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

3:4 In time past, as guidance for the people; and He has sent down the Criterion to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and the knowledge, and power of judgment to put it into effect. Those who disbelieve in the Revelations of God, for them is a severe punishment. God is All-Glorious with irresistible might, Ever-Able to Requite

3:5 Surely God – nothing whatever on the earth and in the heaven is hidden from Him

3:6 It is He Who fashions you in the wombs as He wills. There is no deity but He, the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise

3:7 It is He Who has sent down on you this (glorious) Book, wherein are verses absolutely explicit and firm: they are the core of the Book, others being allegorical. Those in whose hearts is swerving pursue what is allegorical in it, seeking (to cause) dissension, and seeking to make it open to arbitrary interpretation, although none knows its interpretation save God. And those firmly rooted in knowledge say: "We believe in it (in the entirety of its verses, both explicit and allegorical); all is from our Lord"; yet none derives admonition except the people of discernment

3:8 (They entreat God:) "Our Lord, do not let our hearts swerve after You have guided us, and bestow upon us mercy from Your Presence. Surely You are the All-Bestowing

3:9 "Our Lord, You it is Who will gather humankind for a Day about (the coming of) which there is no doubt. Surely God does not fail to keep the promise."

3:10 Those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their offspring will avail them at all against God; they are fuel for the Fire

3:11 It is just as that which happened to the court (the court and military aristocracy) of the Pharaoh, and those before them. They denied Our Revelations, and so God seized them for their sins. God is severe in retribution

3:12 Say (O Messenger) to those who disbelieve: "You will soon be overpowered and gathered into Hell!" – How evil a cradle it is

3:13 There has already been a manifest sign (of the truth of God’s way) and lesson for you in the two hosts that encountered (at the Battle of Badr): one host fighting in God’s cause, and the other disbelieving, who saw with their very eyes (the host of the believers) as twice their actual number (during fighting). God confirms with His help and victory whom He wills. Surely in that is a lesson for those who have the power of seeing

3:14 Made innately appealing to men are passionate love for women, children, (hoarded) treasures of gold and silver, branded horses, cattle, and plantations. Such are enjoyments of the present, worldly life; yet with God is the best of the goals to pursue

3:15 Say (to them): "Shall I inform you of what is better than those (things that you so passionately seek to obtain)? For those who keep from disobedience to God in due reverence for Him and piety there are, with their Lord, Gardens through which rivers flow, wherein they will abide, and spouses purified, and God’s good pleasure (with them). God sees the servants well

3:16 Those (the God-revering, pious) pray: "Our Lord, we do indeed believe, so forgive us our sins and guard us against the punishment of the Fire."

3:17 Those who are persevering (in misfortune and steadfast in fulfilling God’s commandments and in refraining from sins), and truthful (in their words and actions, and true to their covenants), and devoutly obedient, and who spend (out of what God has provided for them, in His way and for the needy), and who implore God’s forgiveness before daybreak

3:18 God (Himself) testifies that there surely is no deity but He, and so do the angels and those of knowledge, being firm in upholding truth and uprightness: (these all testify that) there is no deity but He, the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise

3:19 The (true) religion with God is Islam. Those who were given the Book before differed only after the knowledge (of truth) came to them because of envious rivalry and insolence among themselves. Whoever disbelieves in the Revelations of God (should know that) God is swift at reckoning

3:20 If they still remonstrate with you, say (to them, O Messenger): "I have submitted my whole being to God, and so have those who follow me." And ask those who were given the Book before, and the common folk who know nothing about the Book: "Have you also submitted (to God)?" If they have submitted, then they are indeed rightly guided; but if they turn away, then what rests with you is only to convey the Message fully. God sees the servants well

3:21 Those who disbelieve in the Revelations of God, and frequently kill the Prophets (sent to them) against all right, and who kill those who advocate and try to establish equity and justice – give them the glad tidings of a painful punishment

3:22 Those are the ones whose works have been wasted in both this world and the Hereafter, and they have no helpers (to restore their works to their benefit and save them from punishment)

3:23 Do you not consider those who were given a portion from the Book? They are called to the Book of God to judge between them, and then, (after the judgment was given,) a party of them turn away in aversion

3:24 (They venture to do so) because they claim: "The Fire will not touch us at all, except for a certain number of days." (The false beliefs) that they used to invent have deluded them in their religion

3:25 How then will they fare when We gather them all together for a (terrible) Day about (the coming of) which there is no doubt, and when every soul will be repaid in full for what it earned (while in the world), and none will be wronged

3:26 Say: "O God, absolute Master of all dominion! You give dominion to whom You will, and take away dominion from whom You will, and You exalt and honor whom You will, and abase whom You will; in Your hand is all good; surely You have full power over everything

3:27 "You make the night pass into the day and You make the day pass into the night, (and so make each grow longer or shorter); You bring forth the living out the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living, and You provide whomever You will without reckoning."

3:28 Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends, guardians, and councilors in preference to the believers. Whoever does that is not on a way from God and has no connection with Him, unless it be to protect yourselves against them and take precautions (against the danger of being persecuted and forced to turn away from your religion or betray your community, or of losing your life). And God warns you that you beware of Himself; and to God is the homecoming

3:29 Say (to the believers): "Whether you keep secret what is in your bosoms or reveal it, God knows it. He knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. God has full power over everything."

3:30 The Day when every soul will find whatever good it has done brought forward, and whatever evil it has done. It will wish that there were a far space between it and that evil. God warns you that you beware of Himself; and God is All-Pitying for the servants

3:31 Say (to them, O Messenger): "If you indeed love God, then follow me, so that God will love you and forgive you your sins." God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate

3:32 Say (again): "Obey God, and the Messenger." If they still turn away (then know that only the unbelievers turn away from this call, and let them know that) God does not love the unbelievers

3:33 (They refuse belief in you and some of the Prophets because you did not appear among them, but God favors whomever He wishes with Messengership, and) God made pure Adam and Noah and the House of Abraham and the House of ‘Imran, choosing them above all humankind

3:34 As descendants of one another, (and they were following the same way. Therefore, do not, in respect of believing in them as Prophets, make any distinction between the Prophets and do not think or speak ill of God’s preference). God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing

3:35 (Remember) when the woman (from the House) of ‘Imran entreated: "My Lord, I have dedicated that which is in my womb to Your exclusive service. Accept it, then, from me. Surely You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing."

3:36 When she was delivered of it she said: "My Lord, I have given birth to a female." – God knew best of what she was delivered, (so she did not need to be sorry, because) the male child (she expected) could not be the same as (the) female child (whom We bestowed on her and would honor with a great favor). – I have named her Mary and commend her and her offspring to You for protection from Satan eternally rejected from God’s Mercy."

3:37 (In response to her mother’s sincerity and purity of intention in dedicating the child,) her Lord accepted her with gracious favor and enabled to her a good growth (upbringing), and entrusted her to the care of Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah went in to her in the Sanctuary, he found her provided with food. "Mary," he asked, "how does this come to you?" "From God," she answered. Truly God provides to whomever He wills without reckoning

3:38 At that point, Zachariah turned to his Lord in prayer and said: "My Lord, bestow upon me out of Your grace a good, upright offspring. Truly, You are the Hearer of prayer."

3:39 It was when he stood praying in the Sanctuary after some time that the angels called to him: "God gives you the glad tidings of John to confirm a Word from God, and as one lordly, perfectly chaste, a Prophet, among the righteous."

3:40 "Lord," said he (Zachariah), "How shall I have a son when old age has overtaken me, and my wife is barren?" "Just so," he (the angel) said: "God does whatever He wills."

3:41 "Lord," he (Zachariah) entreated, "appoint a sign for me." "Your sign," He said, "is that you will not be able to speak to people for three days except by gesture. And (meanwhile) remember and mention your Lord much and glorify Him in the afternoon and the early hours of morning."

3:42 And (in due time came the moment) when the angels said: "Mary, God has chosen you and made you pure, and exalted you above all the women in the world

3:43 "Mary, be devoutly obedient to your Lord, prostrate and bow (in the Prayer and devotion to Him) with those who bow!"

3:44 (O Messenger:) that is of the tidings of the things of the unseen (the things that took place in the past and have remained hidden from people with all their truth), which We reveal to you, for you were not present with them when they drew lots with their pens about who should have charge of Mary; nor were you present with them when they were disputing (about the matter)

3:45 And (remember) when the angels said: "Mary, God gives you the glad tidings of a Word from Him, to be called the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary; highly honored in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those near-stationed to God

3:46 "He will speak to people in the cradle and in manhood, and he is of the righteous."

3:47 "Lord," said Mary, "how shall I have a son seeing no mortal has ever touched me?" "That is how it is," he (the Spirit who appeared before her) said, "God creates whatever He wills; when He decrees a thing, He does but say to it ‘Be!’ and it is

3:48 "And He will teach him the Book and the Wisdom – and the Torah and the Gospel

3:49 "(And He will make him) a Messenger to the Children of Israel (saying to them, by way of explaining his mission): ‘Assuredly, I have come to you with a clear proof from your Lord: I fashion for you out of clay something in the shape of a bird, then I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God’s leave. And I heal the blind from birth and the leper, and I revive the dead, by God’s leave. And I inform you of what things you eat, and what you store up in your houses. Surely in this is a clear proof for you (demonstrating that I am a Messenger of God), if you are sincere believers (as you claim.

3:50 ‘And confirming (the truth contained in) the Torah that was revealed before me, and to make lawful for you certain things that had been forbidden to you. Be sure that I have come to you with a clear proof (demonstrating that I am a Messenger of God) from your Lord. So keep from disobedience to God in due reverence for Him and piety, and obey m

3:51 ‘Surely, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is a straight path (to follow).’ "

3:52 (Having preached his message in this way for a long time) Jesus perceived their willful persistence on unbelief (and open hostility), and called out: "Who will be my helpers (on this way) to God?" The disciples answered: "We are the helpers of God(’s cause). We believe in God, and (we call you to) bear witness that we are Muslims (submitted to Him exclusively)

3:53 "Our Lord! We believe in what You have sent down and we follow the Messenger, so write us down among the witnesses (of Your Oneness and Lordship, and of the truth You have revealed)."

3:54 And they (the unbelievers) schemed (against Jesus), and God put His will into effect (and brought their schemes to nothing). God wills what is the best (for His believing servants) and makes His will prevail

3:55 (It was part of His countering their scheme) when God said: "Jesus, (as your mission has ended) I will take you back (to Myself) and raise you up to Myself, and will purify you of (the groundless slanders of) those who disbelieve, and set your followers above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me you will all return, and I will judge between you concerning all that on which you were used to differ

3:56 "As for those who disbelieve, I will punish them with a severe punishment in the world and the Hereafter; and they will have no helpers (against My punishment)

3:57 "As for those who believe and do good, righteous deeds, He will pay their rewards in full. God does not love the wrongdoers (and Himself never does wrong)."

3:58 Thus (O Messenger,) all this that We recite to you consists of Revelations and is from the Wise Reminder (the Qur’an)

3:59 (The creation of) Jesus in reference to God resembles (the creation of) Adam. He created him from earth, then said He to him, "Be!" and he is

3:60 (As the truth always consists in what your Lord wills and decrees,) so is this the truth from your Lord (in this matter); do not then be, (and you are never expected to be,) of those who doubt

3:61 After the (true) knowledge has come to you, whoever still disputes with you about him (Jesus), say (in challenging them): "Come, then! Let us summon our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, our selves and your selves, and then let us pray and invoke God’s curse upon those who lie."

3:62 This is indeed the true narrative; and there is no deity but God, and truly God is the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise

3:63 If they (still) turn away, be assured that God has full knowledge of those engaged in causing disorder and corruption

3:64 Say (to them, O Messenger): "O People of the Book, come to a word common between us and you, that we worship none but God, and associate none as partner with Him, and that none of us take others for Lords, apart from God." If they (still) turn away, then say: "Bear witness that we are Muslims (submitted to Him exclusively)."

3:65 O People of the Book (Jews and Christians)! Why do you dispute concerning Abraham (whether he was a Jew or a Christian), when both the Torah and the Gospel were not sent down save after him? Will you ever not use your reason

3:66 Indeed, you are such people that you dispute concerning even a matter about which you have knowledge; why, then, should you dispute on a matter about which you have no knowledge? God knows, but you do not know

3:67 Abraham was not a Jew, nor a Christian; but he was one pure of faith and Muslim (who submitted to God with a sound heart). He was never of those who associate partners with God

3:68 Surely those of humankind who have the best claim to relationship with Abraham are those who followed him (during the term of his mission), and this (most illustrious) Prophet, and those (in his company) who believe. God is the confidant and guardian of the believers (to Whom they can entrust their affairs and on Whom they can rely.

3:69 A party of the People of the Book wish that they could lead you astray; yet they lead none astray except themselves, but they do not perceive (that this is so)

3:70 O People of the Book! Why do you disbelieve in God’s Revelations (the clear proofs of truth), when you yourselves bear witness (to their truth in your own Books)

3:71 O People of the Book! Why do you confound the truth (by mixing it) with falsehood and conceal the truth knowingly

3:72 (In attempting a trick on the believers,) a party of the People of the Book say (to each other): "Feign belief at the beginning of the day in what has been sent down upon those who believe, and disbelieve at the end of it, that they may thus (doubt their religion and) turn back (to their former condition)

3:73 "But do not believe in any but him who follows your religion –Say (O Messenger): "Surely, the only guidance is God’ guidance"– that anyone should be given the like of what you were given, or that they should argue against you before your Lord." Say: "Assuredly, all grace and bounty is in God’s hand; He gives it to whomever He wills." God is All-Embracing (with His mercy), All-Knowing

3:74 He singles out for His mercy (of favoring with Prophethood or another calling) whom He wills. God is of tremendous grace and bounty

3:75 Among the People of the Book are some who, if you entrust them with a weight of treasure, restore it to you; and among them are some who, if you entrust them with one gold piece, do not restore it unless you keep standing over them. That is because they claim: "We have no responsibility toward the unlettered (those who do not have a Book like ours and follow our religion)." Thus they speak lies in attribution to God, and do so knowingly

3:76 On the contrary (what God decrees is this): Whoever fulfills his pledge and keeps from disobedience to God in due reverence for Him and piety, surely God loves the God-revering, pious

3:77 As to those who sell God’s covenant and their oaths for a trifling price, there will be no share for them in the Hereafter; and God will not speak to them nor look upon them (with mercy) on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them (of their sins to absolve them). And for them is a painful punishment

3:78 And among them is a party twisting (the words of) the Book with their tongues (during their reading in order to distort its meaning), so that you may suppose it part of the Book, when it is not part of the Book; and they say it is from God’s Presence, when it is not from God’s Presence. They speak lies in attribution to God, and do so knowingly

3:79 It is not (conceivable) that God should give a human being the Book, authority with sound, wise judgment, and Prophethood, and then he should say to people: "Be servants to me, apart from God." Rather (he would say): "Be pure, dedicated servants of the Lord in that you teach the Book and in that you study it."

3:80 And he never commands you to take the angels and the Prophets for Lords. Would he command you to unbelief, when you have (answered his call and) become Muslims (submitted to God exclusively)

3:81 And when God took compact with the Prophets: "That I have given you a Book and Wisdom; then there will come to you a Messenger confirming what (of the Divine Revelations) you already possess – you shall certainly believe in him and you shall certainly help him." So saying, He asked: "Have you affirmed this and agreed to take up My burden (that I lay upon you) in this matter?" They answered: "We have affirmed (it)." He said: "Then bear witness (you and your communities), and I will be with you among the witnesses."

3:82 Then whoever after this turns away, those are the transgressors

3:83 Do they now seek a religion other than God’s, when to Him submits whoever is in the heavens and on the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him they are being returned

3:84 Say: "We have believed in God (without associating any partners with Him), and that which has been sent down on us, and that which was sent down on Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Prophets who were raised in the tribes, and that which was given to Moses, Jesus, and all other Prophets from their Lord; we make no distinction between any of them (in believing), and we are Muslims (submitted to Him exclusively)."

3:85 Whoever seeks as religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers

3:86 How would God guide a people who have disbelieved after their belief, and after they have borne witness that the Messenger is true and after the clear proofs (of His Messengership and the Divine origin of the Book he has brought) have come to them? God guides not wrongdoing people

3:87 For those – their recompense is that on them rests the curse of God, and of angels, and of humankind, all together

3:88 Therein will they abide. Neither will their punishment be lightened, nor will they be granted any respite

3:89 Save those who afterwards repent and mend their ways. Surely God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate

3:90 But those who have disbelieved after their (profession of) belief and then have hardened in unbelief, (they have lost the capacity for believing so they can no longer return to faith, nor repent until they are held in the jaws of death, and) their repentance (at that moment) will not be accepted. And they are those who are altogether astray

3:91 Assuredly, those who disbelieve and die as unbelievers, no ransom even if it was as much gold as to fill the earth will be accepted from any of them. Such are those for whom is a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers (against it)

3:92 You will never be able to attain godliness and virtue until you spend of what you love (in God’s cause or to provide sustenance for the needy). Whatever you spend, God has full knowledge of it

3:93 All (kinds of) food (that are lawful in the Law revealed to Muhammad) were lawful to the Children of Israel (in the beginning) except what Israel (i.e. Prophet Jacob) forbade for himself before the Torah was sent down. Say (to them, O Messenger): "Bring the Torah and recite it, if you are truthful (in your claim that there is no abrogation in it)

3:94 So whoever fabricates falsehood in attribution to God after that (statement, above, of the truth of the matter) – such are the wrongdoers

3:95 Say (O Messenger): "God speaks the truth." Therefore follow the way of Abraham as people of pure faith (a faith free of unbelief, of associating partners with God, and of hypocrisy). He was never of those who associate partners with God

3:96 Behold, the first House (of Prayer) established for humankind is the one at Bakkah (Makkah), a blessed place and a (center or focus of) guidance for all peoples

3:97 In it there are clear signs (demonstrating that it is a blessed sanctuary, chosen by God as the center of guidance), and the Station of Abraham. Whoever enters it is in security (against attack and fear). Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to God by all who can afford a way to it. And whoever refuses (the obligation of the Pilgrimage) or is ungrateful to God (by not fulfilling this command), God is absolutely independent of all creatures

3:98 Say: "O People of the Book! Why do you conceal and disbelieve in God’s Revelations, God being witness to all that you do?"

3:99 Say: "O People of the Book! Why do you bar from God’s way those who believe, seeking to make it appear crooked, when you yourselves are witnesses (to its being the right way)? God is not unaware and unmindful of all that you do."

3:100 O you who believe! Were you to obey a party of those who were given the Book, they would turn you, after your faith, into unbelievers

3:101 How do you disbelieve, seeing you are the ones to whom God’s Revelations are recited and His Messenger is amidst you? Whoever holds fast to God, he has certainly been guided to a straight path

3:102 O you who believe! Keep from disobedience to God in reverent piety with all the reverence that is due to Him, and see that you do not die save as Muslims (submitted to Him exclusively)

3:103 And hold fast all together to the rope of God and never be divided. Remember God’s favor upon you: you were once enemies and He reconciled your hearts so that through His favor you became like brothers. You stood on the brink of a pit of fire, and He delivered you from it. Thus God makes His signs of truth clear to you that you may be guided (to the Straight Path in all matters and be steadfast on it.

3:104 There must be among you a community calling to good, and enjoining and actively promoting what is right and forbidding and trying to prevent evil (in appropriate ways). They are those who are the prosperous

3:105 Be not as those who split into parties and followed different ways after the manifest truths had come to them. Those are the ones for whom is a tremendous punishment

3:106 On the Day when some faces turn bright and some faces turn dark: and as to those whose faces have turned dark (they will be told): "What, did you disbelieve after having believed? Taste, then, the punishment because you used to follow the way of unbelief!"

3:107 As for those whose faces have turned bright, they are (embraced) in God’s mercy, therein abiding forever

3:108 These are God’s Revelations: We recite them to you in truth, and God wills not any wrong to the world’s people

3:109 (How could that be so, seeing that) to God belongs whatever is in the heavens and on the earth, and to God are all matters ultimately referred, (and whatever He wills occurs)

3:110 (O Community of Muhammad!) You are the best community ever brought forth for (the good of) humankind, enjoining and actively promoting what is right and good and forbidding and trying to prevent the evil, and (this you do because) you believe in God. If only the People of the Book believed (as you do), this would be sheer good for them. Among them there are believers, but most of them are transgressors

3:111 They will never be able to harm you except hurting a little (mostly with their tongues). If they fight against you, they will turn their backs in flight; then they will not be helped (to victory over you)

3:112 Ignominy has been their (the Jews’) portion wherever they have been found except for (when they hold on to) a rope from God or a rope from other peoples; and they were visited with a wrath (humiliating punishment) from God, and misery has been pitched upon them – and all this because they were persistently disbelieving in Our Revelations, rejecting Our signs of truth (that they continually observed in their lives), and killing the Prophets against all right; and all this because they disobeyed and kept on transgressing (the bounds of the Law)

3:113 Yet they are not all alike: among the People of the Book there is an upright community, reciting God’s Revelations in the watches of the night and prostrating (themselves in worship)

3:114 They believe in God and the Last Day, and enjoin and promote what is right and good and forbid and try to prevent the evil, and hasten to do good deeds as if competing with one another. Those are of the righteous ones

3:115 Whatever good they do, they will never be denied the reward of it; and God has full knowledge of the God-revering, pious

3:116 As to those who disbelieve, their riches will not avail them in the least, nor their children, against God; and those (unfortunate ones) are the companions of the Fire, abiding therein

3:117 Their spending (to attain their goals in humanitarian or religious guises) in this life of the world is like a biting wind accompanied with frost that smites the harvest of a people who wronged themselves (by their wrong belief and their wrong actions), and devastates it. God has never wronged them but they do wrong themselves

3:118 O you who believe! Take not for intimates from among others than your own people, for those (who especially cherish hostility towards you) spare no effort to ruin you, and yearn for you to always suffer. Hatred has shown itself by their mouths, and what their bosoms conceal is even greater. Now We have told you the manifest truths, if you reason and understand

3:119 You are such (frank, clear-hearted) people that you love them (even those who are enemies to you), but they do not love you; and you believe in the whole of the Book (without making any distinction between the verses, and believe in all of the God-revealed Books). When they meet you they say (hypocritically), "We believe;" but when they find themselves alone, they gnaw their fingers in rage against you. Say (to them, O Messenger): "Perish in your rage!" Assuredly, God has full knowledge of what lies hidden in the bosoms

3:120 If anything good happens to you, this grieves them; if any misfortune befalls you, they rejoice at it. Yet if you endure and persevere in your way and act in piety keeping from evil and any injustice, their guile will never harm you. Surely God fully encompasses (with His Knowledge and Power) all that they do

3:121 (Remember, O Messenger) when you set forth from your home at dawn to place the believers in battle order – God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing (He heard and knew all that was happening and being talked about on that day)

3:122 When two parties of you were about to lose heart, although God was their helper and protector – and in God let the believers put all their trust

3:123 For sure God had helped you to victory at Badr when you were a despised (small) force. So observe your duty to God in due reverence for Him, that you may be thankful

3:124 When you said to the believers: "Does it not suffice you that your Lord will come to your help with three thousand angels sent down?"

3:125 Surely it does. (More than that), if you are steadfast and act in piety to deserve His protection, and the enemy should fall upon you all at once, your Lord will come to your help with five thousand angels swooping down

3:126 God did not ordain this save as a message of good hope for you, and so that thereby your hearts might be at peace – victory comes only from God, the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Wise

3:127 And that (through you) He might cut off a (leading) party of those who disbelieved, or overwhelm them, so that they (and others) would retreat in utter disappointment

3:128 (O Messenger, you are a servant charged with a certain duty, therefore) it is not a matter for you whether He turns towards them in mercy (to accept their repentance for their unbelief, and grants them faith) or punishes them because they are wrongdoers

3:129 To God belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth; He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. And God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate

3:130 O you who believe! Do not consume usury, doubled and redoubled; and act in piety, keeping from disobedience to Him, so that you may prosper (in both worlds)

3:131 And (be careful of your acts and transactions and) guard yourselves against the Fire, prepared for the unbelievers

3:132 Obey God and the Messenger, so that you may be shown mercy (granted a good, virtuous life in this world and eternal happiness in the Hereafter)

3:133 And hasten, as if competing with one another, to forgiveness from your Lord, and to a Garden as spacious as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-revering, pious

3:134 They spend (out of what God has provided for them,) both in ease and hardship, ever-restraining their rage (even when provoked and able to retaliate), and pardoning people (their offenses). God loves (such) people who are devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing them

3:135 They are also the ones who, when they have committed a shameful deed or wronged themselves (through any kind of sinful act), immediately remember God and implore Him to forgive their sins – for who will forgive sins save God? – and do not persist knowingly in whatever (evil) they have committed

3:136 Such are the ones whose reward is forgiveness from their Lord and Gardens through which rivers flow, to abide therein. How excellent is the reward of those who always do good deeds

3:137 Assuredly, before you have passed many ways of life and practices (that illustrate the law God has established for the life of human societies). Go about, then, on the earth and behold how the outcome was for those who denied (God’s manifest signs and Messengers)

3:138 This (history of peoples past) is a plain exposition (of the truth) for all people, and a clear guidance (to a more substantial faith and devotion) and an instruction for the God-revering, pious

3:139 Do not, then, be faint of heart, nor grieve, for you are always the superior side if you are (true) believers

3:140 If a wound has touched you (at Uhud), (you know that) a similar wound touched those (disbelieving) people (at Badr). Such (historic, eventful) days – We deal them out in turns among people so that God may mark out those who (truly) believe and select from among you such as bear witness to the truth (with their lives); – (it is a fact that) God does not love the wrongdoers (and in the end He punishes wrong and makes truth superior) –

3:141 And that He may purify the believers (individually, of all base metal, and collectively, of the hypocrites among them) and gradually blot out the unbelievers

3:142 Did you suppose that you should enter Paradise without God marking out those among you who really strive hard (in His cause and marking out the patient and steadfast

3:143 You did indeed long for death (for God’s cause) before you came face to face with it; now you have faced it (on the battlefield), only observing it with your own eyes (without doing anything to meet it)

3:144 (Did you think that this cause of Islam subsisted not by God but while Muhammad was alive among you? If so, know that this cause depends on God and as for his part in it, know that) Muhammad is but a Messenger, and Messengers passed away before him. If, then, he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? Whoever turns back on his heels can in no way harm God. But God will (abundantly) reward the thankful ones (those who are steadfast in God’s cause)

3:145 It never occurs that a soul dies save by God’s leave, at a time appointed. So whoever desires the reward of this world, We give him of it (in the world); and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We give him of it; and We will soon reward the thankful

3:146 And how many a Prophet has had to fight (for God’s cause), followed by numbers of godly, dedicated servants of God; and they did not become faint of heart for all that befell them in God’s cause, nor did they weaken, nor did they abase themselves (before the enemy). And God loves the patient and steadfast

3:147 What they said (when they encountered the enemy) was: "Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and any wasteful act we may have done in our duty, and set our feet firm, and help us to victory over the disbelieving people!"

3:148 So God granted them the reward of this world as well as the best reward of the Hereafter. Indeed God loves those devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing them

3:149 O you who believe! If you follow those who disbelieve (the hypocrites and Jews in Madinah who spread negative propaganda concerning the events at Uhud), they will drive you back on your heels (into unbelief), and you will turn utter losers (in both this world and the next)

3:150 But God is your Guardian and Owner, and He is the best of helpers

3:151 We will throw alarm into the hearts of those who disbelieve because they associate with God partners, for which He has sent no authority at all; and their refuge will be the Fire; and how evil is the dwelling of the wrongdoers

3:152 God did indeed fulfill His promise to you when you routed them by His leave, up to (the point) when you lost heart, and disagreed about the order (given to the archers among you not to leave their positions), and disobeyed, after He had brought you within sight of that (victory) for which you were longing. Among you were such as cared for this world, and among you were such as cared for the Hereafter. Then He diverted you from them (the enemy), that He might try you. But He has surely pardoned you: God has grace and bounty for the believers

3:153 When you were running off (from the battlefield), paying no heed to anyone, and at your rear the Messenger was calling out to you (to stay in the battle), then God requited you with grief after grief so that you might not grieve either for what escaped you, or for what befell you. God is fully aware of all that you do

3:154 Then, after grief, He sent down peace and security for you: a slumber overtook some of you; and some, being concerned (merely) about themselves, were entertaining false notions about God – notions of (the pre-Islamic) Ignorance – and saying: "Do we have any part in the authority (in the decision-making)?" Say (to them, O Messenger): "The authority rests with God exclusively." Indeed, they concealed within themselves what they would not reveal to you, and were saying (among themselves): "If only we had had a part in the authority (in the decision-making), we would not have been killed here." Say (O Messenger): "Even if you had been in your houses, those for whom killing had been ordained would indeed have gone forth to the places where they were to lie (in death)." (All of this happened as it did) so that He may test what (thoughts, intentions, and inclinations) is in your bosoms and purify and prove what is (the faith) in your hearts. God has full knowledge of what lies hidden in the bosoms

3:155 Those of you who turned away on the day when the two hosts encountered (at Uhud), Satan made them slip because of some of the errors they themselves had committed. But now God has pardoned them. Surely God is All-Forgiving, All-Clement

3:156 O you who believe! Be not as those who disbelieve and say of their brothers who (died) after having set out on a journey or gone forth to war, "Had they remained with us, they would not have died or been killed." God wills that such thoughts as this should be a cause of sighs and anguish in their hearts. God (He alone) gives life and causes to die; and whatever you do, God sees it well

3:157 And if you are killed, or die, in God’s cause, then forgiveness from God and mercy are far better than all that they could amass (in this life)

3:158 And, assuredly, if you die or are killed, it is to God that you will be gathered

3:159 It was by a mercy from God that (at the time of the setback), you (O Messenger) were lenient with them (your Companions). Had you been harsh and hard-hearted, they would surely have scattered away from about you. Then pardon them, pray for their forgiveness, and take counsel with them in the affairs (of public concern), and when you are resolved (on a course of action), put your trust in God. Surely God loves those who put their trust (in Him)

3:160 If God helps you, there will be none who can overcome you; if He forsakes you, who is there that can help you thereafter? In God, then, let the believers put all their trust

3:161 It is not conceivable that a Prophet defrauds; and whoever defrauds (by stealing from public property or war-gains) will come with what he gained by his fraud on the Day of Resurrection. Then every soul shall be repaid in full what it has earned (while in the world), and they will not be wronged

3:162 What, is he who strives after God’s good pleasure and approval like him who is laden with God’s condemnation and whose refuge is Hell? How evil a destination to arrive at

3:163 They are in varying grades in God’s sight, and God sees well all that they do

3:164 Assuredly, God has done the believers a great kindness by raising among them a Messenger of their own, reciting to them His Revelations, and purifying them (of false beliefs and doctrines, and sins, and all kinds of uncleanness), and instructing them in the Book and the Wisdom. Whereas, before that, they were lost in obvious error

3:165 And do you, now that a disaster has befallen you, though you inflicted the double (of that on your foes at Badr), say: "Whence is this?" Say (to them, O Messenger): "It is from your own selves." Surely God has full power over everything

3:166 What befell you on the day when the two hosts met (in battle) was by God’s leave, and that He might mark out the (true) believers

3:167 And that He might mark out those who acted in hypocrisy: when they were told, "Come and fight in God’s cause, or defend yourselves (actively, in order to keep the enemy outside the city)," they said: "If we but knew there would be fighting, we would indeed follow you." They that day were nearer to unbelief than to faith, uttering with their mouths what was not in their hearts. God knows very well what they were concealing

3:168 They who, having themselves held back (from fighting), say of their (slain) brothers, "Had they but paid heed to us, they would not have been killed." Say (to them, O Messenger): "Avert, then, death from yourselves, if you are truthful (in your claim)."

3:169 Do not think at all of those killed in God’s cause as dead. Rather, they are alive; with their Lord they have their sustenance

3:170 Rejoicing in what God has granted them out of His bounty, and joyful in the glad tidings for those left behind who have not yet joined them, that (in the event of martyrdom) they will have no fear, nor will they grieve

3:171 They are joyful in the glad tidings of God’s blessing and bounty (that He has prepared for the martyrs), and in (the promise) that God never leaves to waste the reward of the believers

3:172 Those who responded to the call of God and the Messenger after the hurt had befallen them – for all those of them who persevered in doing good, aware that God was seeing them, and acted in reverence for God and piety, there is a tremendous reward

3:173 Those to whom some people said: "Look, those people have gathered against you, therefore be fearful of them." But it increased them only in faith, and they responded: "God is sufficient for us; how excellent a Guardian He is!"

3:174 So they returned with favor and bounty from God, having suffered no harm. They strove after God’s good pleasure by acting in the way He approved of. God is of tremendous grace and bounty

3:175 It was but that (human) devil who, (by provoking alarm,) desires to make you fearful of his allies. So do not fear them, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers

3:176 Let not those who rush in unbelief as if competing with one another grieve you; they can in no way harm God (and His true friends). God wills that they will have no share in (the blessings of) the Hereafter. For them is a tremendous punishment

3:177 Those (unthinking ones) who have bought unbelief in exchange for belief can in no way harm God (and His true friends who fear and rely on Him.) For them is a tremendous punishment

3:178 And let not those who disbelieve think that Our giving them rein is good for them. We give them rein only that they may grow in sin and wickedness (and deserve God’s punishment). For them is a shameful, humiliating punishment

3:179 It was not (the will) of God to leave the believers in the state you are now in (with the people of true faith indistinguishable from the hypocrites), until He distinguishes the corrupt from the pure. Nor was it (the will of God) that He would make you aware of the Unseen (so that you would know your future and have insight into the hearts of people). But (to that end) God chooses of His Messengers whom He wills (and completes the test to which He puts you in the world). So believe in God and His Messengers: if you (truly) believe and live in piety, keeping from disobedience to Him and to His Messenger, then there is for you a tremendous reward

3:180 Let not those who are niggardly with what God has granted them out of His bounty think that it is good for them: rather, it is bad for them. What they are niggardly with, they will have it hung about their necks on the Day of Resurrection. (Why are they niggardly, seeing that to God belongs the absolute ownership of the heavens and the earth, and) He will inherit them in the end. And God is fully aware of all that you do

3:181 God has indeed heard the saying of those who said, "God is poor, and we are rich." We will record what they have said, as well as their killing the Prophets against all right; and We will say (to them): "Taste the punishment of the scorching fire!"

3:182 This is because of (the unrighteous deeds) that your own hands have forwarded, for never does God do the least wrong to the servants

3:183 (Also it is) they who said: "God made covenant with us, that we believe not in any Messenger unless he brings us an offering which (as a sign of its being accepted by God) a fire (from heaven) will consume." Say (to them, O Messenger): "Before me there came to you Messengers with the clear proofs (of their Messengership) and with that (same miracle) which you describe: why, then, did you kill them, if you are true in your claim?"

3:184 (O Messenger!) If they deny you, (do not grieve!) For in the same way Messengers were denied before you, who came with the clear proofs (of their Messengership), Scrolls (full of wisdom and advice), and the Book (the Torah and the Gospel) enlightening (their mind and hearts, and) illuminating (their way)

3:185 (No one will live for ever doing what they do:) Every soul is bound to taste death. So (O people) you will but be repaid in full on the Day of Resurrection (for whatever you have done in the world). Whoever is spared the Fire and admitted into Paradise has indeed prospered and triumphed. (Know that) the present, worldly life is nothing but a transient enjoyment of delusion

3:186 (So, O believers, as a requirement of the wisdom in and purpose for your life of the world,) you will surely be tested in respect of your properties and your selves, and you will certainly hear many hurtful things from those who were given the Book before you and those who associate partners with God. If you remain patient (are steadfast in your religion and observe the bounds set by God in your relations with them) and keep within the limits of piety (in obeying God and in your conduct toward them), (know that) this is among meritorious things requiring great resolution to fulfill

3:187 (Remember) when God took a covenant from those who were given the Book: "You shall make clear to the people (the whole truth of all that is in) the Book (including mention of the Last, promised Prophet), and not conceal it." But they paid no heed to it, flinging it behind their backs, and sold it for a trifling price (such as worldly advantage and position, status and renown). How evil a bargain they made

3:188 Never suppose that those who rejoice in what they have thus contrived, and who love to be (famed and) praised for what they have not achieved (such as being devout and pious and defenders of God’s law) – never suppose that they have saved themselves from the punishment: for them is a painful punishment

3:189 And God’s is the sovereignty (absolute ownership and dominion) of the heavens and the earth, and God has full power over everything

3:190 Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day (with their periods shortening and lengthening) there are signs (manifesting the truth) for the people of discernment

3:191 They remember and mention God (with their tongues and hearts), standing and sitting and lying down on their sides (whether during the Prayer or not), and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth. (Having grasped the purpose of their creation and the meaning they contain, they conclude and say): "Our Lord, You have not created this (the universe) without meaning and purpose. All-Glorified You are (in that You are absolutely above doing anything meaningless and purposeless), so save us from (having wrong conceptions of Your acts and acting against Your purpose for creation, and so deserving) the punishment of the Fire

3:192 "Our Lord! Whomever You admit into the Fire, indeed You have brought him to disgrace. (Having concealed or rejected God’s signs in the heavens and on the earth and so denied God or fallen into associating partners with Him,) the wrongdoers will have no helpers (against the Fire)

3:193 "Our Lord! Indeed We have heard a caller calling to faith, saying: ‘Believe in your Lord!’, so we did believe. Our Lord, forgive us, then, our sins, and blot out from us our evil deeds, and take us to You in death in the company of the truly godly and virtuous

3:194 "Our Lord! Grant us what You have promised us through Your Messengers. Do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection; indeed You never break Your promise."

3:195 And thus does their (All-Gracious and Generous) Lord answer them: "I do not leave to waste the work of any of you (engaged in doing good), whether male or female. (As males and females following the same way) you are all one from the other. Hence, those who have emigrated (in My cause) and been expelled from their homelands and suffered hurt in My cause, and have fought and been killed, indeed I will blot out from them their evil deeds and will admit them into Gardens through which rivers flow, as a reward from God (with infinite Mercy and Power to fulfill whatever He promises)." With God lies the best reward

3:196 Let it not deceive you (O Messenger) that those who disbelieve strut about the land in pomp and show of dominion

3:197 It is but a brief enjoyment, with Hell thereafter as their final refuge: how evil a cradle it is

3:198 Whereas those who keep from disobedience to their Lord (Who created and raised them, and sustains them, and Who has sent them the best of laws to order their lives), and act within the limits of piety – for them are Gardens through which rivers flow, therein to abide: a hospitality from the Presence of God; and that which is with God is best for the truly godly and virtuous

3:199 And, behold, among the People of the Book are those who believe in God and what has been sent down to you, and what was sent down to them, those humbling themselves before God in reverence, not selling God’s Revelations for a trifling price. Such are those whose reward is with their Lord. God is swift at reckoning

3:200 O you who believe! Be patient (persevere through what befalls you in the world in God’s cause); encourage each other to patience vying in it with one another and outdoing all others in it; and observe your duties to God in solidarity, and keep from disobedience to God in due reverence for Him and piety, so that you may prosper (in both worlds)