were only sent down after him? Why do you not use your intellect?

3:66 You are people arguing about something of which you have no knowledge. Why do you argue about something of which you have no knowledge? Allah knows; you do not know.´

3:67 Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian. but a man of pure natural belief — a Muslim. He was not one of the idolaters.

3:68 The people with the strongest claim to Ibrahim are those who followed him and this Prophet and those who have iman. Allah is the Protector of the muminun.

3:69 A group of the People of the Book would love to misguide you. They only misguide themselves but they are not aware of it.

3:70 People of the Book! why do you reject Allah´s Signs when you yourselves are there as witnesses?

3:71 People of the Book! why do you mix truth with falsehood and knowingly conceal the truth?

3:72 A group of the People of the Book say, ´At the beginning of the day, you should claim to have iman in what was sent down to those who have iman, and then at the end of the day, you should reject it, so that hopefully they will revert.

3:73 Do not trust anyone except for those who follow your deen.´ Say, ´Allah´s guidance is true guidance. But you think it is impossible for anyone to be given the same as you were given, or to argue with you before your Lord.´ Say, ´All favour is in Allah´s Hand and He gives it to whoever He wills. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.

3:74 He picks out for His mercy whoever He wills. Allah´s favour is indeed immense.´

3:75 Among the People of the Book there are some who, if you entrust them with a pile of gold, will return it to you. But there are others among them who, if you entrust them with just a single dinar, will not return it to you, unless you stay standing over them. That is because they say, ´We are under no obligation where the gentiles are concerned.´ They tell a lie against Allah and they know it.

3:76 No, the truth is, if people honour their contracts and have taqwa of Him, Allah loves those who have taqwa.

3:77 Those who sell Allah´s contract and their own oaths for a paltry price, such people will have no portion in the Next World, and on the Day of Rising Allah will not speak to them or look at them or purify them. They will have a painful punishment.

3:78 Among them is a group who distort the Book with their tongues so that you think it is from the Book when it is not from the Book. They say, ´It is from Allah,´ but it is not from Allah. They tell a lie against Allah and they know it.

3:79 It is not right for any human being that Allah should give him the Book and Judgement and Prophethood, and then that he should say to people, ´Be worshippers of me rather than Allah.´ Rather he will say, ´Be people of the Lord because of your knowledge of the Book and because you study.´

3:80 He would never command you to take the angels and Prophets as Lords. Would He command you to become kafir after being Muslim?

3:81 Remember when Allah made a covenant with the Prophets: ´Now that We have given you a share of the Book and Wisdom, and then a Messenger comes to you confirming what is with you, you must have iman in him and help him.´ He asked, ´Do you agree and undertake My commission on that condition?´ They replied, ´We agree.´ He said, ´Bear witness, then. I am with you as one of the witnesses.´

3:82 Any who turn away after that are deviators.

3:83 Is it other than the deen of Allah that you desire, when everything in the heavens and earth, willingly or unwillingly, submits to Him and to Him you will be returned?

3:84 Say, ´We have iman in Allah and what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to Ibrahim, Isma´il and Ishaq and Ya´qub and the Tribes, and what Musa and ´Isa and all the Prophets were given by their Lord. We do not differentiate between any of them. We are Muslims submitted to Him.´

3:85 If anyone desires anything other than Islam as a deen, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Next World he will be among the losers.

3:86 How can Allah guide a people who have become kafir after having had iman? They bore witness that the Messenger was true and that the Clear Signs had come to them. Allah does not guide people who are wrongdoers.

3:87 The repayment of such people is that Allah´s curse is on them and that of the angels and of all mankind.

3:88 They will be under it for ever. Their punishment will not be lightened. They will be granted no reprieve.

3:89 Except for those who, after that, make tawba and put things right. Truly Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

3:90 Those who become kafir after having iman and then increase in their kufr, their tawba will not be accepted. They are the misguided.

3:91 As for those who are kafir and die kuffar, the whole earth filled with gold would not be accepted from any of them if they were to offer it as a ransom. They will have a painful punishment. They will have no helpers.

3:92 You will not attain true goodness until you give of what you love. Whatever you give away, Allah knows it.

3:93 All food was lawful for the tribe of Israel except what Israel made unlawful for himself before the Torah was sent down. Say, ´Bring the Torah and read it out if you are telling the truth.´

3:94 So any who, after this, invent a lie against Allah are indeed wrongdoers.

3:95 Say, ´Allah speaks the truth, so follow the religion of Ibrahim, a man of pure natural belief. He was not one of the idolaters.´

3:96 The first House established for mankind was that at Bakka, a place of blessing and a guidance for all beings.

3:97 In it are Clear Signs — the Maqam of Ibrahim. All who enter it are safe. Hajj to the House is a duty owed to Allah by all mankind — those who can find a way to do it. But if anyone is kafir, Allah is Rich Beyond Need of any being.

3:98 Say, ´People of the Book, why do you reject Allah´s Signs when Allah is witness of everything you do?´

3:99 Say, ´People of the Book, why do you bar those who have iman from the Way of Allah, desiring to make it crooked, when you yourselves are witnesses to it? Allah is not unaware of what you do.´

3:100 You who have iman! if you obey a group of those given the Book, they will make you revert to being kafir after you have had iman.

3:101 How can you be kafir, when Allah´s Signs are recited to you and the Messenger is there among you? Whoever holds fast to Allah has been guided to a straight path.

3:102 You who have iman! have taqwa of Allah with the taqwa due to Him and do not die except as Muslims.

3:103 Hold fast to the rope of Allah all together, and do not separate. Remember Allah´s blessing to you when you were enemies and He joined your hearts together so that you became brothers by His blessing. You were on the very brink of a pit of the Fire and He rescued you from it. In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you, so that hopefully you will be guided.

3:104 Let there be a community among you who call to the good, and enjoin the right, and forbid the wrong. They are the ones who have success.

3:105 Do not be like those who split up and differed after the Clear Signs came to them. They will have a terrible punishment

3:106 on the Day when faces are whitened and faces are blackened. As for those whose faces are blackened: ´What! Did you become kafir after having had iman? Taste the punishment for your kufr!´

3:107 As for those whose faces are whitened, they are in Allah´s mercy, remaining in it timelessly, for ever.

3:108 These are Allah´s Signs which We recite to you with truth. Allah desires no wrong for any being.

3:109 Everything in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs to Allah. All matters return to Allah.

3:110 You are the best nation ever to be produced before mankind. You enjoin the right, forbid the wrong and have iman in Allah. If the People of the Book were to have iman, it would be better for them. Some of them are muminun but most of them are deviators.

3:111 They will not harm you except with abusive words. If they fight you, they will turn their backs on you. Then they will not be helped.

3:112 They will be plunged into abasement wherever they are found, unless they have a treaty with Allah and with the people. They have brought down anger from Allah upon themselves, and they have been plunged into destitution. That was because they rejected Allah´s Signs and killed the Prophets without any right to do so. That was because they disobeyed and went beyond the limits.

3:113 They are not all the same. There is a community among the People of the Book who are upright. They recite Allah´s Signs throughout the night, and they prostrate.

3:114 They have iman in Allah and the Last Day, and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the righteous.

3:115 You will not be denied the reward for any good thing you do. Allah knows those who have taqwa.

3:116 As for those who are kafir, their wealth and children will not help them against Allah in any way. They are the Companions of the Fire. remaining in it timelessly, for ever.

3:117 The metaphor of what they spend in their life in this world is that of a wind with an icy bite to it which strikes the crops of a people who have wronged themselves and destroys them. Allah did not wrong them; rather it was themselves they were wronging.

3:118 You who have iman! do not take any outside yourselves as intimates. They will do anything to harm you. They love what causes you distress. Hatred has appeared out of their mouths, but what their breasts hide is far worse. We have made the Signs clear to you if you use your intellect.

3:119 There you are, loving them when they do not love you, even though you have iman in all the Books. When they meet you, they say, ´We have iman.´ But when they leave they bite their fingers out of rage against you. Say, ´Die in your rage.´ Allah knows what your hearts contain.

3:120 If something good happens to you, it galls them. If something bad strikes you, they rejoice at it. But if you are steadfast and have taqwa, their scheming will not harm you in any way. Allah encompasses what they do.

3:121 Remember when you left your family early in the day to instal the muminun in their battle stations.* Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

3:122 And remember when two of your clans were on the point of losing heart and Allah was their Protector. Let the muminun put their trust in Allah.

3:123 Allah helped you at Badr when you were weak so have taqwa of Allah, so that hopefully you will be thankful.

3:124 And when you said to the muminun, ´Is it not enough for you that your Lord reinforced you with three thousand angels, sent down?´

3:125 Yes indeed! But if you are steadfast and have taqwa and they come upon you suddenly, your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels, clearly identified.

3:126 Allah only did this for it to be good news for you and so that your hearts might be set at rest by it (help comes from no one but Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise)

3:127 and so that He might cut off a group of those who are kafir or crush them and they might be turned back in defeat.

3:128 You have no part in the affair. Either He will turn towards them or He will punish them, for they are wrongdoers.

3:129 Everything in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs to Allah. He forgives whoever He wills and punishes whoever He wills. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

3:130 You who have iman! do not feed on usury, multiplied and then remultiplied. Have taqwa of Allah so that hopefully you will be successful.

3:131 Have fear of the Fire which has been prepared for the kafirun.

3:132 Obey Allah and the Messenger so that hopefully you will gain mercy.

3:133 Race each other to forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the people who have taqwa:

3:134 those who give in times of both ease and hardship, those who control their rage and pardon other people — Allah loves the good-doers —

3:135 those who, when they act indecently or wrong themselves, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their bad actions (and who can forgive bad actions except Allah?) and do not knowingly persist in what they were doing.

3:136 Their recompense is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever. How excellent is the reward of those who act!

3:137 Whole societies have passed away before your time, so travel about the earth and see the final fate of the deniers.

3:138 This is a clear explanation for all mankind, and guidance and admonition for those who have taqwa.

3:139 Do not give up and do not be downhearted. You shall be uppermost if you are muminun.

3:140 If you have received a wound, they have already received a similar wound. We deal out such days to people turn by turn, so that Allah will know those who have iman and can gather martyrs from among you — Allah does not love wrongdoers —

3:141 and so that Allah can purge those who have iman and wipe out the kafirun.

3:142 Or did you imagine that you were going to enter the Garden without Allah knowing those among you who had struggled and knowing the steadfast?

3:143 You were longing for death before you met it. Now you have seen it with your own eyes.

3:144 Muhammad is only a Messenger and he has been preceded by other Messengers. If he were to die or be killed, would you turn on your heels? Those who turn on their heels do not harm Allah in any way. Allah will recompense the thankful.

3:145 No self can die except with Allah´s permission, at a predetermined time. If anyone desires the reward in this world, We will give him some of it. If anyone desires the reward in the Next World, We will give him some of it. We will recompense the thankful.

3:146 Many a Prophet has been killed, when there were many thousands with him! They did not give up in the face of what assailed them in the Way of Allah, nor did they weaken, nor did they yield. Allah loves the steadfast.

3:147 All they said was, ´Our Lord, forgive us our wrong actions and any excesses we went to in what we did and make our feet firm and help us against these kafir people.´

3:148 So Allah gave them the reward in this world and the best reward in the Next World. Allah loves good-doers.

3:149 You who have iman! if you obey those who are kafir, they will turn you round on your heels and you will be transformed into losers.

3:150 No, Allah is your Protector. And He is the best of helpers.

3:151 We will cast terror into the hearts of those who are kafir because they have associated others with Allah for which He has not sent down any authority. Their shelter will be the Fire. How evil is the abode of the wrongdoers!

3:152 Allah fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaughtering them by His permission. But then you faltered, disputing the command, and disobeyed after He showed you what you love.* Among you are those who want this world and among you are those who want the next World. Then He turned you from them in order to test you — but He has pardoned you. Allah shows favour to the muminun.

3:153 Remember when you were scrambling up the slope, refusing to turn back for anyone, and the Messenger was calling to you from the rear. Allah rewarded you with one distress in return for another so you would not feel grief for what escaped you or what assailed you. Allah is aware of what you do.

3:154 Then He sent down to you, after the distress, security, restful sleep overtaking a group of you, whereas another group became prey to anxious thoughts, thinking other than the truth about Allah — thoughts belonging to the Time of Ignorance — saying, ´Do we have any say in the affair at all?´ Say, ´The affair belongs entirely to Allah.´ They are concealing within themselves things which they do not disclose to you, saying, ´If we had only had a say in the affair, none of us would have been killed here in this place.´ Say, ´Even if you had been inside your homes, those people for whom being killed was decreed would have gone out to their place of death.´ So that Allah might test what is in your breasts and purge what is in your hearts. Allah knows all that your hearts contain.

3:155 Those of you who turned their backs on the day the two armies clashed — it was Shaytan who made them slip for what they had done. But Allah has pardoned them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, All-Forbearing.

3:156 You who have iman! do not be like those who are kafir and say of their brothers, when they are going on journeys or military expeditions, ´If they had only been with us, they would not have died or been killed,´ so that Allah can make that anguish for them in their hearts. It is Allah Who gives life and causes to die. Allah sees what you do.

3:157 If you are killed in the Way of Allah or if you die, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are better than anything you can acquire.

3:158 If you die or you are killed, it is to Allah that you will be gathered.

3:159 It is a mercy from Allah that you were gentle with them. If you had been rough or hard of heart, they would have scattered from around you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them, and consult with them about the matter. Then when you have reached a firm decision, put your trust in Allah. Allah loves those who put their trust in Him.

3:160 If Allah helps you, no one can vanquish you. If He forsakes you, who can help you after that? So the muminun should put their trust in Allah.

3:161 No Prophet would ever be guilty of misappropriation. Those who misappropriate will arrive on the Day of Rising with what they have misappropriated. Then every self will be paid in full for what it earned. They will not be wronged.

3:162 Is someone who pursues the pleasure of Allah the same as someone who incurs displeasure from Allah and whose refuge is Hell? What an evil destination!

3:163 They have different ranks with Allah. Allah sees what they do.

3:164 Allah showed great kindness to the muminun when He sent a Messenger to them from among themselves to recite His Signs to them and purify them and teach them the Book and Wisdom, even though before that they were clearly misguided.

3:165 Why is it that when a calamity happens to you, when you have already inflicted twice as much, you say, ´How could this possibly happen?´ Say, ´It has come from your own selves.´ Allah has power over all things.

3:166 What assailed you on the day the two armies met was by Allah´s permission, so that He would know the muminun,

3:167 and so that He would know the hypocrites. They were told, ´Come and fight in the Way of Allah or at least help defend us.´ They said, ´If we knew there would be a fight, we would certainly follow you.´ They were closer to kufr that day than to iman, saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts. And Allah knows best what they are hiding.

3:168 They are those who said of their brothers, when they themselves had stayed behind, ´If they had only obeyed us, they would not have been killed.´ Say, ´Then ward off death from yourselves if you are telling the truth.´

3:169 Do not suppose that those killed in the Way of Allah are dead. No indeed! They are alive and well provided for in the very presence of their Lord,

3:170 delighting in the favour Allah has bestowed on them, rejoicing over those they left behind who have not yet joined them, feeling no fear and knowing no sorrow,

3:171 rejoicing in blessings and favour from Allah and that Allah does not let the wage of the muminun go to waste.

3:172 Those who did good and had taqwa among those who responded to Allah and the Messenger after the wound had been inflicted will have an immense reward:

3:173 those to whom people said, ´The people have gathered against you, so fear them.´ But that merely increased their iman and they said, ´Allah is enough for us and the Best of Guardians.´

3:174 So they returned with blessings and bounty from Allah and no evil touched them. They pursued the pleasure of Allah. Allah´s favour is indeed immense.

3:175 It was only Shaytan frightening you through his friends. But do not fear them — fear Me if you are muminun.

3:176 Do not let those who rush headlong into kufr sadden you. They do not harm Allah in any way. Allah desires to assign no portion to them in the Next World. They will have a terrible punishment.

3:177 Those who sell iman for kufr do not harm Allah in any way. They will have a painful punishment.

3:178 Those who are kafir should not imagine that the extra time We grant to them is good for them. We only allow them more time so they will increase in evildoing. They will have a humiliating punishment.

3:179 Allah will only leave the muminun in the position you now are in so that He can sift out the rotten from the good. Allah has not given you access to the Unseen. But Allah chooses those of His Messengers whom He wills. So have iman in Allah and His Messengers. If you have iman and taqwa you will have an immense reward.

3:180 Those who are tight-fisted with the bounty Allah has given them should not suppose that that is better for them. No indeed, it is worse for them! What they were tight-fisted with will be hung around their necks on the Day of Rising. Allah is the inheritor of the heavens and the earth and Allah is aware of what you do.

3:181 Allah has heard the words of those who say, ´Allah is poor and we are rich.´ We will write down what they said and their killing of the Prophets without any right to do so and We will say, ´Taste the punishment of the Burning.´

3:182 That is on account of what you did. Allah does not wrong His slaves.

3:183 Those who say, ´Allah has made a contract with us that we should not have iman in any Messenger until he brings us a sacrifice consumed by fire.´ Say, ´Messengers came to you before me with the Clear Signs and with what you say. So why did you kill them if you are telling the truth?´

3:184 If they deny you, Messengers before you were also denied, who brought the Clear Signs and written texts and the illuminating Book.

3:185 Every self will taste death. You will be paid your wages in full on the Day of Rising. Anyone who is distanced from the Fire and admitted to the Garden has triumphed. The life of this world is just the enjoyment of delusion.

3:186 You will be tested in your wealth and in yourselves and you will hear many abusive words from those given the Book before you and from those who are idolaters. But if you are steadfast and have taqwa, that is the most resolute course to take.

3:187 Allah made a covenant with those given the Book: ´You must make it clear to people and not conceal it.´ But they toss it in disdain behind their backs and sell it for a paltry price. What an evil sale they make!

3:188 Those who exult in what they have done and love to be praised for what they have not done should not suppose that they have escaped the punishment. They will have a painful punishment.

3:189 The kingdom of the heavens and earth belongs to Allah. Allah has power over all things.

3:190 In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are Signs for people with intelligence:

3:191 those who remember Allah, standing, sitting and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: ´Our Lord, You have not created this for nothing. Glory be to You! So safeguard us from the punishment of the Fire.

3:192 Our Lord, those You cast into the Fire, You have indeed disgraced. The wrongdoers will have no helpers.

3:193 Our Lord, we heard a caller calling us to iman: "Have iman in your Lord!" and we had iman. Our Lord, forgive us our wrong actions, erase our bad actions from us and take us back to You with those who are truly good.

3:194 Our Lord, give us what You promised us through Your Messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Rising. You do not break Your promise.´

3:195 Their Lord responds to them: ´I will not let the deeds of any doer among you go to waste, male or female — you are both the same in that respect. Those who made hijra and were driven from their homes and suffered harm in My Way and fought and were killed, I will erase their bad actions from them and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing under them, as a reward from Allah. The best of all rewards is with Allah.´

3:196 Do not be deceived by the fact that those who are kafir move freely about the earth.

3:197 A brief enjoyment; then their shelter will be Hell. What an evil resting-place!

3:198 But those who have taqwa of their Lord will have Gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever: hospitality from Allah. What is with Allah is better for those who are truly good.

3:199 Among the people of the Book there are some who have iman in Allah and in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down to them, and who are humble before Allah. They do not sell Allah´s Signs for a paltry price. Such people will have their reward with their Lord. And Allah is swift at reckoning.

3:200 You who have iman, be steadfast; be supreme in steadfastness; be firm on the battlefield; and have taqwa of Allah; so that hopefully you will be successful.