AT TAQWA

AN NISA 11-15

2007-04-02T03:37:00.000+13:00

يُوصِيكُمُ اللّهُ فِي أَوْلاَدِكُمْ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الأُنثَيَيْنِ فَإِن كُنَّ نِسَاء فَوْقَ اثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُنَّ ثُلُثَا مَا تَرَكَ وَإِن كَانَتْ وَاحِدَةً فَلَهَا النِّصْفُ وَلأَبَوَيْهِ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا السُّدُسُ مِمَّا تَرَكَ إِن كَانَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُ وَلَدٌ وَوَرِثَهُ أَبَوَاهُ فَلأُمِّهِ الثُّلُثُ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُ إِخْوَةٌ فَلأُمِّهِ السُّدُسُ مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِي بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ آبَآؤُكُمْ وَأَبناؤُكُمْ لاَ تَدْرُونَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ لَكُمْ نَفْعاً فَرِيضَةً مِّنَ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلِيما حَكِيمًا {11}

[Yusufali 4:11] Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased Left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth. (The distribution in all cases ('s) after the payment of legacies and debts. Ye know not whether your parents or your children are nearest to you in benefit. These are settled portions ordained by Allah; and Allah is All-knowing, Al-wise.

وَلَكُمْ نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزْوَاجُكُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُنَّ وَلَدٌ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُنَّ وَلَدٌ فَلَكُمُ الرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْنَ مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِينَ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ وَلَهُنَّ الرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّكُمْ وَلَدٌ فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ وَلَدٌ فَلَهُنَّ الثُّمُنُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُم مِّن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ تُوصُونَ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ وَإِن كَانَ رَجُلٌ يُورَثُ كَلاَلَةً أَو امْرَأَةٌ وَلَهُ أَخٌ أَوْ أُخْتٌ فَلِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا السُّدُسُ فَإِن كَانُوَاْ أَكْثَرَ مِن ذَلِكَ فَهُمْ شُرَكَاء فِي الثُّلُثِ مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصَى بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ غَيْرَ مُضَآرٍّ وَصِيَّةً مِّنَ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَلِيمٌ {12}

[Yusufali 4:12] In what your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if they leave a child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and debts. In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts. If the man or woman whose inheritance is in question, has left neither ascendants nor descendants, but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so that no loss is caused (to any one). Thus is it ordained by Allah; and Allah is All-knowing, Most Forbearing.

تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللّهِ وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ {13}

[Yusufali 4:13] Those are limits set by Allah: those who obey Allah and His Messenger will be admitted to Gardens with rivers flowing beneath, to abide therein (for ever) and that will be the supreme achievement.

وَمَن يَعْصِ اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ نَارًا خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَلَهُ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ {14}

[Yusufali 4:14] But those who disobey Allah and His Messenger and transgress His limits will be admitted to a Fire, to abide therein: And they shall have a humiliating punishment.

وَاللاَّتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِن نِّسَآئِكُمْ فَاسْتَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَرْبَعةً مِّنكُمْ فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِي الْبُيُوتِ حَتَّىَ يَتَوَفَّاهُنَّ الْمَوْتُ أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلاً {15}

[Yusufali 4:15] If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.

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11
God charges you, He commands you, concerning, the matter of, your children, with what He will mention: to the male, of them, the equivalent of the portion, the lot, of two females, if there are two [women] with him, so that half the property is his, and the other half is theirs; if there is only one female with him, then she has a third, and he receives two thirds; if he is the only one, he takes it all; and if they, the offspring, be, only, women more than two, then for them two-thirds of what he, the deceased, leaves; likewise if they be two women, since in the case of two sisters, more deserving of such a share, God says, They shall receive two-thirds of what he leaves [Q. 4:176]; and since a female is entitled to a third with a male, she is all the more deserving [of the same share] with a female. It is said that fawq, 'more than', introduces a relative clause; it is also said to guard against the wrong impression that the greater the number [of females] the greater the portion [they are entitled to], since, it is [mistakenly] thought that the entitlement of two females to two-thirds derives from the fact that a female is entitled to one third when with a male; but if she, the daughter, be one (wāhidatan, is also read wāhidatun, making the kāna [construction] syntactically complete) then to her a half; and to his parents, the deceased's, to each one of the two (li-kulli wāhidin minhumā, substitutes for the previous li-abawayhi, 'to his parents'), the sixth of what he leaves, if he has a child, male or female: the point of the substitution is to show that they do not share the sixth [but receive one each]. [The term] 'child' (walad) also applies to a grandchild, and likewise 'parent' (abb) to a grandparent; but if he has no child, and his heirs are his parents, alone or along with a spouse, then to his mother (read li-ummihi; also read, in both places [here and further down], li-immihi in order to avoid the cumbersome transition from a damma ['u'] to a kasra ['I']); a third, of the property, or what remains after the spouse, the rest being for the father; or, if he has siblings, two or more, males or females, to his mother a sixth, and the rest for the father, and nothing for the siblings.

12
And for you a half of what your wives leave, if they have no children, from you or from another; but if they have children, then for you a fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they may bequeath, or any debt: the consensus is that the grandchild in this case is like the child. And for them, the wives, whether one or more, a fourth of what you leave, if you have no children; but if you have children, from them or from others, then for them an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you may bequeath, or any debt; again the consensus is that the grandchild is as the child. If it be a man leaving an inheritance (yūrathu, 'being inherited from', is an adjectival qualification, the predicate of which is [the following kalālatan, 'without direct heir']) and not having a direct heir, that is, [having] neither a parent nor child, or it be a woman, leaving an inheritance and having no direct heir, but it be that such, a man leaving an inheritance with no direct heir, has a brother or a sister, from the same mother, as read by Ibn Mas'ūd and others, then to each of the two a sixth, of what he leaves; but if they, the siblings from the same mother, be more than that, that is, [more] than one, then they share a third, the male and female equally, after any bequest to be bequeathed or any debt without prejudice (ghayra mudārrin, is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person governing [the verb] yūsā, 'to be bequeathed') in other words, without causing any prejudice to the inheritors by bequeathing more than the third); a charge (wasiyyatan, a verbal noun reaffirming [the import of] yūsīkum, 'He charges you' [of the beginning of the previous verse]) from God. God is Knowing, of the obligations which He has ordained for His creatures, Forbearing, in deferring the punishment of those that disobey Him. The Sunna specifies that the individuals mentioned may receive the relevant inheritance provided that they are not barred from it on account of their having committed murder, or [their belonging to] a different religion or being slaves.

13
Those, rulings mentioned with respect to orphans and what followed, are God's bounds, His laws, which He has delimited for His servants, so that they may act in accordance with them and not infringe them. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger, in what He has ruled, He will admit him (yudkhilhu, or, as a shift [to the first person plural] read nudkhilhu, 'We will admit him') to Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding therein; that is the great triumph.

14
But whoever disobeys God, and His Messenger; and transgresses His bounds, him He will admit ([read] in both ways [as above, yudkhilhu and nudkhilhu]) to a Fire, abiding therein, and for him, in it, there shall be a humbling chastisement, one of humiliation. In both [of the last] verses, the [singular] person [of the suffixed pronouns and the verbs] accords with the [singular] form of [the particle] man, 'whoever', while [the plural person in] khālidīn, 'abiding', accords with its [general plural] import.

15
As for those of your women who commit lewdness, adultery, call four, Muslim men, of you to witness against them; and if they witness, against them such [lewdness], then detain them in their houses, and prevent them from mixing with people, until, the angels of, death take them or, until, God appoints for them a way, out of it. This was stipulated for them at the very beginning of Islam, but then a way out was appointed for them through [the stipulation] that the virgin should receive a hundred lashes and be banished for a year, and the married woman be stoned. The prescribed punishment was explained thus in the hadīth, 'Come listen to me! Come listen to me! God has now made a way out for them', as reported by Muslim.

AN NISA 6-10

2007-01-21T04:40:00.000+12:00

وَابْتَلُواْ الْيَتَامَى حَتَّىَ إِذَا بَلَغُواْ النِّكَاحَ فَإِنْ آنَسْتُم مِّنْهُمْ رُشْدًا فَادْفَعُواْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ وَلاَ تَأْكُلُوهَا إِسْرَافًا وَبِدَارًا أَن يَكْبَرُواْ وَمَن كَانَ غَنِيًّا فَلْيَسْتَعْفِفْ وَمَن كَانَ فَقِيرًا فَلْيَأْكُلْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فَأَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكَفَى بِاللّهِ حَسِيبًا {6}

[Yusufali 4:6] Make trial of orphans until they reach the age of marriage; if then ye find sound judgment in them, release their property to them; but consume it not wastefully, nor in haste against their growing up. If the guardian is well-off, Let him claim no remuneration, but if he is poor, let him have for himself what is just and reasonable. When ye release their property to them, take witnesses in their presence: But all-sufficient is Allah in taking account.

لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصيِبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأَقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَاء نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأَقْرَبُونَ مِمَّا قَلَّ مِنْهُ أَوْ كَثُرَ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا {7}

[Yusufali 4:7] From what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women, whether the property be small or large,-a determinate share.

وَإِذَا حَضَرَ الْقِسْمَةَ أُوْلُواْ الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينُ فَارْزُقُوهُم مِّنْهُ وَقُولُواْ لَهُمْ قَوْلاً مَّعْرُوفًا {8}

[Yusufali 4:8] But if at the time of division other relatives, or orphans or poor, are present, feed them out of the (property), and speak to them words of kindness and justice.

وَلْيَخْشَ الَّذِينَ لَوْ تَرَكُواْ مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّةً ضِعَافًا خَافُواْ عَلَيْهِمْ فَلْيَتَّقُوا اللّهَ وَلْيَقُولُواْ قَوْلاً سَدِيدًا {9}

[Yusufali 4:9] Let those (disposing of an estate) have the same fear in their minds as they would have for their own if they had left a helpless family behind: Let them fear Allah, and speak words of appropriate (comfort).

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَالَ الْيَتَامَى ظُلْمًا إِنَّمَا يَأْكُلُونَ فِي بُطُونِهِمْ نَارًا وَسَيَصْلَوْنَ سَعِيرًا {10}

[Yusufali 4:10] Those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, eat up a Fire into their own bodies: They will soon be enduring a Blazing Fire!

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6
Try, test, well the orphans, before reaching maturity with regard [the duties of] religion and [before] they can [legally] manage their own affairs, until they reach the age of marrying, that is, until they have become eligible for it through puberty or [legal] age, which, according to al-Shāfi'ī, is the completion of fifteen years; then, if you perceive in them maturity, that is, right [judgement] in matters of religion and their property, deliver their property to them; consume it not, O guardians, wastefully, without due merit, and in haste, that is, hastening to expend it, fearing, lest they should grow up, and become mature, at which time you will be obliged to hand it over to them. If any man, who is a guardian, is rich, let him be abstinent, that is, let him abstain from the orphan's property and refrain from consuming it; if he is poor, let him consume, of it, honourably, that is, in line with the wage for his work. And when you deliver to them, the orphans, their property, take witnesses over them, that they have received it and that you are absolved [of the obligation], so that if any dispute occurs, you are able to refer to a clear proof: this is a command [intended] for guidance. God suffices as a reckoner, as a guardian of His creatures' deeds and as a reckoner of these [deeds] (the bā' [in bi'Llāhi] is extra).

7
The following was revealed as a repudiation of pre-Islamic practices in which women and children were not given any inheritance: To the men, young ones and kin, belongs a share, a portion, of what, deceased, parents and kinsmen leave, and to the women belongs a share of what parents and kinsmen leave, whether it, the property, be little or much. God has made it, an obligatory share, apportioned, to be given to them.

8
And when the division, of the inheritance, is attended by kinsmen, those of kinship who cannot inherit, and orphans and the poor, grant them, something, out of it, before the division [is effected]; and, if the inheritors are young, speak to them, O guardians, honourable words, kindly, by apologising to them that it is not your possession [to divide as you wish], but that it is for the young [inheritors]. Some say that this [stipulation] was abrogated; others say that it was not, only that people were all too readily neglecting it, since it was encouraged [but not prescribed]. According to Ibn 'Abbās, however, it is a duty.

9
And let them fear, let them be concerned for the orphans, those who, if they, are about to, leave behind them, that is, after their death, weak offspring, young children, would be afraid for them; that they be ruined; let them fear God, in the matter concerning orphans, and let them give what they would love for their own offspring after their death; and speak, to the one approached by death, pertinent words, the right [words], by enjoining him to give as voluntary almsgiving no more than the third [of the inheritance], and leave the remainder for the ones inheriting, so that they do not end up as dependants

10
Those who consume the property of orphans unjustly, without any right, are only consuming, the whole of it as, fire in their bellies, because that is where such [action] leads, and they shall be exposed to (read active yaslawna, or passive yuslawna), that is, they shall enter, a blaze, an intense fire, in which they shall burn.

AN NISA" 1-5

2007-01-21T04:37:00.000+12:00

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيراً وَنِسَاء وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ وَالأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا {1}

[Yusufali 4:1] O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.

وَآتُواْ الْيَتَامَى أَمْوَالَهُمْ وَلاَ تَتَبَدَّلُواْ الْخَبِيثَ بِالطَّيِّبِ وَلاَ تَأْكُلُواْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ إِلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حُوبًا كَبِيرًا {2}

[Yusufali 4:2] To orphans restore their property (When they reach their age), nor substitute (your) worthless things for (their) good ones; and devour not their substance (by mixing it up) with your won. For this is indeed a great sin.

ُواْ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاء مَثْنَى وَثُلاَثَ وَرُبَاعَ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ فِي الْيَتَامَى فَانكِحتَعْدِلُواْ فَوَاحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلاَّ تَعُولُواْ {3}

[Yusufali 4:3] If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.

وَآتُواْ النَّسَاء صَدُقَاتِهِنَّ نِحْلَةً فَإِن طِبْنَ لَكُمْ عَن شَيْءٍ مِّنْهُ نَفْسًا فَكُلُوهُ هَنِيئًا مَّرِيئًا {4}

[Yusufali 4:4] And give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, Take it and enjoy it with right good cheer.

وَلاَ تُؤْتُواْ السُّفَهَاء أَمْوَالَكُمُ الَّتِي جَعَلَ اللّهُ لَكُمْ قِيَاماً وَارْزُقُوهُمْ فِيهَا وَاكْسُوهُمْ وَقُولُواْ لَهُمْ قَوْلاً مَّعْرُوفًا {5}

[Yusufali 4:5] To those weak of understanding Make not over your property, which Allah hath made a means of support for you, but feed and clothe them therewith, and speak to them words of kindness and justice.

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1
O people, of Mecca, fear your Lord, that is, His punishment by being obedient to Him, Who created you of a single soul, Adam, and from it created its mate, Eve (Hawwa'), from one of his left ribs, and from the pair of them, Adam and Eve, scattered, separated and spread, many men and, many, women; and fear God by whom you claim [your rights] from one another (tassa'aluna: the original ta' [of tatasa'aluna] has been assimilated with the sin; a variant reading has tasa'aluna), so that one of you says to the other, 'I ask you, by God…', or 'For God's sake…'; and, fear, kinship ties, lest you sever them (a variant reading [of wa'l-arhama, 'and kinship ties'] is wa'l-arhami, as a supplement to the pronoun contained in bihi [sc. God]). They used to implore one another by ties of kinship. Surely God has been watchful over you, heedful of your deeds, for which He will requite you, that is to say, He is ever possessed of such an attribute.

2
The following was revealed regarding an orphan who demanded his property from his guardian but was refused it: Give the orphans, the under-age ones that have no father, their property, when they have reached maturity, and do not exchange the evil, the unlawful, for the good, the lawful, that is, taking the one in place of the other, as you do when you take what is good from the orphan's property, and leave him your faulty property instead; and absorb not their property, [by] adding it, into your property; surely that, the absorbing of it, is a great crime, a serious sin. When this was revealed they found it difficult to maintain guardianship over orphans, and some of them had ten or eight wives under their care, and did not treat them all equally, and so the following was revealed:

3

If you fear that you will not act justly, [that] you will [not] be equitable, towards the orphans, and are thus distressed in this matter, then also fear lest you be unjust towards women when you marry them; marry such (ma means man) women as seem good to you, two or three or four, that is, [each man may marry] two, or three, or four, but do not exceed this; but if you fear you will not be equitable, towards them in terms of [their] expenses and [individual] share; then, marry, only one, or, restrict yourself to, what your right hands own, of slavegirls, since these do not have the same rights as wives; thus, by that marrying of only four, or only one, or resorting to slavegirls, it is likelier, it is nearer [in outcome], that you will not be unjust, [that] you will [not] be inequitable

4

And give women their dowries (saduqat, plural of sudqa), their bridal money (mahr, muhur), as a free gift (nihlatan, is a verbal noun), a present given out of the kindness of one's heart; but if they are pleased to offer you any of it of their own accord (nafsan, 'of their own accord', is for specification and is taken from the subject of the verb [thus, it refers back to 'they', the women]), meaning, [if] their own selves are pleased that you should have something of the dowry and they give it to you then, consume it with, good, wholesome appetite, a praiseworthy consequence, with no harm therein for you with regard to the Hereafter: this was revealed in response to those who were opposed to this [consumption].

5
But do not, O guardians, give to the foolish, the squanderers from among men, women and children, your property, that is, the property that is theirs but held by you, which God has assigned to you as maintenance (qiyāman, 'maintenance', is the verbal noun from qāma; a variant reading has qiyaman, the plural of qīma, 'value', that is, that with which property is valued), meaning that the property which sustains your livelihoods and the well-being of your children, lest they expend it improperly; provide for them thereof, that is, feed them from it, and clothe them, and speak to them decent words, prepare for them a kind reception, by giving them their property when they reach maturity.

AL IMRAN 196-200

2007-01-12T03:11:00.000+12:00

لاَ يَغُرَّنَّكَ تَقَلُّبُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فِي الْبِلاَدِ {196}

[Yusufali 3:196] Let not the strutting about of the Unbelievers through the land deceive thee:

مَتَاعٌ قَلِيلٌ ثُمَّ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ {197}

[Yusufali 3:197] Little is it for enjoyment: Their ultimate abode is Hell: what an evil bed (To lie on)!

لَكِنِ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْاْ رَبَّهُمْ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا نُزُلاً مِّنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَمَا عِندَ اللّهِ خَيْرٌ لِّلأَبْرَارِ {198}

[Yusufali 3:198] On the other hand, for those who fear their Lord, are Gardens, with rivers flowing beneath; therein are they to dwell (for ever),- a gift from the presence of Allah; and that which is in the presence of Allah is the best (bliss) for the righteous.

وَإِنَّ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَمَن يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ خَاشِعِينَ لِلّهِ لاَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلاً أُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ {199}

[Yusufali 3:199] And there are, certainly, among the People of the Book, those who believe in Allah, in the revelation to you, and in the revelation to them, bowing in humility to Allah: They will not sell the Signs of Allah for a miserable gain! For them is a reward with their Lord, and Allah is swift in account.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اصْبِرُواْ وَصَابِرُواْ وَرَابِطُواْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ {200}

[Yusufali 3:200] O ye who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah; that ye may prosper.

________________________________________________________________

196

When the Muslims began to say, 'Look at the enemies of God, how comfortable they are, while we are struggling!', the following was revealed: Let it not delude you, that the disbelievers go to and fro in the land, engaging in commerce and acquiring profit:

197

That is [but], a little enjoyment, which they enjoy for a short while in this world and then perishes; then their abode is Hell - an evil cradling [an evil] resting place it is!

198
But those who fear their Lord - for them shall be Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding, that is, it is decreed for them to abide, therein; a hospitality (nuzul is what is prepared for a guest; it is in the accusative [nuzulan] because it is a circumstantial qualifier referring to jannāt, 'gardens', and its operator is the import of the adverbial phrase) from God Himself. That which is with God, in the way of reward, is better for the pious, than the enjoyment of this world.

199
Verily, there are some among the People of the Scripture who believe in God, like 'Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions and the Negus, and what has been revealed to you, that is, the Qur'ān, and what has been revealed to them, that is, the Torah and the Gospel, humble before God (khāshi'īn is a circumstantial qualification of the person of [the verb] yu'min, 'who believe', and takes into account the [potentially plural] sense of man, 'who'), not purchasing with the verses of God, which they have before them in the Torah and the Gospel pertaining to the descriptions of the Prophet (s), a small price, of this world, by concealing them for fear of losing their supremacy, as others, like the Jews, have done. Those - their wage, the reward for their deeds, is with their Lord, [a reward] which they will be given twice over, as [stated] in the sūrat al-Qasas [Q. 28:54]. God is swift at reckoning, reckoning with the whole of creation in about half a day of the days of this world.

200
O you who believe, be patient, in [performing] acts of obedience, in the face of afflictions and in refraining from acts of disobedience, and vie in patience, with the disbelievers, lest they be more patient than you; be steadfast, persist in the struggle; fear God, in all of your circumstances, so that you will prosper, [so that] you will win [admittance to] Paradise and be delivered from the Fire.

AL IMRAN 191-195

2007-01-12T02:59:00.001+12:00

الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ {191}

[Yusufali 3:191] Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.

رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ مَن تُدْخِلِ النَّارَ فَقَدْ أَخْزَيْتَهُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ {192}

[Yusufali 3:192] "Our Lord! any whom Thou dost admit to the Fire, Truly Thou coverest with shame, and never will wrong-doers Find any helpers!

رَّبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُواْ بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الأبْرَارِ {193}

[Yusufali 3:193] "Our Lord! we have heard the call of one calling (Us) to Faith, 'Believe ye in the Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, blot out from us our iniquities, and take to Thyself our souls in the company of the righteous.

رَبَّنَا وَآتِنَا مَا وَعَدتَّنَا عَلَى رُسُلِكَ وَلاَ تُخْزِنَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّكَ لاَ تُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ {194}

[Yusufali 3:194] "Our Lord! Grant us what Thou didst promise unto us through Thine messengers, and save us from shame on the Day of Judgment: For Thou never breakest Thy promise."

فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ أَنِّي لاَ أُضِيعُ عَمَلَ عَامِلٍ مِّنكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَى بَعْضُكُم مِّن بَعْضٍ فَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُواْ وَأُخْرِجُواْ مِن دِيَارِهِمْ وَأُوذُواْ فِي سَبِيلِي وَقَاتَلُواْ وَقُتِلُواْ لأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلأُدْخِلَنَّهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ ثَوَابًا مِّن عِندِ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الثَّوَابِ {195}

[Yusufali 3:195] And their Lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: "Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: Ye are members, one of another: Those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in My Cause, or fought or been slain,- verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath;- A reward from the presence of Allah, and from His presence is the best of rewards."

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191
Those who (alladhīna, an adjectival qualification of the preceding [li-ūlī l-albāb, 'for people of pith'], or a substitution for it) remember God, standing and sitting and on their sides, reclining, that is to say, in all states: [it is reported] from Ibn 'Abbās that they perform prayer in these ways, [each] according to [his own] capacity; and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, to deduce therefrom the power of their Creator, saying: 'Our Lord, You have not created this, creation that we see, in vain (bātilan, a circumstantial qualifier), frivolously, but as a proof of the totality of Your power. Glory be to You!, exalted above any frivolity. So guard us against the chastisement of the Fire.

192

Our Lord, whomever You admit into the Fire, to abide therein, You will have abased, You will have humiliated, and the evildoers, the disbelievers therein, shall have no helpers, to protect them from God's chastisement, exalted be He (the overt noun ['the evildoers'] has replaced the pronominalisation ['whomever'] in order to inform that the [punishment of] abasement is specifically theirs; the min of [min ansār, 'helpers'] is extra).

193

Our Lord, we have heard a caller calling, summoning people, to belief (li'l-īmān means ilā l-īmān) and this is Muhammad (s), or [summoning them] to the Qur'ān, saying, that, “Believe in your Lord!” And we believed, in Him. So, our Lord, forgive us our sins and absolve us of, conceal, our evil deeds, and so do not make them manifest by punishing us for them, and take us [in death], receive our spirits together, with the pious, the prophets and the righteous.

194

Our Lord, grant us what You have promised us through, the tongues of, Your messengers, in the way of mercy and favour: they are asking her they be made among those that deserve such a promise, for, God's promise is fufilled regardless, but they are not certain that they are among those who deserve it. The repetition of the phrase our Lord is out of extreme humility; and abase us not on the Day of Resurrection. You will not fail the tryst', the promise of Resurrection and Requital.

195
And their Lord answers them, their supplication, by saying that 'I do not let the labour of any labourer among you go to waste, be you male or female - the one of you is as the other (this statement is a reaffirmation of the previous one): that is, they are both equal when it comes to recompensing them for their deeds and for not neglecting them. When Umm Salama asked, 'O Messenger of God, why is there no mention of women when it comes to the Emigration (hijra)?', the following was revealed: and those who emigrated, from Mecca to Medina, and were expelled from their habitations, those who suffered hurt in My way, for My religion, and fought, the disbelievers, and were slain (read qutilū or quttilū) - them I shall surely absolve of their evil deeds, concealing these with forgiveness, and I shall admit them to Gardens underneath which river flow'. A reward (thawāban is a verbal noun reaffirming the import of la-ukaffiranna) from God! (there is a shift of person here). And God - with Him is the fairest reward, [the fairest] requital.

AL IMRAN 186-190

2007-01-11T19:49:00.001+12:00

لَتُبْلَوُنَّ فِي أَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ وَلَتَسْمَعُنَّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُواْ أَذًى كَثِيراً وَإِن تَصْبِرُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الأُمُورِ {186}

[Yusufali 3:186] Ye shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and ye shall certainly Hear much that will grieve you, from those who received the Book before you and from those who worship many gods. But if ye persevere patiently, and guard against evil,-then that will be a determining factor in all affairs.

وَإِذَ أَخَذَ اللّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلاَ تَكْتُمُونَهُ فَنَبَذُوهُ وَرَاء ظُهُورِهِمْ وَاشْتَرَوْاْ بِهِ ثَمَناً قَلِيلاً فَبِئْسَ مَا يَشْتَرُونَ {187}

[Yusufali 3:187] And remember Allah took a covenant from the People of the Book, to make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it; but they threw it away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! And vile was the bargain they made!

لاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَا أَتَواْ وَّيُحِبُّونَ أَن يُحْمَدُواْ بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلُواْ فَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّهُمْ بِمَفَازَةٍ مِّنَ الْعَذَابِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ {188}

[Yusufali 3:188] Think not that those who exult in what they have brought about, and love to be praised for what they have not done,- think escape the penalty. For them is a penalty Grievous indeed.

وَلِلّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاللّهُ عَلَىَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ {189}

[Yusufali 3:189] To Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and Allah hath power over all things.

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لِّأُوْلِي الألْبَابِ {190}

[Yusufali 3:190] Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for men of understanding,-

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186
You shall surely be tried (la-tublawunna, the [final] nūn nominative indicator has been omitted because two nūn letters [would otherwise] succeed one another, as has been the plural person indicator wāw where two unvocalised consonants have come together), in other words, you shall surely be tested, in your property, through the duties [imposed] thereupon and through the damages that affect them; and in your selves, through [the obligations of] worship and through calamities, and you shall hear from those who were given the Scripture before you, the Jews and the Christians, and from those who are idolaters, from among the Arabs, much hurt, in the way of insult, slander and [their] flirting with your women; but if you are patient, through this, and fear, God - surely that is true resolve, that is, it is one of those things regarding which one must necessarily have firm resolve.

187
And, mention, when God made covenant with those who had been given the Scripture, that is, the pledge [taken] from them in the Torah, 'You shall expound it (read tubayyinunnahu, or yubayyinunnahu, 'they shall expound it') the Book, to people, and not conceal it' (read taktumūnahu, 'you shall not conceal it', or yaktumūnahu, 'they shall not conceal it'). But they rejected it, they discarded the covenant, behind their backs, and so they did not act in accordance with it, and bought with it, they took in its place, a small price, of this world from the debased among them, enjoying supremacy over them in knowledge, and they concealed it, lest it [the supremacy] escape them; how evil is what they have bought, [how evil is] this purchase of theirs!

188

Do not reckon that (lā tahsabanna, or read lā yahsabanna, 'let them not reckon') those who rejoice in what they have brought, that is, [in what] they have done by leading people astray, and who love to be praised for what they have not done, in the way of adherence to the truth, being [themselves] misguided - do not reckon them (fa-lā tahsabannahum, is for emphasis [in the case of both readings above]) secure, in a place where they can escape, from the chastisement, in the Hereafter; but instead they shall be in a place of wherein they shall be tortured, and that is Hell; there shall be a painful chastisement for them, in it (alīm means mu'lim, 'painful'). If one reads yahsabanna, 'let them [not] reckon', the two direct objects of the first h-s-b verb would be indicated by the two direct objects of the second h-s-b verb; but if one reads tahsabanna, 'do [not] reckon', then only second direct object would be omitted.

189

To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth, the storehouses of rain, sustenance, vegetation and so forth, and God has power over all things, including the punishing of disbelievers and the saving of believers.

190

Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the marvels contained in them, and in the alternation of night and day, coming and going, increasing and diminishing, there are signs, indications of God's power, for people of pith, for people possessing intellects.

AL IMRAN 181-185

2006-12-12T13:56:00.000+12:00

لَّقَدْ سَمِعَ اللّهُ قَوْلَ الَّذِينَ قَالُواْ إِنَّ اللّهَ فَقِيرٌ وَنَحْنُ أَغْنِيَاء سَنَكْتُبُ مَا قَالُواْ وَقَتْلَهُمُ الأَنبِيَاء بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ وَنَقُولُ ذُوقُواْ عَذَابَ الْحَرِيقِ
{181}

[Yusufali 3:181] Allah hath heard the taunt of those who say: "Truly, Allah is indigent and we are rich!"- We shall certainly record their word and (their act) of slaying the prophets in defiance of right, and We shall say: "Taste ye the penalty of the Scorching Fire!

ذَلِكَ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَأَنَّ اللّهَ لَيْسَ بِظَلاَّمٍ لِّلْعَبِيدِ {182}

[Yusufali 3:182] "This is because of the (unrighteous deeds) which your hands sent on before ye: For Allah never harms those who serve Him."

الَّذِينَ قَالُواْ إِنَّ اللّهَ عَهِدَ إِلَيْنَا أَلاَّ نُؤْمِنَ لِرَسُولٍ حَتَّىَ يَأْتِيَنَا بِقُرْبَانٍ تَأْكُلُهُ النَّارُ قُلْ قَدْ جَاءكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِي بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَبِالَّذِي قُلْتُمْ فَلِمَ قَتَلْتُمُوهُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ {183}

[Yusufali 3:183] They (also) said: "Allah took our promise not to believe in an messenger unless He showed us a sacrifice consumed by Fire (From heaven)." Say: "There came to you messengers before me, with clear Signs and even with what ye ask for: why then did ye slay them, if ye speak the truth?"

فَإِن كَذَّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كُذِّبَ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِكَ جَآؤُوا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالزُّبُرِ وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُنِيرِ {184}

[Yusufali 3:184] Then if they reject thee, so were rejected messengers before thee, who came with Clear Signs, Books of dark prophecies, and the Book of Enlightenment.

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ وَما الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلاَّ مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ {185}

[Yusufali 3:185] Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception.
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181
Verily God has heard the saying of those, namely the Jews, who said, 'Indeed God is poor, and we are rich': they said this when the verse, who is he that will lend God a good loan [Q. 2:245] was revealed, adding that, 'If God were [truly] rich, He would not be asking us for loans'. We shall write down, We shall order that it be written, what they have said, in the scrolls containing their deeds so that they will be requited for it (a variant reading [for active naktubu, 'We shall write'] has the passive yuktabu, 'it shall be written') and, We shall write down, their slaying (read accusative qatlahum or nominative qatluhum) the prophets without right, and We shall say (naqūlu, also read yaqūlu, meaning God [shall say]) to them by the tongue of the angels in the Hereafter, 'Taste the chastisement of the Burning, the Fire.

182
When they are thrown into [the Fire], it will be said to them: That, punishment, is for what your hands have sent before: 'hands' are used to designate a human being because most actions are performed with them; for God is never unjust towards His servants, punishing them without them having sinned.

183
Those (alladhīna, an adjectival qualification of the previous alladhīna, 'those who' [Q. 3:181]) same who said, to Muhammad (s), 'God has already made covenant with us, in the Torah, that we should not believe in any messenger, accepting his truthfulness, until he bring us an offering to be devoured by fire', and so we will not believe in you until you bring us this [offering], namely, of grazing livestock or other [kind of animal] one offers [in sacrifice] to God. If it is accepted, a white fire will come down from the heaven and consume it, otherwise it will remain as it is. Such a covenant was made with the Children of Israel, but not in the case of Jesus and Muhammad. God, exalted be He, says, Say, to them in rebuke: 'messengers have come to you before me with clear proofs, with miracles, and with that which you said, [messengers] such as Zachariah and John, but you slew them: the address here is for those living at the time of our Prophet Muhammad (s), even though the deed was their forefathers', for they [their descendants] are content with it. Why did you slay them, then, if you are truthful?', about [the fact] that you would believe if it [the offering] were brought [to you].

184
But if they deny you, so were denied messengers before you who came bearing clear proofs, miracles, and the Scriptures, such as the scrolls of Abraham, and the Illuminating, the lucid, Book, that is, the Torah and the Gospel (a variant reading establishes the [prefixed preposition] bā' in both [words, sc. bi'l-zubur wa-bi'l-kitāb l-munīr, 'with the Scriptures and with the Illuminating Book']), so be patient as they were.

185
Every soul shall taste of death; you shall surely be paid in full your wages, the requital of your deeds, on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is moved away, distanced, from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, will have triumphed, he will have attained his ultimate wish. Living in, the life of this world is but the comfort of delusion; of inanity, enjoyed for a little while, then perishing.

AL IMRAN 176-180

2006-12-06T13:56:00.000+12:00

وَلاَ يَحْزُنكَ الَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْكُفْرِ إِنَّهُمْ لَن يَضُرُّواْ اللّهَ شَيْئاً يُرِيدُ اللّهُ أَلاَّ يَجْعَلَ لَهُمْ حَظًّا فِي الآخِرَةِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
{176}

[Yusufali 3:176] Let not those grieve thee who rush headlong into Unbelief: Not the least harm will they do to Allah: Allah's plan is that He will give them no portion in the Hereafter, but a severe punishment.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُاْ الْكُفْرَ بِالإِيمَانِ لَن يَضُرُّواْ اللّهَ شَيْئًا وَلهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ {177}

[Yusufali 3:177] Those who purchase Unbelief at the price of faith,- not the least harm will they do to Allah, but they will have a grievous punishment.

وَلاَ يَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَنَّمَا نُمْلِي لَهُمْ خَيْرٌ لِّأَنفُسِهِمْ إِنَّمَا نُمْلِي لَهُمْ لِيَزْدَادُواْ إِثْمًا وَلَهْمُ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ {178}

[Yusufali 3:178] Let not the Unbelievers think that our respite to them is good for themselves: We grant them respite that they may grow in their iniquity: But they will have a shameful punishment.

مَّا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيَذَرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَى مَا أَنتُمْ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّىَ يَمِيزَ الْخَبِيثَ مِنَ الطَّيِّبِ وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيُطْلِعَكُمْ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ وَلَكِنَّ اللّهَ يَجْتَبِي مِن رُّسُلِهِ مَن يَشَاء فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَإِن تُؤْمِنُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ فَلَكُمْ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ {179}

[Yusufali 3:179] Allah will not leave the believers in the state in which ye are now, until He separates what is evil from what is good nor will He disclose to you the secrets of the Unseen. But He chooses of His Messengers (For the purpose) whom He pleases. So believe in Allah. And His messengers: And if ye believe and do right, ye have a reward without measure.

وَلاَ يَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ هُوَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ بَلْ هُوَ شَرٌّ لَّهُمْ سَيُطَوَّقُونَ مَا بَخِلُواْ بِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلِلّهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاللّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ {180}

[Yusufali 3:180] And let not those who covetously withhold of the gifts which Allah Hath given them of His Grace, think that it is good for them: Nay, it will be the worse for them: soon shall the things which they covetously withheld be tied to their necks Like a twisted collar, on the Day of Judgment. To Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do.

__________________________________________________________________

176

Let them not grieve you (read yuhzinka, or yahzunka from [1st form] hazanahu, 'he made him grieve', an alternative expression to [4th form] ahzanahu, 'he made him grieve') those that vie with one another in unbelief, succumbing to it promptly by supporting it, namely, the Meccans or the hypocrites: in other words, do not be concerned for their unbelief; they will not hurt God at all, by their actions, only hurting themselves. God desires not to assign them any portion, any lot, in the Hereafter, that is, in Paradise, and that is why God forsook them; and theirs is a mighty chastisement, in the Fire.

177

Those who purchase unbelief at the price of faith, that is, taking it in place of it, they will not hurt God at all, with their unbelief, and there awaits them a painful chastisement (alim means mu'lim, 'painful').

178

And let not the disbelievers suppose (read la yahsabanna, 'let them not suppose', or la tahsabanna, 'do not suppose') that what We indulge them in, that is, [that] Our indulging [them], in extending their [terms of] life and deferring them [their death], is better for their souls (in the case of the reading yahsabanna, 'let them [not] suppose', anna [of anna-ma] and its two operators stand in place of the two objects, but only in place of the second in the case of the other reading [tahsabanna], 'do [not] suppose'). We grant them indulgence, We give [them] respite, only that they may increase in sinfulness, through frequent disobedience, and theirs is a humbling chastisement, one of humiliation, in the Hereafter.

179

It is not God's purpose to leave, to abandon, the believers in the state in which you, O people, are, where the sincere are intermingle with those otherwise, till He shall distinguish (read yamiza or yumayyiza), [till] He separates, the evil one, the hypocrite, from the good, the believer, through the burdensome obligations that will reveal this [distinction] - He did this on the Day of Uhud. And it is not God's purpose to apprise you of the Unseen, so that you could recognise the hypocrites from the others, before the distinguishing; but God chooses, He selects, of His messengers whom He will, apprising him of [some of] His Unseen, as when He apprised the Prophet (s) of the position of the hypocrites. So believe in God and His messengers; and if you believe and guard against, hypocrisy, then yours shall be a great wage.

180

Let them not suppose (read la yahsabanna, 'let them not suppose', or la tahsabanna, 'do not suppose') those who are niggardly with what God has given them of His bounty, that is, with His obligatory almsgiving, that it, their niggardliness, is better for them (khayrun lahum, is the second direct object; the pronoun [huwa, '[that] it is'] is used to separate [the two statements]; the first [direct object] is bukhlahum 'their niggardliness' implicit before the relative clause [alladhina] in the case of the reading tahsabanna [sc. wa-la tahsabanna bukhlahum, 'do not suppose their niggardliness…'], or before the pronoun [huwa, 'it is'] in the case of the reading yahsabanna [sc. wa-la yahsabanna lladhina…bukhlahum huwa khayran lahum, 'let them not suppose, those who…that their niggardliness is better for them']); nay, it is worse for them; what they were niggardly with, namely, the obligatory almsgiving of their wealth, they shall have hung around their necks on the Day of Resurrection, when he will have a snake around his neck biting viciously at him, as reported in a hadith; and to God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, inheriting them after the annihilation of their inhabitants. And God is aware of what you do (ta'maluna, also read ya'maluna, 'they do'), and will requite you for it.

AL IMRAN 171-175

2006-12-05T13:55:00.000+12:00

يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ وَفَضْلٍ وَأَنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
{171}

[Yusufali 3:171] They glory in the Grace and the bounty from Allah, and in the fact that Allah suffereth not the reward of the Faithful to be lost (in the least).

الَّذِينَ اسْتَجَابُواْ لِلّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا أَصَابَهُمُ الْقَرْحُ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُواْ مِنْهُمْ وَاتَّقَواْ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ {172}

[Yusufali 3:172] Of those who answered the call of Allah and the Messenger, even after being wounded, those who do right and refrain from wrong have a great reward;-

الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُواْ لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَاناً وَقَالُواْ حَسْبُنَا اللّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ {173}

[Yusufali 3:173] Men said to them: "A great army is gathering against you": And frightened them: But it (only) increased their Faith: They said: "For us Allah sufficeth, and He is the best disposer of affairs."

فَانقَلَبُواْ بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَّمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُواْ رِضْوَانَ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ {174}

[Yusufali 3:174] And they returned with Grace and bounty from Allah: no harm ever touched them: For they followed the good pleasure of Allah: And Allah is the Lord of bounties unbounded.

إِنَّمَا ذَلِكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَاءهُ فَلاَ تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ {175}

[Yusufali 3:175] It is only the Evil One that suggests to you the fear of his votaries: Be ye not afraid of them, but fear Me, if ye have Faith.

____________________________________________________________________

171
Joyful in grace, in the reward, and bounty, in addition to it, from God, and that (read wa-anna as a supplement to ni'matin, or wa-inna to denote a new clause) God does not let the wage of believers go to waste, but rewards them.

172

Those who (alladhina, is the subject) responded to God and the Messenger, [to] his call to set out for battle: when Abu Sufyan and his companions wanted to resume [hostilities] they agreed with the Prophet (s) that the encounter would be at the [annual] market-fair of Badr a year from the date of Uhud; after the wounds had afflicted them, at Uhud - (the predicate of the subject [alladhina] is [what follows]) for all those who were virtuous, by obeying him, and feared, to disobey him, shall be a great wage, namely, Paradise.

173
Those to whom (alladhina, substitutes for the previous alladhina, 'those who', or an adjectival qualification [of it]) people, that is, Nu'aym b. Mas'ud al-Ashja'i, said, 'The people, Abu Sufyan and his companions, have gathered, their multitudes, against you, in order to exterminate you, therefore fear them', and do not go out to [encounter] them; but that, saying, increased them in faith, in their belief in God and in certainty, and they said, 'God is sufficient for us, He will deal fully for us with their affair; an excellent Guardian is He' , the One to whom the matter is entrusted. They thus set out with the Prophet (s) and arrived at the market-fair of Badr, but God had cast terror into the hearts of Abu Sufyan and his followers and so they did not turn up. They [the believers] had merchandise with them, and so they traded and made profits. God, exalted be He, says:

174

So they returned, from Badr, with grace and bounty from God, safely and with profit, and no evil touched them, from any slaying or wounds; and they followed the beatitude of God, by obeying Him and obeying His Messenger, when they [agreed to] set out [for the battle]; and God is of bounty abounding, for those that obey Him.

175

That, namely, the one saying to you, 'The people [have gathered against you]' to the end [of the verse], is only Satan making, you, fear his friends, the disbelievers, therefore do not fear them; but fear Me, lest you abandon My command, if you are, truly, believers.

AL IMRAN 166-170

2006-11-25T13:53:00.000+12:00

وَمَا أَصَابَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ فَبِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
{166}

[Yusufali 3:166] What ye suffered on the day the two armies Met, was with the leave of Allah, in order that He might test the believers,-

وَلْيَعْلَمَ الَّذِينَ نَافَقُواْ وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْاْ قَاتِلُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ أَوِ ادْفَعُواْ قَالُواْ لَوْ نَعْلَمُ قِتَالاً لاَّتَّبَعْنَاكُمْ هُمْ لِلْكُفْرِ يَوْمَئِذٍ أَقْرَبُ مِنْهُمْ لِلإِيمَانِ يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِم مَّا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ وَاللّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَكْتُمُونَ {167}

[Yusufali 3:167] And the Hypocrites also. These were told: "Come, fight in the way of Allah, or (at least) drive (The foe from your city)." They said: "Had we known how to fight, we should certainly have followed you." They were that day nearer to Unbelief than to Faith, saying with their lips what was not in their hearts but Allah hath full knowledge of all they conceal.

الَّذِينَ قَالُواْ لإِخْوَانِهِمْ وَقَعَدُواْ لَوْ أَطَاعُونَا مَا قُتِلُوا قُلْ فَادْرَؤُوا عَنْ أَنفُسِكُمُ الْمَوْتَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ {168}

[Yusufali 3:168] (They are) the ones that say, (of their brethren slain), while they themselves sit (at ease): "If only they had listened to us they would not have been slain." Say: "Avert death from your own selves, if ye speak the truth."

وَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاء عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ {169}

[Yusufali 3:169] Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord;

فَرِحِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ وَيَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِالَّذِينَ لَمْ يَلْحَقُواْ بِهِم مِّنْ خَلْفِهِمْ أَلاَّ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ {170}

[Yusufali 3:170] They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah: And with regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them (in their bliss), the (Martyrs) glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor have they (cause to) grieve.

*****

166
And what afflicted you, the day the two hosts encountered, at Uhud, was by God's leave, by His will, and that He might know, through knowledge manifested outwardly, the, true, believers.

167
And that He might also know the hypocrites, and those who, when it was said to them, after they had fled the fighting, namely, 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy and his companions: 'Come now, fight in the way of God, His enemies, or defend', us against the enemy by increasing the multitude [of our fighters], if you are not going to fight; they said, 'If we knew how, [if] we were skilled enough, to fight we would follow you.' God then said, showing them to be liars: They that day were nearer to unbelief than to belief, for what they manifested of their forsaking the believers, whereas before they had been outwardly nearer to belief; saying with their mouths that which was not in their hearts, for even if they had known how to fight they would not have followed you. And God knows best what they hide, of hypocrisy.

168
Those who (alladhina substitutes for the previous alladhina, or constitutes an adjectival qualification [of it]) said to their brothers, in religion, whilst they themselves, had, stayed put, [refraining] from [joining] the struggle, 'Had they, the martyrs at Uhud or those who stayed put with us, obeyed us, they would not have been slain.' Say, to them, 'Then avert, ward off, death from yourselves, if you speak the truth', in that staying put delivers one from it [sc. from death].

169
The following was revealed regarding martyrs: Count not those who were slain (read qutilu or quttilu) in God's way, that is, for the sake of His religion, as dead, but rather, that they are, living with their Lord, their spirits inside green birds that take wing freely wherever they wish in Paradise, as reported in a hadith); provided for [by Him], with the fruits of Paradise.

170
Rejoicing (farihina, a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person governing yurzaqun, 'sustained') in what God has given them of His bounty, and, they are, rejoicing, joyful, for the sake of those who have not joined them but are left behind, from among their believing brothers (alladhina, 'those who', may be substituted by [what follows, sc. 'rejoicing…that no fear']): that no fear shall befall them, those that have not yet joined them, neither shall they grieve, in the Hereafter, meaning, they rejoice for their [brothers' future] security and felicity (alla [of alla khawfun] is an-la, meaning, bi-an la).

AL IMRAN 161-165

2006-11-23T13:52:00.000+12:00

وَمَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ أَن يَغُلَّ وَمَن يَغْلُلْ يَأْتِ بِمَا غَلَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُون
َ 161{161}

[Yusufali 3:161] No prophet could (ever) be false to his trust. If any person is so false, He shall, on the Day of Judgment, restore what he misappropriated; then shall every soul receive its due,- whatever it earned,- and none shall be dealt with unjustly.

أَفَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضْوَانَ اللّهِ كَمَن بَاء بِسَخْطٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ وَمَأْوَاهُ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ {162}

[Yusufali 3:162] Is the man who follows the good pleasure of Allah Like the man who draws on himself the wrath of Allah, and whose abode is in Hell?- A woeful refuge!

هُمْ دَرَجَاتٌ عِندَ اللّهِ واللّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ {163}

[Yusufali 3:163] They are in varying gardens in the sight of Allah, and Allah sees well all that they do.

لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولاً مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُواْ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلالٍ مُّبِينٍ {164}

[Yusufali 3:164] Allah did confer a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a messenger from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the Signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in Scripture and Wisdom, while, before that, they had been in manifest error.

أَوَلَمَّا أَصَابَتْكُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَدْ أَصَبْتُم مِّثْلَيْهَا قُلْتُمْ أَنَّى هَـذَا قُلْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ {165}

[Yusufali 3:165] What! When a single disaster smites you, although ye smote (your enemies) with one twice as great, do ye say?- "Whence is this?" Say (to them): "It is from yourselves: For Allah hath power over all things."

*****

161

When some red velvet cloth went missing on the Day of Badr and some people began to say, 'Perhaps the Prophet took it', the following was revealed: It is not for a prophet to be fraudulent (an yaghulla, a variant reading has the passive an yughalla, meaning to attribute ghulul, 'fraud', to him), to be treacherous with regard to the spoils, so do not presume this of him; whoever defrauds shall bring what he has defrauded on the Day of Resurrection, carrying it around his neck; then every soul, the fraudulent and the otherwise, shall be paid in full, the requital of, what it has earned, [what] it has done, and they shall not be wronged, a single thing.

162
Is he who follows God's beatitude, being obedient and not defrauding, like him who is laden, [one who] returns, with God's anger, because of his disobedience and fraud, whose abode is Hell? An evil journey's end, a resort, it is!

163
No! They are of degrees, that is, individuals of [different] degrees, before God, that is, belonging to varying stations: for those that follow His beatitude, a reward, and for those that are laden with God's anger, punishment; and God sees what they do, and will requite them for it.

164

Truly God was gracious to the believers when He sent to them a messenger from among their own, that is to say, an Arab like them, not an angel or a non-Arab, so that they can understand what he says and feel honoured thereby, to recite to them His verses, the Qur'an, and to purify them, to cleanse them of sins, and to teach them the Book, the Qur'an, wisdom, the Sunna, though (in, is softened [in place of inna], that is, innahum, 'though they…') before, that is, before he was sent, they were in clear error.

165
And why, when distress befell you, at Uhud, when seventy of you were slain, and you had afflicted twice the like of it, at Badr, slaying seventy of them and taking another seventy captive, did you say, in amazement, 'How is this?', that is, how did this defeat happen to us when we are Muslims and God's Messenger is among us (the last statement [anna hadha, 'how is this?'] constitutes [the locus of] the interrogative of denial). Say, to them: 'It is from yourselves, because you abandoned your [battle] stations and were thus defeated. Surely God has power over everything', including [the giving of] assistance and the withholding of it, and He requited you for your disputing [the Prophet's command].

AL IMRAN 156-160

2006-11-19T13:51:00.000+12:00

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَكُونُواْ كَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَقَالُواْ لإِخْوَانِهِمْ إِذَا ضَرَبُواْ فِي الأَرْضِ أَوْ كَانُواْ غُزًّى لَّوْ كَانُواْ عِندَنَا مَا مَاتُواْ وَمَا قُتِلُواْ لِيَجْعَلَ اللّهُ ذَلِكَ حَسْرَةً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ وَاللّهُ يُحْيِـي وَيُمِيتُ وَاللّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
{156}

[Yusufali 3:156] O ye who believe! Be not like the Unbelievers, who say of their brethren, when they are travelling through the Earth or engaged in fighting: "If they had stayed with us, they would not have died, or been slain." This that Allah may make it a cause of sighs and regrets in their hearts. It is Allah that gives Life and Death, and Allah sees well all that ye do.

وَلَئِن قُتِلْتُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ أَوْ مُتُّمْ لَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّنَ اللّهِ وَرَحْمَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ {157}

[Yusufali 3:157] And if ye are slain, or die, in the way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than all they could amass.

وَلَئِن مُّتُّمْ أَوْ قُتِلْتُمْ لإِلَى الله تُحْشَرُونَ {158}

[Yusufali 3:158] And if ye die, or are slain, Lo! it is unto Allah that ye are brought together.

فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لاَنفَضُّواْ مِنْ حَوْلِكَ فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ فِي الأَمْرِ فَإِذَا عَزَمْتَ فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللّهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ {159}

[Yusufali 3:159] It is part of the Mercy of Allah that thou dost deal gently with them Wert thou severe or harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about thee: so pass over (Their faults), and ask for (Allah's) forgiveness for them; and consult them in affairs (of moment). Then, when thou hast Taken a decision put thy trust in Allah. For Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him).

إِن يَنصُرْكُمُ اللّهُ فَلاَ غَالِبَ لَكُمْ وَإِن يَخْذُلْكُمْ فَمَن ذَا الَّذِي يَنصُرُكُم مِّن بَعْدِهِ وَعَلَى اللّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكِّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ {160}

[Yusufali 3:160] If Allah helps you, none can overcome you: If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? in Allah, then, Let believers put their trust.

_________________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

156
O you who believe, be not as the disbelievers, that is, [as] the hypocrites, who say of their brothers, that is, regarding their affair, when they travel in the land, and then die, or are on raiding campaigns (ghuzzan, 'a raiding party', is the plural of ghazin), and are then slain, 'Had they been with us, they would not have died and would not have been slain', in other words, do not say as they say - so that God may make that, saying [of theirs], as a conclusion of their affair, anguish in their hearts. For God gives life, and He gives death, and so no staying put can prevent death, and God sees what you do (ta'maluna, or ya'maluna, 'they do'), and He will requite you for it.

157
And if (wa-la-in, the lam is for oaths) you are slain in God's way, in [holy] struggle, or die (read muttum or mittum, from [singular form] mata, yamutu), that is, if death comes to you thereat, forgiveness, that is, from God, for your sins, and mercy, therefor from Him for you (the clause introduced by the lam [of la-maghfiratun, 'forgiveness'] is the response to the oath [clause of la'in], and occupies the place of the verbal action as a subject, the predicate of which [is what follows]) are better than what they amass, in this world (read tajma'un, 'you amass', or yajma'un, 'they amass').

158
And if (wa-la-in, the lam is for oaths) you die ([read] in both ways [muttum or mittum], or are slain, in the [holy] struggle or otherwise, it is to God, and to none other than Him that, you shall be mustered, in the Hereafter, and He will requite you.

159
It was by the mercy of God that you, O Muhammad (s), were lenient with them, that is, [that] you showed indulgence [toward them] when they disobeyed you; had you been harsh, ill-natured, and fierce of heart, brutish and coarse towards them, they would have dispersed, split away, from about you. So pardon them, pass over what they have done, and ask forgiveness for them, for their sins, until I forgive them, and consult them, find out their opinions, in the matter, that is, your affair in the battle and otherwise, in order to win their hearts over and so that you may be emulated [in this respect]; and indeed, the Prophet (s) would frequently consult them. And when you are resolved, to carry out what you wish after counsel, rely on God, put your trust in Him and not in [any] counsel; for God loves those who rely, on Him.

160

If God helps you, [if] He gives you assistance against your enemy, as on the Day of Badr, then none can overcome you; but if He forsakes you, [if] He refrains from assisting you, as on the Day of Uhud, then who is there who can help you after Him?, that is, after His forsaking [you]? In other words, there is no one to help you. Therefore on God, and on no one else, let the believers rely.

AL IMRAN 151-155

2006-11-18T13:31:00.000+12:00

سَنُلْقِي فِي قُلُوبِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ الرُّعْبَ بِمَا أَشْرَكُواْ بِاللّهِ مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِ سُلْطَانًا وَمَأْوَاهُمُ النَّارُ وَبِئْسَ مَثْوَى الظَّالِمِينَ
{151}

[Yusufali 3:151] Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority: their abode will be the Fire: And evil is the home of the wrong-doers!

وَلَقَدْ صَدَقَكُمُ اللّهُ وَعْدَهُ إِذْ تَحُسُّونَهُم بِإِذْنِهِ حَتَّى إِذَا فَشِلْتُمْ وَتَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي الأَمْرِ وَعَصَيْتُم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا أَرَاكُم مَّا تُحِبُّونَ مِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ الدُّنْيَا وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ الآخِرَةَ ثُمَّ صَرَفَكُمْ عَنْهُمْ لِيَبْتَلِيَكُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَفَا عَنكُمْ وَاللّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ {152}

[Yusufali 3:152] Allah did indeed fulfil His promise to you when ye with His permission Were about to annihilate your enemy,-until ye flinched and fell to disputing about the order, and disobeyed it after He brought you in sight (of the booty) which ye covet. Among you are some that hanker after this world and some that desire the Hereafter. Then did He divert you from your foes in order to test you but He forgave you: For Allah is full of grace to those who believe.

إِذْ تُصْعِدُونَ وَلاَ تَلْوُونَ عَلَى أحَدٍ وَالرَّسُولُ يَدْعُوكُمْ فِي أُخْرَاكُمْ فَأَثَابَكُمْ غُمَّاً بِغَمٍّ لِّكَيْلاَ تَحْزَنُواْ عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلاَ مَا أَصَابَكُمْ وَاللّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ {153}

[Yusufali 3:153] Behold! ye were climbing up the high ground, without even casting a side glance at any one, and the Messenger in your rear was calling you back. There did Allah give you one distress after another by way of requital, to teach you not to grieve for (the booty) that had escaped you and for (the ill) that had befallen you. For Allah is well aware of all that ye do.

ثُمَّ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّن بَعْدِ الْغَمِّ أَمَنَةً نُّعَاسًا يَغْشَى طَآئِفَةً مِّنكُمْ وَطَآئِفَةٌ قَدْ أَهَمَّتْهُمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ يَظُنُّونَ بِاللّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ ظَنَّ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَقُولُونَ هَل لَّنَا مِنَ الأَمْرِ مِن شَيْءٍ قُلْ إِنَّ الأَمْرَ كُلَّهُ لِلَّهِ يُخْفُونَ فِي أَنفُسِهِم مَّا لاَ يُبْدُونَ لَكَ يَقُولُونَ لَوْ كَانَ لَنَا مِنَ الأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ مَّا قُتِلْنَا هَاهُنَا قُل لَّوْ كُنتُمْ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ لَبَرَزَ الَّذِينَ كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَتْلُ إِلَى مَضَاجِعِهِمْ وَلِيَبْتَلِيَ اللّهُ مَا فِي صُدُورِكُمْ وَلِيُمَحَّصَ مَا فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَاللّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ {154}

[Yusufali 3:154] After (the excitement) of the distress, He sent down calm on a band of you overcome with slumber, while another band was stirred to anxiety by their own feelings, Moved by wrong suspicions of Allah-suspicions due to ignorance. They said: "What affair is this of ours?" Say thou: "Indeed, this affair is wholly Allah's." They hide in their minds what they dare not reveal to thee. They say (to themselves): "If we had had anything to do with this affair, We should not have been in the slaughter here." Say: "Even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone forth to the place of their death"; but (all this was) that Allah might test what is in your breasts and purge what is in your hearts. For Allah knoweth well the secrets of your hearts.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَلَّوْاْ مِنكُمْ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ إِنَّمَا اسْتَزَلَّهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ بِبَعْضِ مَا كَسَبُواْ وَلَقَدْ عَفَا اللّهُ عَنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ {155}

[Yusufali 3:155] Those of you who turned back on the day the two hosts Met,-it was Satan who caused them to fail, because of some (evil) they had done. But Allah Has blotted out (their fault): For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing.

_______________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

151
We will cast terror (read ru'b or ru'ub) into the hearts of the disbelievers: after departing from Uhud they resolved to return in order to exterminate the Muslims, but they were terrified and did not return; for what they have associated, because of their associating, with God that for which He has revealed no warrant, that is, [no] argument in support of its worship, namely, idols; their abode shall be the Fire; evil is the abode, the resting place, of the evildoers, the disbelievers.

152

God has been true to His promise, towards you, of giving you victory, when you were slew them by His leave, by His will, until you lost heart, [until] you shrank from battle, and quarrelled, disagreed, over the command, that is, the command of the Prophet (s) that you remain at the foot of the mountain for the arrow attack, some of you saying, 'Let us depart, for our comrades have been given victory', others saying, 'We should not disobey the command of the Prophet (s)'; and you disobeyed, his command, and abandoned your station in search of the booty, after He, God, had shown you what you longed for, of assistance (the response to the [clause containing] idha is indicated by what precedes it, that is to say, '[when you lost heart] He denied you His assistance'). Some of you desired this world, abandoning his station for the sake of the booty; and some of you desired the Hereafter, holding to it until he was slain, such as 'Abd Allah b. Jubayr and his companions. Then He turned you away (thumma sarafakum is a supplement to the response of the [clause containing] idha, implied to be raddakum bi'l-hazima ['He turned you back in defeat']) from them, the disbelievers, so that He might try you, that He might test you and so make manifest the sincere ones from those otherwise; yet now He has pardoned you, what you have done, and God is Bounteous to the believers, with pardon.

153
Remember, when you were ascending, fleeing in the distance, not turning around, [not] stopping, for anyone and the Messenger was calling you from your rear, saying, 'Come to me servants of God, this way, servants of God!', so He rewarded you, He requited you, with grief, through defeat, for grief (ghamman bi-ghamm; the ba' [bi-], 'with', is said to mean 'ala, 'for') because of the grief that you caused the Prophet when you disobeyed [his command], that is, [with grief] doubled, [being] in addition to the grief of the booty forfeited, so that (li-kayla is semantically connected either to 'afa, 'He has pardoned', or athabakum, 'He rewarded you'; the la [of kay-la] is thus extra) you might not grieve for what escaped you, of booty, neither for what befell you, of being slain and [of] defeat; and God is aware of what you do.

154
Then He sent down upon you, after grief, security - a slumber (nu'asan, 'slumber' substitutes for amanatan, 'security') overcoming (yaghsha or taghsha) a party of you, namely, the believers. They would become dizzy under their shields and their swords would fall from their hands; and a party whose own souls distressed them, that is, they caused them grief, so that their only wish was their deliverance, regardless of the Prophet and his companions, and they were unable to fall asleep: these were the hypocrites; thinking wrongly of God, thoughts of, those thoughts during the, age of ignorance, the moment they thought that the Prophet had been killed or that he would not be given victory, saying, 'Have we any part whatever in the affair?' (read [interrogative] hal as [negative] ma) that is, [we have no part in] the assistance which we were promised. Say, to them: 'The affair belongs entirely (read accusative kullahu to denote an emphasis, or nominative kulluhu as a subject [of a new sentence], the predicate of which is [what follows]) to God', that is to say, the decree is His, He does what He wills. They conceal within their hearts what they do not disclose, what they [do not] manifest, to you, saying, (yaquluna, 'saying', is an explication of the preceding [statement]) 'Had we had any part in the affair, we would not have been slain here', that is to say, 'Had the choice been ours, we would not have set out and thus been slain; but we were forced to set out'. Say, to them: 'Even if you had been in your houses, with some among you whom God had appointed that they be slain, those, of you, for whom it had been appointed, decreed, that they be slain would have sallied forth, would have gone forth, to the places where they were to lie', the battleground where they were to fall, and they would have been slain; and their staying put [at home] would not have saved them, for God's decree will be, inevitably. And, He did what He did at Uhud, that God might try, [that He might] test, what was in your breasts, your hearts, of sincerity or hypocrisy, and that He might prove, [that He might] distinguish, what was in your hearts; and God knows what is in the breasts, what is in the hearts. Nothing can be hidden from Him, and He tries people only to make [matters] manifest for them.

155
Truly, those of you who turned away, from the battle, the day the two hosts, the Muslim host and that of the disbelievers, encountered each other, at Uhud, the Muslims, with the exception of twelve men - truly, Satan made them slip, with his [evil] insinuations, through some of what they had earned, of sins, namely, when they disobeyed the Prophet's command; but God pardoned them; God is Forgiving, to believers, Forbearing, hastening not against the disobedient [with punishment].

AL IMRAN 146-150

2006-11-17T13:16:00.000+12:00

وَكَأَيِّن مِّن نَّبِيٍّ قَاتَلَ مَعَهُ رِبِّيُّونَ كَثِيرٌ فَمَا وَهَنُواْ لِمَا أَصَابَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَمَا ضَعُفُواْ وَمَا اسْتَكَانُواْ وَاللّهُ يُحِبُّ الصَّابِرِينَ
{146}

[Yusufali 3:146] How many of the prophets fought (in Allah's way), and with them (fought) Large bands of godly men? but they never lost heart if they met with disaster in Allah's way, nor did they weaken (in will) nor give in. And Allah Loves those who are firm and steadfast.

وَمَا كَانَ قَوْلَهُمْ إِلاَّ أَن قَالُواْ ربَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِي أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ {147}

[Yusufali 3:147] All that they said was: "Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and anything We may have done that transgressed our duty: Establish our feet firmly, and help us against those that resist Faith."

فَآتَاهُمُ اللّهُ ثَوَابَ الدُّنْيَا وَحُسْنَ ثَوَابِ الآخِرَةِ وَاللّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ {148}

[Yusufali 3:148] And Allah gave them a reward in this world, and the excellent reward of the Hereafter. For Allah Loveth those who do good.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوَاْ إِن تُطِيعُواْ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ يَرُدُّوكُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمْ فَتَنقَلِبُواْ خَاسِرِينَ {149}

[Yusufali 3:149] O ye who believe! If ye obey the Unbelievers, they will drive you back on your heels, and ye will turn back (from Faith) to your own loss.

بَلِ اللّهُ مَوْلاَكُمْ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ النَّاصِرِينَ {150}

[Yusufali 3:150] Nay, Allah is your protector, and He is the best of helpers.
____________________________________________________________
TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

146
How many a prophet has been killed (qutila, a variant reading has qatala, 'has fought', the subject of the verb being the person governing it) and with him (ma'ahu, the predicate, the subject of which [follows]) thousands manifold [fought], but they fainted not, they did [not] shrink, in the face of what afflicted them in God's way, of wounds and the slaying of their prophets and companions; they neither weakened, in the face of struggle, nor did they humble themselves, [nor did they] succumb to their enemy, as you did when it was said that the Prophet (s) had been killed. And God loves the patient, during trials, meaning that He will reward them.

147
All that they said, when their prophet had been killed while they stood their ground and were steadfast, was, 'Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our excesses, our overstepping the bounds, in our affairs, a declaration of the fact that what had befallen them was the result of their evil actions and a humbling of their selves) and make firm our feet, with strength for the struggle, and help us against the unbelieving folk'.

148
And God gave them the reward of this world, victory and booty, and the fairest reward of the Hereafter, that is, Paradise (husnuhu, 'the fairest of it', denotes [extra] favour in addition to what is deserved); and God loves the virtuous.

149
O you who believe, if you obey the disbelievers, in what they command you, they will make you turn back on your heels, [back] to unbelief, and you will revert as losers.

150
Nay, but God is your Protector, your Helper, and He is the best of helpers, so obey only Him and not them.
_________________________

AL IMRAN 141-145

2006-11-09T13:14:00.000+12:00

وَلِيُمَحِّصَ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَيَمْحَقَ الْكَافِرِينَ {
141}

[Yusufali 3:141] Allah's object also is to purge those that are true in Faith and to deprive of blessing Those that resist Faith.

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُواْ مِنكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ {142}

[Yusufali 3:142] Did ye think that ye would enter Heaven without Allah testing those of you who fought hard (In His Cause) and remained steadfast?

وَلَقَدْ كُنتُمْ تَمَنَّوْنَ الْمَوْتَ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَلْقَوْهُ فَقَدْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ {143}

[Yusufali 3:143] Ye did indeed wish for death before ye met him: Now ye have seen him with your own eyes, (And ye flinch!)

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلاَّ رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ أَفَإِن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمْ وَمَن يَنقَلِبْ عَلَىَ عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ اللّهَ شَيْئًا وَسَيَجْزِي اللّهُ الشَّاكِرِينَ {144}

[Yusufali 3:144] Muhammad is no more than a messenger: many Were the messenger that passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will ye then Turn back on your heels? If any did turn back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah; but Allah (on the other hand) will swiftly reward those who (serve Him) with gratitude.

وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تَمُوتَ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِ الله كِتَابًا مُّؤَجَّلاً وَمَن يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَن يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الآخِرَةِ نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَسَنَجْزِي الشَّاكِرِينَ {145}

[Yusufali 3:145] Nor can a soul die except by Allah's leave, the term being fixed as by writing. If any do desire a reward in this life, We shall give it to him; and if any do desire a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give it to him. And swiftly shall We reward those that (serve us with) gratitude.

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

141
And that God may prove the believers, purifying them of sins through what befalls them, and efface, that is, destroy, the disbelievers.

142
Or, nay, did you suppose you should enter Paradise without God knowing, through knowledge manifested outwardly, who among you have struggled and who are patient, in [times of] hardship?

143
You were longing for (tamannawna: one of the two letters ta' has been omitted from the original [tatamannawna]) death before you met it, when you said, 'Would that we had a day like the Day of Badr in order to attain what its martyrs attained. Now you have seen it, that is, the cause of it, war, looking on, that is, with your eyes [open] and contemplating the conditions, so why did you retreat?

144
With regard to their being routed, when it was rumoured that the Prophet had been killed and the hypocrites had said to the believers, 'If he has been killed, go back to your [previous] religion', the following was revealed: Muhammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him. Why, if he should die or is slain, like others, will you turn back on your heels, will you return to unbelief (the last statement is the locus of the interrogative of denial, in other words, 'he was not a worshipped being, so that [if he were to die] you should turn back [to your previous religion]). If any man should turn back on his heels, he will not harm God in any way, but will be harming himself, and God will requite those that are thankful, for His graces by staying firm.

145

It is not for any soul to die, save by the leave of God, by His decree, a prescribed (kitaban, here a verbal noun, that is, God has prescribed this) term, that is to say, [a term fixed] in time, neither brought forward nor deferred, so why did you retreat [in defeat]? Defeat does not ward off death, nor does standing one's ground sever life. And whoever desires, by his deeds, the reward of this world, that is, his requital in it, We will give him of it, what has been alloted to him, but he shall have no share in the Hereafter; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him of it, that is, of its reward; and We will requite the thankful.
______________________________________

AL IMRAN 136-140

2006-11-07T13:13:00.000+12:00

أُوْلَـئِكَ جَزَآؤُهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِين
3َ {136}

[Yusufali 3:136] For such the reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens with rivers flowing underneath,- an eternal dwelling: How excellent a recompense for those who work (and strive)!

قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ سُنَنٌ فَسِيرُواْ فِي الأَرْضِ فَانْظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُكَذَّبِينَ {137}

[Yusufali 3:137] Many were the Ways of Life that have passed away before you: travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who rejected Truth.

هَـذَا بَيَانٌ لِّلنَّاسِ وَهُدًى وَمَوْعِظَةٌ لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ {138}

[Yusufali 3:138] Here is a plain statement to men, a guidance and instruction to those who fear Allah!

وَلاَ تَهِنُوا وَلاَ تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنتُمُ الأَعْلَوْنَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ {139}

[Yusufali 3:139] So lose not heart, nor fall into despair: For ye must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith.

إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ وَتِلْكَ الأيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنكُمْ شُهَدَاء وَاللّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ {140}

[Yusufali 3:140] If a wound hath touched you, be sure a similar wound hath touched the others. Such days (of varying fortunes) We give to men and men by turns: that Allah may know those that believe, and that He may take to Himself from your ranks Martyr-witnesses (to Truth). And Allah loveth not those that do wrong.

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

136

Those - their requital is forgiveness from their Lord, and Gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein (khalidina fiha, an implied situation, that is, it is foreordained that they will abide in it once they enter it); excellent is the wage, this wage, of those workers, of obedience!

137

The following was revealed regarding the defeat at Uhud: Ways of life have passed away before you, all manner of unbelief has preceded, where they have been given respite but are then seized [with punishment]; so travel in the land, O believers, and behold how was the end of those who denied, the messengers, that is, how their affair ended in destruction. So do not grieve on account of their victory, I am only giving them respite until their appointed time.

138

This, Qur'an, is an exposition for, all, mankind, and a guidance, from error, and an admonition for such as are God-fearing, among them.

139

Faint not, shrink [not] from fighting the disbelievers, neither grieve, for what befell you at Uhud, for you shall prevail, through victory over them, if you are, truly, believers. (the response to this [last conditional clause] is the sum [meaning] of what has preceded it).

140

If a wound touches you, befalls you at Uhud, a like wound (qarh or qurh, which is the exhaustion that results from a wound and the like), already, at Badr, has touched the other people, the disbelievers. Such days We deal out in turn, We dispense them, among mankind, one day for one group, the next day for another, that they might be admonished, and that God may know, through knowledge manifested outwardly, those who believe, who are sincere in their faith from others; and that He may take witnesses from among you, honouring them with martyrdom, and God loves not the evildoers, the disbelievers, that is, He will chastise them, and the blessings He bestows upon them are only a [means of] drawing out [their punishment].

AL IMRAN 131-135

2006-11-02T13:12:00.000+12:00

وَاتَّقُواْ النَّارَ الَّتِي أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَافِرِينَ
{131}

[Yusufali 3:131] Fear the Fire, which is repaired for those who reject Faith:

وَأَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ {132}

[Yusufali 3:132] And obey Allah and the Messenger; that ye may obtain mercy.

وَسَارِعُواْ إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ {133}

[Yusufali 3:133] Be quick in the race for forgiveness from your Lord, and for a Garden whose width is that (of the whole) of the heavens and of the earth, prepared for the righteous,-

الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاء وَالضَّرَّاء وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ {134}

[Yusufali 3:134] Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men;- for Allah loves those who do good;-

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُواْ فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُواْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُواْ اللّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلاَّ اللّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّواْ عَلَى مَا فَعَلُواْ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ {135}

[Yusufali 3:135] And those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their own souls, earnestly bring Allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins,- and who can forgive sins except Allah?- and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done.

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

131

And fear the Fire that has been prepared for the disbelievers, lest you be chastised with it.

132

Her Lord accepted the child, that is, He received Mary from her mother, with gracious acceptance, and made her grow excellently, He made her grow up with excellent character. She would grow in a day by as much as a new-born grew during a year. Her mother took her to the priests, the keepers of the Holy House [of Jerusalem] and said: 'This here before you is the dedication [I offered]'. They competed for [guardianship of] her, because she was the daughter of their religious leader, at which point Zachariah said, 'I am most worthy of her, for, her maternal aunt lives with me'. The others said, 'No, [not until] we have cast lots'. Thus, all twenty nine of them departed to the River Jordan, where they cast their quills, agreeing that the one whose quill remained fast and floated to the surface of the water would be most worthy of [being guardian over] her. Zachariah's quill remained fast [and surfaced]. He took [charge of] her and built for her a gallery-room with a ladder in the temple, and none apart from him went up to her. He used to bring her food, drink and oil, and would find her with summer fruits in winter, and winter fruits in summer, just as God says, and Zachariah took charge of her, he took her to him (a variant reading [of kafalaha, 'he took charge of her'] is kaffalaha, 'He [God] gave Zachariah charge of her', with Zakariyya', or Zakariyya, in the accusative and 'God' as the subject of the verb). Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary, that is, the room, the most noble seat [in the temple], where she was, he found her with provisions. 'O Mary,' he said, 'Whence comes this to you?' She, still very young, said, 'From God, He sends it to me from Paradise, 'Truly God provides, abundant provision, for whomever He will without reckoning, without consequence.

133
And vie with one another hastening (read wa-sari'u or [simply] sari'u) to forgiveness from your Lord, and to a garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, that is, as broad as both of them together if put side by side - breadth denotes ampleness - that has been prepared for those who fear God in being obedient and abandoning acts of disobedience.

134

Who expend, in obedience to God, in prosperity and adversity, in [times of] ease and difficulty, and restrain their rage, [and] desist from following it up even though they are able to, and pardon their fellow-men, those who wrong them, waiving their punishment; and God loves those who are virtuous, through such actions, that is to say, He will reward them.

135
And who when they commit an indecency, a despicable sin such as adultery, or wrong themselves, with less than that, such as a kiss, remember God, that is to say, His threat of punishment, and pray forgiveness for their sins - and who, that is, none, shall forgive sins but God? - and who do not persist, persevere, in what they did, but have desisted from it, knowing, that what they did was sinful.

AL IMRAN 126-130

2006-11-01T13:12:00.000+12:00

وَمَا جَعَلَهُ اللّهُ إِلاَّ بُشْرَى لَكُمْ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ قُلُوبُكُم بِهِ وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلاَّ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيم
ِ {126}
[Yusufali 3:126] Allah made it but a message of hope for you, and an assurance to your hearts: (in any case) there is no help except from Allah. The Exalted, the Wise:

لِيَقْطَعَ طَرَفًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَوْ يَكْبِتَهُمْ فَيَنقَلِبُواْ خَآئِبِينَ {127}

[Yusufali 3:127] That He might cut off a fringe of the Unbelievers or expose them to infamy, and they should then be turned back, frustrated of their purpose.

لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ الأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ يُعَذَّبَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ {128}

[Yusufali 3:128] Not for thee, (but for Allah), is the decision: Whether He turn in mercy to them, or punish them; for they are indeed wrong-doers.

وَلِلّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَاء وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ {129}

[Yusufali 3:129] To Allah belongeth all that is in the heavens and on earth. He forgiveth whom He pleaseth and punisheth whom He pleaseth; but Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَأْكُلُواْ الرِّبَا أَضْعَافًا مُّضَاعَفَةً وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ {130}

[Yusufali 3:130] O ye who believe! Devour not usury, doubled and multiplied; but fear Allah; that ye may (really) prosper.

*****

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

126

What God ordained, that is, of reinforcement, was only as a good tiding to you, of victory, and that your hearts might be at peace, [that] they might be at rest, and not be terrified by the large number of the enemy as compared to your small number. Victory comes only from God, the Mighty, the Wise, He gives it to whomever He will, and [victory comes] not because of a large army.

127

And that He might cut off (li-yaqta', is semantically connected to the clause containing nasarakum, 'He gave you victory'), that is to say, that He might destroy, a party of the disbelievers, by slaying them or making them fall captive, or suppress them, humiliate them through defeat, so that they fall back, return, frustrated, not having secured what they desired.

128

When, on the Day of Uhud, the Prophet received a head wound and his front tooth was broken, and he said, 'How does a people who have drenched the face of their Prophet in blood [expect to] prosper?', the following was revealed: It is no concern at all of yours, nay, it is God's concern, so be patient, whether, meaning, until such time as, He relents to them, through [their acceptance of] Islam, or chastises them; for they are indeed evildoers, by [virtue of their] disbelief.

129

To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants; He forgives whom He wills, forgiveness for, and chastises whom He wills, chastisement for. And God is Forgiving, of His friends, Merciful, to those who obey Him.

130

O you who believe, do not exact usury, twofold and severalfold (read muda'afatan or mud'afatan) by increasing the amount [to be repaid] when the [loan] period comes to an end and delaying the request [of the loan]. And fear God, by abandoning such [usury], so that you may prosper, [that] you may triumph.

AL IMRAN 121-125

2006-10-29T13:10:00.000+12:00

وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّئُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَاعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
{121}

[Yusufali 3:121] Remember that morning Thou didst leave Thy household (early) to post the faithful at their stations for battle: And Allah heareth and knoweth all things:

إِذْ هَمَّت طَّآئِفَتَانِ مِنكُمْ أَن تَفْشَلاَ وَاللّهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا وَعَلَى اللّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ {122}

[Yusufali 3:122] Remember two of your parties Meditated cowardice; but Allah was their protector, and in Allah should the faithful (Ever) put their trust.

وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ فَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ {123}

[Yusufali 3:123] Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; then fear Allah; thus May ye show your gratitude.

إِذْ تَقُولُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَلَن يَكْفِيكُمْ أَن يُمِدَّكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِثَلاَثَةِ آلاَفٍ مِّنَ الْمَلآئِكَةِ مُنزَلِينَ {124}

[Yusufali 3:124] Remember thou saidst to the Faithful: "Is it not enough for you that Allah should help you with three thousand angels (Specially) sent down?

بَلَى إِن تَصْبِرُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ وَيَأْتُوكُم مِّن فَوْرِهِمْ هَـذَا يُمْدِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِخَمْسَةِ آلافٍ مِّنَ الْمَلآئِكَةِ مُسَوِّمِينَ {125}

[Yusufali 3:125] "Yea, - if ye remain firm, and act aright, even if the enemy should rush here on you in hot haste, your Lord would help you with five thousand angels Making a terrific onslaught.

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

121
And, mention O Muhammad (s), when you went forth at dawn from your family, at Medina, to assign the believers, to have [them] occupy, their places, stations for them to stand at, for battle, and God hears, what you say, knows, your circumstances: this was the day of [the battle of] Uhud. The Prophet (s) set out with 1000 or 950 men, while the idolaters numbered 3000. The Prophet pitched camp at the ravine on Saturday 7th of Shawwal in year 3 of the Hijra. He had his back and that of his troops to Uhud. He arranged their lines and placed a group of archers under the command of 'Abd Allah b. Jubayr at the foot of the mountain and said to them: 'Defend us with your arrows in case they come up from behind us, and remain here whether we are being defeated or on the verge of victory'.

122
When (idh, substitutes for the previous idh) two parties of you, the Banu Salima and the Banu Haritha, the two flanks of the army, were about to lose heart, [about] to shrink from the battle and retreat, after 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy, the hypocrite, and his companions began to retreat. He [Ibn Ubayy] said, 'Why should we get ourselves and our children killed?' and he also said to Abu Jabir al-Salami - who had said to him, 'I implore you by God for your Prophet's sake and yours' - 'If we knew how to fight, we would follow you!' But God then made them [the Banu Salima and the Banu Haritha] steadfast and they did not abandon [the field]; and God was their Protector, their Helper, and let the believers rely on God, let them place their trust in Him and none other.

123
When they were defeated, the following was revealed as a way of reminding them of God's favour: God already gave you victory at Badr, a location between Mecca and Medina, when you were contemptible, few in number and weapons. So fear God, in order that you might be thankful, for His blessings.

124
When (idh, an adverbial qualifier of nasarakum, 'He gave you victory' [in the previous verse]) you were saying to the believers, promising them as reassurance [for them]: 'Is it not sufficient for you that your Lord should reinforce you, [that] He should succour you, with three thousand angels sent down? (read munzalin or munazzalin, 'sent down').

125
Yea, it is sufficient for you. In [surat] al-Anfal [it is stated] with a thousand [Q. 8:9], because at first He reinforced them with this [thousand], then it became three [thousand] then five [thousand], as God says: if you are patient, in encountering the enemy, and fear, God in not contravening [His command], and they, the idolaters, come against you instantly, your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels accoutred' (read musawimmin or musawammin), that is to say, distinctively marked [for the battle]. Indeed, they were patient and God fulfilled His promise to them, so that the angels fought together with them riding upon piebald horses wearing yellow or white turbans, let loose down to their shoulders.

AL IMRAN 116-120

2006-10-22T13:09:00.000+13:00

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَن تُغْنِيَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَلاَ أَوْلاَدُهُم مِّنَ اللّهِ شَيْئًا وَأُوْلَـئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ {116}

[Yusufali 3:116] Those who reject Faith,- neither their possessions nor their (numerous) progeny will avail them aught against Allah: They will be companions of the Fire,-dwelling therein (for ever).

مَثَلُ مَا يُنفِقُونَ فِي هِـذِهِ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَثَلِ رِيحٍ فِيهَا صِرٌّ أَصَابَتْ حَرْثَ قَوْمٍ ظَلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ فَأَهْلَكَتْهُ وَمَا ظَلَمَهُمُ اللّهُ وَلَـكِنْ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ {117}

[Yusufali 3:117] What they spend in the life of this (material) world May be likened to a wind which brings a nipping frost: It strikes and destroys the harvest of men who have wronged their own souls: it is not Allah that hath wronged them, but they wrong themselves.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ بِطَانَةً مِّن دُونِكُمْ لاَ يَأْلُونَكُمْ خَبَالاً وَدُّواْ مَا عَنِتُّمْ قَدْ بَدَتِ الْبَغْضَاء مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَمَا تُخْفِي صُدُورُهُمْ أَكْبَرُ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ {118}

[Yusufali 3:118] O ye who believe! Take not into your intimacy those outside your ranks: They will not fail to corrupt you. They only desire your ruin: Rank hatred has already appeared from their mouths: What their hearts conceal is far worse. We have made plain to you the Signs, if ye have wisdom.

هَاأَنتُمْ أُوْلاء تُحِبُّونَهُمْ وَلاَ يُحِبُّونَكُمْ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْكِتَابِ كُلِّهِ وَإِذَا لَقُوكُمْ قَالُواْ آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَوْاْ عَضُّواْ عَلَيْكُمُ الأَنَامِلَ مِنَ الْغَيْظِ قُلْ مُوتُواْ بِغَيْظِكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ {119}

[Yusufali 3:119] Ah! ye are those who love them, but they love you not,- though ye believe in the whole of the Book. When they meet you, they say, "We believe": But when they are alone, they bite off the very tips of their fingers at you in their rage. Say: "Perish in you rage; Allah knoweth well all the secrets of the heart."

إِن تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِن تُصِبْكُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَفْرَحُواْ بِهَا وَإِن تَصْبِرُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ لاَ يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا إِنَّ اللّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ {120}

[Yusufali 3:120] If aught that is good befalls you, it grieves them; but if some misfortune overtakes you, they rejoice at it. But if ye are constant and do right, not the least harm will their cunning do to you; for Allah Compasseth round about all that they do.

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

116
As for the disbelievers, their riches shall not avail, protect, them, neither their children, against God, that is, against His chastisement: these two are singled out for mention because a person usually avails himself either by paying a ransom, or by [resorting to] the help of his children; those are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

117

The likeness, the description, of what they, the disbelievers, expend in the life of this world, in the way of enmity towards the Prophet or in the way of voluntary almsgiving or the like, is as the likeness of a wind wherein is a blast, of extreme hot or cold, that smote the tillage, the crops, of a people who have wronged themselves, through unbelief and disobedience, and destroyed it, so that they could not profit from it; so it is with what they expend, it perishes and they profit nothing from it. God did not wrong them, when they lost what they expended, but they wronged themselves, through unbelief, which necessitated this loss.

118

O you who believe, do not take as intimates, as sincere friends, revealing to them your secret thoughts, anyone apart from yourselves, from among the Jews, Christians and the hypocrites; such men spare nothing to ruin you (khabalan is in the accusative because the preposition [that usually precedes it, sc. fi'l-khabal] has been omitted), that is to say, they would not be remiss about corrupting you; they would love, they wish, for you to suffer ([al-'anat means] extreme hardship). Hatred, enmity towards you, is revealed, it is manifested, by their mouths, by sowing discord among you and informing the idolaters of your secret [plans]; and what their breasts conceal, of enmity, is yet greater. Now We have made clear to you the signs, of their enmity; if you understand, this, then do not befriend them.

119

Lo (ha, 'lo!', is for calling attention [to something]), there you are, O believers, you love them, on account of their kinship and their [pretence of] friendship towards you, but they love you not, since they oppose you in religion; you believe in the Book, all of it, that is to say, in the Books, all of them, but they do not believe in your Book, and when they meet you they say, 'We believe,' but when they are alone, they bite at you their fingertips, in rage, in extreme fury at what they see of your mutual affection: the biting of the fingertips is used to figuratively express the severity of rage, even if there be no biting involved. Say: 'Perish in your rage, that is, be this way until the end of your lives, for you shall not see what will please you; God knows what is in the breasts', what is in the hearts, including that which these conceal.

120

If good fortune, a favour such as victory or booty, befalls you, it is evil for them, it grieves them; but if evil, such as defeat or drought, befalls you, they rejoice thereat (the conditional statement here is semantically connected to the previous conditional, and what comes in between is a parenthetical [statement], the meaning being that their enmity towards you is endless, so why do you befriend them? Avoid them!) Yet if you endure, their harm, and fear, God by [not] befriending them and so on, their guile will not hurt you (read either la yadirkum or la yadurrukum) at all; God encompasses what they do (ya'malun, or may be read ta'malun, 'what you do'), He has knowledge of it and will requite them for it.

AL IMRAN 111-115

2006-10-19T13:07:00.000+13:00

لَن يَضُرُّوكُمْ إِلاَّ أَذًى وَإِن يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ يُوَلُّوكُمُ الأَدُبَارَ ثُمَّ لاَ يُنصَرُونَ {
111}

[Yusufali 3:111] They will do you no harm, barring a trifling annoyance; if they come out to fight you, they will show you their backs, and no help shall they get.

ضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ أَيْنَ مَا ثُقِفُواْ إِلاَّ بِحَبْلٍ مِّنْ اللّهِ وَحَبْلٍ مِّنَ النَّاسِ وَبَآؤُوا بِغَضَبٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَسْكَنَةُ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ يَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ الأَنبِيَاء بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوا وَّكَانُواْ يَعْتَدُونَ {112}

[Yusufali 3:112] Shame is pitched over them (Like a tent) wherever they are found, except when under a covenant (of protection) from Allah and from men; they draw on themselves wrath from Allah, and pitched over them is (the tent of) destitution. This because they rejected the Signs of Allah, and slew the prophets in defiance of right; this because they rebelled and transgressed beyond bounds.

لَيْسُواْ سَوَاء مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَآئِمَةٌ يَتْلُونَ آيَاتِ اللّهِ آنَاء اللَّيْلِ وَهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ {113}

[Yusufali 3:113] Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration.

يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ {114}

[Yusufali 3:114] They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous.

وَمَا يَفْعَلُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلَن يُكْفَرُوْهُ وَاللّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالْمُتَّقِينَ {115}

[Yusufali 3:115] Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knoweth well those that do right.

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN
111

They, the Jews, will not harm you, O company of Muslims, in any way, except a little hurt, with their tongues, such as slander and threats; and if they fight against you, they will turn their backs to you, in retreat, then they will not be helped, against you, but you will be helped against them.

112

Abasement shall be cast upon them, wherever they are found, so that they have no strength and no protection, save, if they be [clinging to], a rope of God, and a rope of the, believing, people, this being the latter's covenant of security for them on the condition that they pay the jizya, in other words, they have no protection other than this; they have incurred, they have ended up, with anger from God, and poverty shall be cast upon them; that, is, because they disbelieved in God's signs, and slew the prophets without right; that (dhalika is [repeated] for emphasis), is, because they disobeyed, God's command, and used to transgress, passing from what is lawful into what is unlawful.

113

Yet they, the People of the Scripture, are not all alike, equal; some of the People of the Scripture are a community upright, with integrity, adhering to the truth, such as 'Abd Allah b. Salam, may God be pleased with him and his companions, who recite God's verses in the watches of the night, that is, during its hours, prostrating themselves, performing prayer (wa-hum yasjudun, 'prostrating themselves', is a circumstantial qualifier).

114

They believe in God and in the Last Day, enjoining decency and forbidding indecency, vying with one another in good works; those, described in the way God has mentioned, are of the righteous, and some of them are not like this and are not righteous.

115
And whatever good you do, O community, (taf'alu, 'you do', or if this is read yaf'alu, 'they do', then [it is referring to them] 'the upright community'), you shall not be denied it ([read] in both ways [fa-lan tukfaruhu, 'you shall not be denied it', or fa-lan yukfaruhu, 'they shall not be denied it']), you shall not be deprived of its reward, but you will be rewarded for it, and God knows the God-fearing.

AL IMRAN 106-110

2006-10-18T11:20:00.000+13:00

يَوْمَ تَبْيَضُّ وُجُوهٌ وَتَسْوَدُّ وُجُوهٌ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ اسْوَدَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ أَكْفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ فَذُوقُواْ الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ
{106}

[Yusufali 3:106] On the Day when some faces will be (lit up with) white, and some faces will be (in the gloom of) black: To those whose faces will be black, (will be said): "Did ye reject Faith after accepting it? Taste then the penalty for rejecting Faith."

وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ ابْيَضَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ فَفِي رَحْمَةِ اللّهِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ {107}

[Yusufali 3:107] But those whose faces will be (lit with) white,- they will be in (the light of) Allah's mercy: therein to dwell (for ever).

تِلْكَ آيَاتُ اللّهِ نَتْلُوهَا عَلَيْكَ بِالْحَقِّ وَمَا اللّهُ يُرِيدُ ظُلْمًا لِّلْعَالَمِينَ {108}

[Yusufali 3:108] These are the Signs of Allah: We rehearse them to thee in Truth: And Allah means no injustice to any of His creatures.

وَلِلّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ وَإِلَى اللّهِ تُرْجَعُ الأُمُورُ {109}

[Yusufali 3:109] To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: To Him do all questions go back (for decision).

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَلَوْ آمَنَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُم مِّنْهُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَأَكْثَرُهُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ {110}

[Yusufali 3:110] Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors.

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

106
The day when some faces are blackened, and some faces whitened, that is, the Day of Resurrection. As for those whose faces are blackened, these being the disbelievers, who are thrown into the Fire and to whom it is said in rebuke: 'Did you disbelieve after you had believed, on the day the covenant was made? Then taste the chastisement for what you disbelieved!'

107
But as for those whose faces are whitened, and these are the believers, they shall be in God's mercy, that is to say, in Paradise, abiding therein.

108
Those, that is to say, these verses, are the verses of God which We recite to you, O Muhammad (s), in truth, and God desires not any injustice for the worlds, punishing them for no crime.

109
To God belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants, and to Him all matters are returned.

110
You, O community of Muhammad (s), are the best community brought forth, manifested, to men, according to God's knowledge, enjoining decency, and forbidding indecency, and believing in God. Had the People of the Scripture believed, it, their belief, would have been better for them; some of them are believers, such as 'Abd Allāh b. Salām, may God be pleased with him and his companions; but most of them, the disbelievers, are wicked.

AL IMRAN 101-105

2006-10-17T13:06:00.000+13:00

وَكَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ وَأَنتُمْ تُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتُ اللّهِ وَفِيكُمْ رَسُولُهُ وَمَن يَعْتَصِم بِاللّهِ فَقَدْ هُدِيَ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
{101}

[Yusufali 3:101] And how would ye deny Faith while unto you are rehearsed the Signs of Allah, and among you Lives the Messenger? Whoever holds firmly to Allah will be shown a way that is straight.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ تَمُوتُنَّ إِلاَّ وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ {102}

[Yusufali 3:102] O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.

وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاء فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىَ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ {103}

[Yusufali 3:103] And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided.

وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ {104}
[Yusufali 3:104] Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain felicity.

وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُواْ وَاخْتَلَفُواْ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ {105}

[Yusufali 3:105] Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into disputations after receiving Clear Signs: For them is a dreadful penalty,-

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

101
How can you disbelieve (this is an interrogative of amazement and rebuke) while you have God's verses recited to you, and His Messenger is in your midst? Whoever holds fast to, clings to, God, he is guided to a straight path.

102
O you who believe, fear God as He should be feared, so that He is obeyed and not disobeyed, thanked and not shown ingratitude, remembered and not forgotten. They said, 'Who, O Messenger of God, is strong enough for this [task]?' But it was then abrogated by His statement: So fear God as much as you can [Q. 64:16]; and do not die, except as Muslims, professing the Oneness of God.

103
And hold fast to, clutch, God's bond, namely, His religion, together, and do not scatter, after submitting [to Islam]; remember God's grace, His bestowing of favours, upon you, O companies of the Aws and the Khazraj, when you were enemies, and He brought your hearts together, through Islam, so that by His grace you became brothers, in religion and comradeship; and you were upon the brink, the edge, of a pit of fire, such that to fall into it you only had to die disbelieving; but He delivered you from it, through belief. So, just as He has made clear for you what has been mentioned, God makes clear to you His signs that you might be guided.

104
Let there be one community of you calling to good, to Islam, and enjoining decency, and forbidding indecency; those, that call, bid and forbid, are the successful, the victorious (the particle min, 'of', [in minkum, 'of you'] is partitive, since what is mentioned is a collective obligation [fard kifaya], and is not incumbent upon every individual of the community, for not every person, such as the ignorant, is up to it. However, it is also said that this particle is extra, and what is meant is, 'so that you are a community [calling to good and so on]').

105
Be not as those who scattered, in their religion, and disputed, over it, after the clear proofs came to them, and these are the Jews and the Christians, those there awaits a mighty chastisement.

AL IMRAN 96-100

2006-10-16T13:05:00.000+13:00

إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِي بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًا وَهُدًى لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
{96}

[Yusufali 3:96] The first House (of worship) appointed for men was that at Bakka: Full of blessing and of guidance for all kinds of beings:

فِيهِ آيَاتٌ بَيِّـنَاتٌ مَّقَامُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَن دَخَلَهُ كَانَ آمِنًا وَلِلّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلاً وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ الله غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ {97}

[Yusufali 3:97] In it are Signs Manifest; (for example), the Station of Abraham; whoever enters it attains security; Pilgrimage thereto is a duty men owe to Allah,- those who can afford the journey; but if any deny faith, Allah stands not in need of any of His creatures.

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ شَهِيدٌ عَلَى مَا تَعْمَلُونَ {98}

[Yusufali 3:98] Say: "O People of the Book! Why reject ye the Signs of Allah, when Allah is Himself witness to all ye do?"

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ تَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا وَأَنتُمْ شُهَدَاء وَمَا اللّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ {99}

[Yusufali 3:99] Say: "O ye People of the Book! Why obstruct ye those who believe, from the path of Allah, Seeking to make it crooked, while ye were yourselves witnesses (to Allah's Covenant)? but Allah is not unmindful of all that ye do."

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوَاْ إِن تُطِيعُواْ فَرِيقًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ يَرُدُّوكُم بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ كَافِرِينَ {100}

[Yusufali 3:100] O ye who believe! If ye listen to a faction among the People of the Book, they would (indeed) render you apostates after ye have believed!
_______________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

96
When they said, 'Our direction of prayer (qibla) came before yours', the following was revealed: The first house, for worship, established for the people, on earth, was that at Bakka (a variant of Makka [Mecca], so called because it 'crushes' [tabukku] the necks of tyrants); it was built by the angels before the creation of Adam, and after it the Aqsa [in Jerusalem] was built, a period of forty years separating them, as reported in the hadith of the two Sahihs [sc. of al-Bukhari and Muslim], and in the hadith [that states]: 'The first thing to appear on the surface of the water, at the creation of the heavens and the earth, was a white foam, underneath which the earth was unrolled'; a blessed place (mubarakan, a circumstantial qualifier referring to la'lladhi, 'that') meaning a place of blessings, and a guidance to all worlds, because it is their qibla.

97

Therein are clear signs, among which is, the station of Abraham, that is, the stone upon which he stood to build the House, and on which his footprints remain; and it [the House] has endured all this length of time and the constant passing of hands over it. Among these [signs] are the fact that the reward for good deeds is multiplied in it and that birds never fly over it; and whoever enters it is in security, not liable therein to be killed or oppressed or otherwise. It is the duty of people towards God to make the pilgrimage to the House (read either as hijj al-bayt or hajj al-bayt, as two variants of the verbal noun from hajj, meaning 'the intention [to journey there]'), if he is able to make his way there (man istata'a ilayhi sabilan substitutes for al-nas, 'people'). The Prophet (s) explained this [ability] as having provisions and a ride, as reported by al-Hakim [al-Naysaburi] and others. As for the one who disbelieves, in God or in what He has made obligatory with regard to the Pilgrimage, God is Independent of all worlds, the humans, the jinn and the angels, and [is Independent of] their devotions.

98

Say: 'O People of the Scripture, why do you disbelieve in God's verses, that is, the Qur'an, when God is Witness of what you do?', and will requite you for it?

99

Say: 'O People of the Scripture, why do you bar believers, causing them to turn away, from God's way, His religion, by denying the truth of the Prophet and concealing His graces, desiring to make it crooked ('iwajan is the verbal noun, meaning mu'awwajatan, 'made crooked'), inclining away from the truth, while you yourselves are witnesses, [while] you know that the religion which is upright and pleasing [to God] is that of Islam, as stated in your Book? God is not heedless of what you do', in the way of unbelief and mendacity; instead He gives you respite until your appointed time and then requites you.

100

The following was revealed when the Jews passed by the Aws and the Khazraj and were infuriated by their comradeship, and set about reminding them of their mutual hostility in the days before Islam, such that they caused them to quarrel and the two [tribes] were on the verge of fighting one another: O you who believe, if you obey a party of those who have been given the Scripture, they will turn you, after you have believed, into disbelievers.

AL IMRAN 91-95

2006-10-15T22:56:00.000+13:00

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَمَاتُواْ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِم مِّلْءُ الأرْضِ ذَهَبًا وَلَوِ افْتَدَى بِهِ أُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن نَّاصِرِينَ
{91}

[Yusufali 3:91] As to those who reject Faith, and die rejecting,- never would be accepted from any such as much gold as the earth contains, though they should offer it for ransom. For such is (in store) a penalty grievous, and they will find no helpers.

لَن تَنَالُواْ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنفِقُواْ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِن شَيْءٍ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ {92}

[Yusufali 3:92] By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (freely) of that which ye love; and whatever ye give, of a truth Allah knoweth it well.

كُلُّ الطَّعَامِ كَانَ حِـلاًّ لِّبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِلاَّ مَا حَرَّمَ إِسْرَائِيلُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تُنَزَّلَ التَّوْرَاةُ قُلْ فَأْتُواْ بِالتَّوْرَاةِ فَاتْلُوهَا إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ {93}

[Yusufali 3:93] All food was lawful to the Children of Israel, except what Israel Made unlawful for itself, before the Law (of Moses) was revealed. Say: "Bring ye the Law and study it, if ye be men of truth."

فَمَنِ افْتَرَىَ عَلَى اللّهِ الْكَذِبَ مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ {94}

[Yusufali 3:94] If any, after this, invent a lie and attribute it to Allah, they are indeed unjust wrong-doers.

قُلْ صَدَقَ اللّهُ فَاتَّبِعُواْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ {95}

[Yusufali 3:95] Say: "Allah speaketh the Truth: follow the religion of Abraham, the sane in faith; he was not of the Pagans."

_______________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

91
Surely those who disbelieve, and die disbelieving, the whole earth full, the amount needed to fill it up, of gold shall not be accepted from any one of them (the fā' [of fa-lan yuqbala, 'it shall not be accepted'] has been included in the predicate of the inna clause, because the statement about alladhīna, 'those [who disbelieve]', resembles a conditional statement; and as a declaration of the reason for it [repentance] not being acceptable in the case of one who dies in unbelief) if he would ransom himself thereby; for them awaits a painful chastisement (alīm is [the same as] mu'lim, 'painful'), and they shall have no helpers, to protect them from it.

92
You will not attain piety, that is, the reward for it, which is Paradise, until you expend, [until] you give voluntary alms, of what you love, of your wealth; and whatever thing you expend, God knows of it, and He will requite it accordingly.

93
When the Jews said to the Prophet, 'You claim that you follow the creed of Abraham, but Abraham did not eat camel's meat nor drink its milk', the following was revealed: All food was lawful to the Children of Israel save what Israel, Jacob, forbade for himself, namely, camels: when he was afflicted with sciatica ('irq al-nasā), he made a vow that if he were cured he would not eat of it again, and so it was forbidden him; before the Torah was revealed, which was after the time of Abraham, as it was not unlawful in his time, as they claimed. Say, to them, 'Bring the Torah now, and recite it, so that the truth of what you say may become clear, if you are truthful', in what you say; they were stupified and did not bring it [the Torah]. God, exalted be He, then said:

94
Whoever invents falsehood against God after that, that is, after the proof has become manifest that the prohibition was made by Jacob, and not during the time of Abraham, those are the evildoers, that transgress the truth into falsehood.

95
Say: 'God has spoken the truth, in this matter, just as He has in all that He has related; therefore follow the creed of Abraham, the one which I follow, a hanīf, inclining away from all religions towards submission (islām), and he was not an idolater'.

AL IMRAN86-90

2006-10-14T22:55:00.000+13:00

كَيْفَ يَهْدِي اللّهُ قَوْمًا كَفَرُواْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِهِمْ وَشَهِدُواْ أَنَّ الرَّسُولَ حَقٌّ وَجَاءهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَاللّهُ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
{86}

[Yusufali 3:86] How shall Allah Guide those who reject Faith after they accepted it and bore witness that the Messenger was true and that Clear Signs had come unto them? but Allah guides not a people unjust.

أُوْلَـئِكَ جَزَآؤُهُمْ أَنَّ عَلَيْهِمْ لَعْنَةَ اللّهِ وَالْمَلآئِكَةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ {87}

[Yusufali 3:87] Of such the reward is that on them (rests) the curse of Allah, of His angels, and of all mankind;-

خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا لاَ يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابُ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ {88}

[Yusufali 3:88] In that will they dwell; nor will their penalty be lightened, nor respite be (their lot);-

إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ تَابُواْ مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ وَأَصْلَحُواْ فَإِنَّ الله غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ {89}

[Yusufali 3:89] Except for those that repent (Even) after that, and make amends; for verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِهِمْ ثُمَّ ازْدَادُواْ كُفْرًا لَّن تُقْبَلَ تَوْبَتُهُمْ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الضَّآلُّونَ {90}

[Yusufali 3:90] But those who reject Faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of Faith,- never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray.

________________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

86
How shall God guide, that is to say, [He shall] not [guide], a people who have disbelieved after their belief, and bore witness, that is, [and after] their bearing witness, that the Messenger is true, and after the clear signs, the manifest proofs of the truth of the Prophet, had come to them? God guides not the evildoing, that is, the disbelieving, folk.

87
Those - their requital is that there shall rest on them the curse of God and of the angels and of men altogether.

88

Abiding therein, that is, in the curse, or in the Fire implied by it [the curse]; the chastisement shall not be lightened for them and they shall not be reprieved, they shall [not] be given any respite.

89
But those who repent thereafter, and make amends, in their actions, then truly God is Forgiving, Merciful, to them.

90
The following was revealed regarding the Jews: Surely those who disbelieve, in Jesus, after they have believed, in Moses, and then increase in unbelief, in Muhammad (s) - their repentance shall not be accepted, when they are drawing their last gasps of life, or when they have died as disbelievers; those are the ones who go astray.

AL IMRAN 81-85

2006-10-13T22:55:00.000+13:00

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللّهُ مِيثَاقَ النَّبِيِّيْنَ لَمَا آتَيْتُكُم مِّن كِتَابٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَاءكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُّصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنصُرُنَّهُ قَالَ أَأَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَخَذْتُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكُمْ إِصْرِي قَالُواْ أَقْرَرْنَا قَالَ فَاشْهَدُواْ وَأَنَاْ مَعَكُم مِّنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ
{81}

[Yusufali 3:81] Behold! Allah took the covenant of the prophets, saying: "I give you a Book and Wisdom; then comes to you a messenger, confirming what is with you; do ye believe in him and render him help." Allah said: "Do ye agree, and take this my Covenant as binding on you?" They said: "We agree." He said: "Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses."

فَمَن تَوَلَّى بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ {82}

[Yusufali 3:82] If any turn back after this, they are perverted transgressors.

أَفَغَيْرَ دِينِ اللّهِ يَبْغُونَ وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ {83}

[Yusufali 3:83] Do they seek for other than the Religion of Allah?-while all creatures in the heavens and on earth have, willing or unwilling, bowed to His Will (Accepted Islam), and to Him shall they all be brought back.

قُلْ آمَنَّا بِاللّهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنزِلَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالأَسْبَاطِ وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى وَعِيسَى وَالنَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ لاَ نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ {84}

[Yusufali 3:84] Say: "We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah do we bow our will (in Islam)."

وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الإِسْلاَمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ {85}

[Yusufali 3:85] If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual good).

________________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

81
And, mention, when God made a covenant with the prophets, 'What (if read lamā, it would be introducing a subject clause, and emphasising the aspect of the oath in this 'making of the covenant'; if it is read limā, it would then be connected to the verb akhadha, 'He took'; the mā, 'what', is a relative particle in both cases, meaning la'lladhī [or li'lladhī respectively]) I have given you (ātaytukum, or in a variant reading, ātaynākum, 'We have given you') of the Book and wisdom; then there shall come to you a messenger confirming what is with you, of the Book and wisdom, and that is Muhammad (s) - you shall believe in him and you shall help him (this constitutes the response to the oath), if you reach his time and perceive him, and their communities [of descendants] follow them [in what is incumbent upon them]. He, God, exalted be He, said to them, Do you affirm, this? 'And do you take, [do you] accept, My load, My covenant, on you on that condition?' They said, 'We affirm.' God said, 'Then bear witness, to this before your own souls and [those of] your followers, and I shall be with you among the witnesses', before you and them.

82
Then whoever turns his back, in rejection, after that, covenant, they are the wicked.

83
What! Do they, the ones who turn away, desire (yabghūna, is also read tabghūna, '[do] you desire?') other than God's religion, when to Him has submitted, [to Him] has yielded, whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly, without refusal, or unwillingly, by the sword and by seeing what it [such refusal] results in, and to Him they shall be returned? (yurja'ūna, may also be read turja'ūna, 'you shall be returned'; the hamza at the beginning of the verse [a-fa-ghayra, 'what…other'] denotes a disavowal).

84

Say, to them, O Muhammad (s): 'We believe in God, and that which has been revealed to us, and that which has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael, and Isaac and Jacob, and the Tribes, the latter's sons; and in that which was given to Moses and Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord; we make no division between any of them, by believing [in some] and disbelieving [in others]; and to Him we submit', devoting worship sincerely [to Him].

85

The following was revealed regarding those who apostatized and became disbelievers: Whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers, because he will end up in the Fire, made everlasting for him.

AL IMRAN 76-80

2006-10-12T22:54:00.000+13:00

بَلَى مَنْ أَوْفَى بِعَهْدِهِ وَاتَّقَى فَإِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ
{76}

[Yusufali 3:76] Nay.- Those that keep their plighted faith and act aright,-verily Allah loves those who act aright.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِعَهْدِ اللّهِ وَأَيْمَانِهِمْ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلاً أُوْلَـئِكَ لاَ خَلاَقَ لَهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ وَلاَ يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللّهُ وَلاَ يَنظُرُ إِلَيْهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلاَ يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ {77}

[Yusufali 3:77] As for those who sell the faith they owe to Allah and their own plighted word for a small price, they shall have no portion in the Hereafter: Nor will Allah (Deign to) speak to them or look at them on the Day of Judgment, nor will He cleans them (of sin): They shall have a grievous penalty.

وَإِنَّ مِنْهُمْ لَفَرِيقًا يَلْوُونَ أَلْسِنَتَهُم بِالْكِتَابِ لِتَحْسَبُوهُ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ {78}

[Yusufali 3:78] There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues: (As they read) you would think it is a part of the Book, but it is no part of the Book; and they say, "That is from Allah," but it is not from Allah: It is they who tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it!

مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُؤْتِيَهُ اللّهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ كُونُواْ عِبَادًا لِّي مِن دُونِ اللّهِ وَلَـكِن كُونُواْ رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ {79}

[Yusufali 3:79] It is not (possible) that a man, to whom is given the Book, and Wisdom, and the prophetic office, should say to people: "Be ye my worshippers rather than Allah's": on the contrary (He would say) "Be ye worshippers of Him Who is truly the Cherisher of all: For ye have taught the Book and ye have studied it earnestly."

وَلاَ يَأْمُرَكُمْ أَن تَتَّخِذُواْ الْمَلاَئِكَةَ وَالنِّبِيِّيْنَ أَرْبَابًا أَيَأْمُرُكُم بِالْكُفْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ أَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ {80}

[Yusufali 3:80] Nor would he instruct you to take angels and prophets for Lords and patrons. What! would he bid you to unbelief after ye have bowed your will (To Allah in Islam)?

___________________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

76
Nay, there is a duty incumbent over them in this regard; but whoever fulfils his covenant, the one he has made or the covenant of God, by restoring a trust and other such things, and has fear, of God, by refraining from disobedience and performing deeds of obedience, for truly God loves the God-fearing: 'He loves them' means that He will reward them (the overt noun [al-muttaqīn, 'the God-fearing'] has replaced the [third person] pronominalisation).

77
The following was revealed with regard to the Jews when they distorted the descriptions of the Prophet (s) and God's covenant with them in the Torah, and [God's covenant with them] regarding one that swears an oath to a falsehood when bearing witness or when selling merchandise: Those that sell, exchange, God's covenant, with them that they believe in the Prophet and return faithfully what has been entrusted to them, and their own oaths, their invoking God's name in mendacity, for a small price, of this world, there shall be no share, [no] lot, for them in the Hereafter; and God shall not speak to them, out of wrath against them, nor look upon them, [nor] have mercy upon them, on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them, cleanse them, and theirs will be a painful chastisement.

78
And there is a group, a party, of them, the People of the Scripture, like Ka'b b. al-Ashraf, who twist their tongues with the Book, altering it by reciting it not according to the way in which it was revealed, but according to the way in which they have distorted it, as in the case of the descriptions of the Prophet (s) and other similar matters; so that you may suppose it, such distortion, as part of the Book, that God revealed; yet it is not part of the Book; and they say, 'It is from God,' yet it is not from God, and they speak falsehood against God, while they know, that they are liars.

79

When the Christians of Najrān claimed that Jesus had commanded them to take him as a Divinity, and some Muslims asked that they should be permitted to prostrate themselves before him, the Prophet (s), the following was revealed: It belongs not to any mortal that God should give him the Book, the Judgement, the understanding of the Divine Law, prophethood, then that he should say to men, 'Be servants to me instead of God.' Rather, he should say, 'Be masters, scholars, labouring (rabbāniyyūn, 'those of the Lord', is derived from rabb, 'lord', with the extra alif and nūn, as a superlative [of rabbiyyūn]), by virtue of what you know (ta'lamūn, also read as tu'allimūn, 'you teach') of the Book and in what you study', that is, on account of the fact that you used to do this, for its benefit is that you engage in action.

80
He would never order you (read lā ya'murukum, to denote a new clause, meaning 'God [would not order you]'; or if read lā ya'murakum, it would be a supplement to yaqūla, 'he should say', meaning '[it belongs not that…] a mortal [should order you]'); to take the angels and the prophets as lords, in the way that the Sabaeans have taken the angels, the Jews, Ezra, and the Christians, Jesus. Would He order you to disbelieve, after you have submitted? He would not do this.

AL IMRAN 71-75

2006-10-11T22:54:00.000+13:00

يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَلْبِسُونَ الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
{71}

[Yusufali 3:71] Ye People of the Book! Why do ye clothe Truth with falsehood, and conceal the Truth, while ye have knowledge?

وَقَالَت طَّآئِفَةٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ آمِنُواْ بِالَّذِيَ أُنزِلَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَجْهَ النَّهَارِ وَاكْفُرُواْ آخِرَهُ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ
{72}

[Yusufali 3:72] A section of the People of the Book say: "Believe in the morning what is revealed to the believers, but reject it at the end of the day; perchance they may (themselves) Turn back;

وَلاَ تُؤْمِنُواْ إِلاَّ لِمَن تَبِعَ دِينَكُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ الْهُدَى هُدَى اللّهِ أَن يُؤْتَى أَحَدٌ مِّثْلَ مَا أُوتِيتُمْ أَوْ يُحَآجُّوكُمْ عِندَ رَبِّكُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ الْفَضْلَ بِيَدِ اللّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ {73}

[Yusufali 3:73] "And believe no one unless he follows your religion." Say: "True guidance is the Guidance of Allah: (Fear ye) Lest a revelation be sent to someone (else) Like unto that which was sent unto you? or that those (Receiving such revelation) should engage you in argument before your Lord?" Say: "All bounties are in the hand of Allah: He granteth them to whom He pleaseth: And Allah careth for all, and He knoweth all things."

يَخْتَصُّ بِرَحْمَتِهِ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ {74}

[Yusufali 3:74] For His Mercy He specially chooseth whom He pleaseth; for Allah is the Lord of bounties unbounded.

وَمِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِقِنطَارٍ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِدِينَارٍ لاَّ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ إِلاَّ مَا دُمْتَ عَلَيْهِ قَآئِمًا ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ لَيْسَ عَلَيْنَا فِي الأُمِّيِّينَ سَبِيلٌ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ {75}

[Yusufali 3:75] Among the People of the Book are some who, if entrusted with a hoard of gold, will (readily) pay it back; others, who, if entrusted with a single silver coin, will not repay it unless thou constantly stoodest demanding, because, they say, "there is no call on us (to keep faith) with these ignorant (Pagans)." but they tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it.

___________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

71

O People of the Scripture! Why do you confound, [why do] you mix, truth with falsehood, by distorting and falsifying [scripture], and conceal the truth, the descriptions of the Prophet, while you know?, that it is the truth?

72

A party of the People of the Scripture, the Jews, say, to some among them, 'Believe in what has been revealed to those who believe, that is, the Qur'ān, at the beginning of the day, and disbelieve, in it, at the end of it, so that they, the believers, might then turn back, from his [Muhammad's] religion, and that they [the believers] will then say: these [Jews] are knowledgeable and they could only have turned away from it after accepting it because they know it to be false.

73

And they also said: And do not believe except in one who (the lām of li-man, 'in one who', is extra) follows, accords with, your religion'. God, exalted be He, says, say, to them, O Muhammad (s), 'True guidance is God's guidance, that is Islam, everything else being error (this statement is parenthetical) - that (an [and what follows] is the direct object of the verb wa-lā tu'minū, 'do not believe') anyone should be given the like of what you have been given, of the Book, wisdom, and of the virtues (the term ahad, 'anyone', from whom the exclusion is being made, precedes that which is being excluded, 'the like of what you have been given', the meaning being: 'Do not affirm that anyone should be given this unless they follow your religion'); or that they, the believers, should dispute with you, [that they should] prevail over you, before your Lord', on the
Day of Resurrection, for you have the sounder religion (a variant reading has a-an, 'such that', the extra hamza denoting rebuke) in other words, [the Jews say do not believe] that another has been given the like of it, such that you might affirm it. God, exalted be He, says, Say: 'Surely bounty is in God's Hand; He gives it to whomever He will, so how can you say that no one else will be given what you have been given? God is Embracing, of ample bounty, Knowing, those who deserve it.

74

He singles out for His mercy whom He will; God is of bounty abounding'.

75

And of the People of the Scripture is he who, if you trust him with a hundredweight, that is, with much money, he will return it to you, on account of his trustworthiness, the like of 'Abd Allāh b. Salām to whom a man entrusted 1200 plates of gold, which he then returned to him; and of them is he who, if you trust him with one dinar, will not return it to you, on account of his treachery; unless you keep standing over him, not leaving him for one minute, for as soon as you leave him, he will deny it, as was the case with Ka'b b. al-Ashraf, to whom a man from Quraysh entrusted a dinar and later denied it. That, refusal to return things, is because they ay, 'We have no duty towards, namely, [no possibility of acquiring] sin because of, the Gentiles, the Arabs; for they considered it lawful to be unjust towards any person of a different religion, and they attributed
[the source of] this conviction to God, exalted be He. God, exalted be He, says, They speak falsehood against God, by attributing such things to Him, while they are aware, that they are liars.

AL IMRAN 66-70

2006-10-10T22:53:00.000+13:00

هَاأَنتُمْ هَؤُلاء حَاجَجْتُمْ فِيمَا لَكُم بِهِ عِلمٌ فَلِمَ تُحَآجُّونَ فِيمَا لَيْسَ لَكُم بِهِ عِلْمٌ وَاللّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُون
66}

[Yusufali 3:66] Ah! Ye are those who fell to disputing (Even) in matters of which ye had some knowledge! but why dispute ye in matters of which ye have no knowledge? It is Allah Who knows, and ye who know not!

مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلاَ نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ {67}

[Yusufali 3:67] Abraham was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in Faith, and bowed his will to Allah's (Which is Islam), and he joined not gods with Allah.

إِنَّ أَوْلَى النَّاسِ بِإِبْرَاهِيمَ لَلَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُ وَهَـذَا النَّبِيُّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَاللّهُ وَلِيُّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ {68}

[Yusufali 3:68] Without doubt, among men, the nearest of kin to Abraham, are those who follow him, as are also this Prophet and those who believe: And Allah is the Protector of those who have faith.

وَدَّت طَّآئِفَةٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَوْ يُضِلُّونَكُمْ وَمَا يُضِلُّونَ إِلاَّ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ {69}

[Yusufali 3:69] It is the wish of a section of the People of the Book to lead you astray. But they shall lead astray (Not you), but themselves, and they do not perceive!

يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ وَأَنتُمْ تَشْهَدُونَ {70}

[Yusufali 3:70] Ye People of the Book! Why reject ye the Signs of Allah, of which ye are (Yourselves) witnesses?

*****

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

66
Lo! (hā, 'lo', is for calling attention to something), You (antum, 'you', is the subject) are those (the
predicate is [what follows]) who dispute about what you know, concerning the affair of Moses
and Jesus, and your claim to be adhering to their religions: why do you then dispute concerning that of which you have no knowledge?, of Abraham's circumstances; and God knows, his circumstances, and you know not.

67
God, in order to dissociate Abraham [from their claims], said: No; Abraham in truth was not a Jew, neither a Christian, but he was a Muslim, professing the Oneness of God, and a hanīf, who inclined away from all other religions towards the upright one; and he was never of the idolaters.

68
Surely the people with the best claim, most worthy of, Abraham are those who followed him, during his time, and this Prophet, Muhammad (s) on account of his according with him as regards most [of the rulings] of his Law, and those who believe, from among his community, they are the ones that ought to say, 'We follow his religion', and not you; and God is the Protector of the believers, their Helper and Preserver.

69

When the Jews called Mu'ādh [b. Jabal], Hudhayfa [b. al-Yamān] and 'Ammār [b. Yāsir] to [join] their religion, the following was revealed: There is a party of the People of the Scripture who yearn to make you go astray; yet they cause none to stray, except themselves, because the sin for their leading [others] astray falls upon them, while the believers do not heed them in this; but they are not aware, of this.

70

O People of the Scripture! Why do you disbelieve in God's verses, the Qur'ān, that includes all the descriptions of Muhammad (s), when you yourselves bear witness? [when] you know that it is the truth.

AL IMRAN 61-65

2006-10-09T22:52:00.000+13:00

فَمَنْ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْاْ نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءنَا وَأَبْنَاءكُمْ وَنِسَاءنَا وَنِسَاءكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَةُ اللّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ
{61}

[Yusufali 3:61] If any one disputes in this matter with thee, now after (full) knowledge Hath come to thee, say: "Come! let us gather together,- our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: Then let us earnestly pray, and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!"

إِنَّ هَـذَا لَهُوَ الْقَصَصُ الْحَقُّ وَمَا مِنْ إِلَـهٍ إِلاَّ اللّهُ وَإِنَّ اللّهَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ {62}

[Yusufali 3:62] This is the true account: There is no god except Allah; and Allah-He is indeed the Exalted in Power, the Wise.

فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِالْمُفْسِدِينَ {63}

[Yusufali 3:63] But if they turn back, Allah hath full knowledge of those who do mischief.

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْاْ إِلَى كَلَمَةٍ سَوَاء بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلاَّ نَعْبُدَ إِلاَّ اللّهَ وَلاَ نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلاَ يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضاً أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَقُولُواْ اشْهَدُواْ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ {64}

[Yusufali 3:64] Say: "O People of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah." If then they turn back, say ye: "Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's Will).

يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لِمَ تُحَآجُّونَ فِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمَا أُنزِلَتِ التَّورَاةُ وَالإنجِيلُ إِلاَّ مِن بَعْدِهِ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ {65}

[Yusufali 3:65] Ye People of the Book! Why dispute ye about Abraham, when the Law and the Gospel Were not revealed Till after him? Have ye no understanding?

____________________________________
TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

61

And whoever, from among the Christians, disputes with you concerning him, after the knowledge, of his affair,that has come to you, say, to them: 'Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our wives and your wives, ourselves and your selves, and gather them together, then let us humbly pray and invoke God's curse upon those who lie', by saying: 'Lord, curse the one that tells lies concerning the affair of Jesus'. The Prophet (s) had called upon the Najrān delegation to do this when they disputed with him about Jesus. They said, 'Let us think about it and we will come back to you'. The judicious one among them said, 'You know that he is a prophet, and that every people that has ever challenged a prophet to a mutual imprecation has been destroyed'. They left him and departed. When they went to see the Prophet (s), who had set out with al-Hasan, al-Husayn, Fātima and'Alī, he said to them [the Najrān delegation], 'When I supplicate, you say 'Amen'; but they refrained from this mutual imprecation and made peace with the Prophet on the condition that they pay the jizya, as reported by Abū Nu'aym. According to Ibn 'Abbās [the Prophet] said, 'Had they set out and performed the mutual cursing, they would have gone home and found neither possessions nor family'. It is also reported that had they set out with this intention, they would have been consumed by fire.

62
The truth is from your Lord (al-haqqu min rabbik, the predicate of a missing subject, which is [implied to be] amr 'īsā ['the matter concerning Jesus']); be not of those who waver, those who are uncertain about it.

63
And if they turn their backs, rejecting faith, assuredly God knows the agents of corruption, and will requitethem (here the [third person] pronominalisation has been replaced with the overt noun [al-mufsidūn, 'theagents of corruption']).

64

Say: 'O People of the Scripture!, Jews and Christians, come now to a word agreed upon (sawā', is the verbal noun, meaning mustawin amruhā, '[a word] regarding which the matter is upright') between us and you, and it is, that we worship none but God (allā is [made up of] an-lā, 'that…not') and that we do not associate anything with Him, and do not take each other for lords, beside God', as you have taken rabbis and monks; and if they turn their backs, in rejection of God's Oneness, say, you to them: 'Bear witness that we have submitted', [that we are of] those who affirm the Oneness of God.

65
When the Jews claimed that Abraham was Jewish and that they were following his religion, and the Christians made a similar claim, the following was revealed: O People of the Scripture! Why do you argue about, dispute over, Abraham?, claiming that he belonged to one of your [two] religions, when the Torah was not revealed, neither the Gospel, but, a very long time, after him, and it was only after these two were revealed that Jewry and Christianity came into being. What, do you not comprehend?, the falsehood of what you say?

AL IMRAN56-60

2006-10-09T22:51:00.000+13:00

فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فَأُعَذِّبُهُمْ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن نَّاصِرِينَ {56}

[Yusufali 3:56] "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."

وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّالِحَاتِ فَيُوَفِّيهِمْ أُجُورَهُمْ وَاللّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ {57}

[Yusufali 3:57] "As to those who believe and work righteousness, Allah will pay them (in full) their reward; but Allah loveth not those who do wrong."

ذَلِكَ نَتْلُوهُ عَلَيْكَ مِنَ الآيَاتِ وَالذِّكْرِ الْحَكِيمِ {58}

[Yusufali 3:58] "This is what we rehearse unto thee of the Signs and the Message of Wisdom."

إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِندَ اللّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِن تُرَابٍ ثِمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ {59}

[Yusufali 3:59] The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him: "Be". And he was.

الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ فَلاَ تَكُن مِّن الْمُمْتَرِينَ {60}

[Yusufali 3:60] The Truth (comes) from Allah alone; so be not of those who doubt.

_______________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

56

As for the disbelievers, I will chastise them with a terrible chastisement in this world, through being killed, taken captive and made to pay the jizya, and the Hereafter, in the Fire; they shall have no helpers, none to protect them from it.

57

But as for the believers, who do deeds of righteous, He will pay them in full (yuwaffihim, is also read nuwaffihim, 'We will pay them in full') their wages. God loves not the evildoers, that is, He will chastise them. It is reported that God, exalted be He, sent him [Jesus] a cloud which raised him up, but his mother clutched to him in tears. He then said to her, 'Verily, the Resurrection shall bring us together again'. This took place on the Night of Ordainment (laylat al-qadr) in the Holy House [of Jerusalem], when he was thirty three years old. His mother lived on after him for six years. The two Shaykhs [Bukhari and Muslim] narrate a hadith [in which it is stated] that he [Jesus] will descend when the Hour is nigh and will rule according to the Law of our Prophet [Muhammad], and that he will slay the false messiah and the swine, break the cross and impose the jizya. In a hadith recorded by Muslim, he will remain for seven years; according to Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi, [he will remain for] forty years, and he will die and have prayers performed over him. It is possible that what is meant [by the forty years] is the total time he will have spent on earth, before he was raised and afterwards.

58

This, what is mentioned of the matter of Jesus, We recite to you, narrate to you, O Muhammad (s), of verses and wise, clear, remembrance, namely, the Qur'an (min al-ayat, 'of verses' is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the [suffixed pronoun] ha' of natluhu, and its operator is the demonstrative import of dhalika, 'this').

59

Truly, the likeness of Jesus, his remarkable case, in God's sight, is as Adam's likeness, as the case of Adam, whom God created without father or mother: this is a comparison of one remarkable thing with another more remarkable, so that it convinces the disputer and establishes itself in one's mind more effectively. He created him, Adam, that is, his form, of dust, then said He to him, 'Be,', a human being, and he was; similarly, He said to Jesus, 'Be' - without a father - and he was.

60

The truth is from your Lord (al-haqqu min rabbik, the predicate of a missing subject, which is [implied to be] amr 'īsā ['the matter concerning Jesus']); be not of those who waver, those who are uncertain about it.

AL IMRAN 51-55

2006-10-08T18:11:00.000+13:00

إِنَّ اللّهَ رَبِّي وَرَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُوهُ هَـذَا صِرَاطٌ مُّسْتَقِيمٌ
{51}

[Yusufali 3:51] "'It is Allah Who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is a Way that is straight.'"

فَلَمَّا أَحَسَّ عِيسَى مِنْهُمُ الْكُفْرَ قَالَ مَنْ أَنصَارِي إِلَى اللّهِ قَالَ الْحَوَارِيُّونَ نَحْنُ أَنصَارُ اللّهِ آمَنَّا بِاللّهِ وَاشْهَدْ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ {52}

[Yusufali 3:52] When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: "Who will be My helpers to (the work of) Allah?" Said the disciples: "We are Allah's helpers: We believe in Allah, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims.

رَبَّنَا آمَنَّا بِمَا أَنزَلَتْ وَاتَّبَعْنَا الرَّسُولَ فَاكْتُبْنَا مَعَ الشَّاهِدِينَ {53}

[Yusufali 3:53] "Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed, and we follow the Messenger; then write us down among those who bear witness."

وَمَكَرُواْ وَمَكَرَ اللّهُ وَاللّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ {54}

[Yusufali 3:54] And (the unbelievers) plotted and planned, and Allah too planned, and the best of planners is Allah.

إِذْ قَالَ اللّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْقَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ فِيمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ {55}

[Yusufali 3:55] Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.

_____________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

51

Surely God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This, that which I enjoin upon you, is a straight path'. But they rejected him and did not believe in him.

52

And when Jesus sensed, [when] he became aware of, their disbelief, and they plotted to kill him, he said, 'Who will be my helpers, departing, unto God?', to help His religion; The disciples said, 'We will be helpers of God, those who assist His religion: they were Jesus's intimates and the first to believe in him. [They were] twelve men who were of pure white complexion (hawar); but some say that they [were called hawariyyun because they] were bleachers of clothes (qassarun); we believe in, we accept the truth of, God; witness, O Jesus, that we have submitted.

53
Lord, we believe in what You have revealed, of the Gospel, and we follow the Messenger, Jesus; inscribe us therefore with those who bear witness', to Your Oneness and to the truthfulness of Your Messenger

54

God says: And they, the disbelievers among the Children of Israel, schemed, against Jesus, by assigning someone to assassinate him; and God schemed, by casting the likeness of Jesus onto the person who intended to kill him, and so they killed him, while Jesus was raised up into heaven; and God is the best of schemers, most knowledgeable of him [Jesus].

55

And mention, when God said, 'O Jesus, I am gathering you, seizing you, and raising you to Me, away from the world without death, and I am cleansing you of, removing you far away from, those who disbelieved, and I am setting those who follow you, those Christians and Muslims who believed in your prophethood, above those who disbelieved, in you, namely, the Jews, becoming above them through [definitive] argument and the sword, until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me shall be your return, and I will decide between you, as to what you were at variance about, as regards religion.

AL IMRAN 46-50

2006-10-07T22:49:00.000+13:00

____________________________

وَيُكَلِّمُ النَّاسَ فِي الْمَهْدِ وَكَهْلاً وَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
{46}

[Yusufali 3:46] "He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous."

قَالَتْ رَبِّ أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِي وَلَدٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ قَالَ كَذَلِكِ اللّهُ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاء إِذَا قَضَى أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ {47}

[Yusufali 3:47] She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!

وَيُعَلِّمُهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَالتَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنجِيلَ {48}

[Yusufali 3:48] "And Allah will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel,

وَرَسُولاً إِلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنِّي قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِآيَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ أَنِّي أَخْلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ الطِّينِ كَهَيْئَةِ الطَّيْرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًا بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَأُبْرِئُ الأكْمَهَ والأَبْرَصَ وَأُحْيِـي الْمَوْتَى بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا تَأْكُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ {49}

[Yusufali 3:49] "And (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe;

وَمُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَلِأُحِلَّ لَكُم بَعْضَ الَّذِي حُرِّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَجِئْتُكُم بِآيَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ فَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ {50}

[Yusufali 3:50] "'(I have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (Before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear Allah, and obey me.

_________________________________________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

46

He shall speak to mankind in the cradle, that is to say, as a child before the age of speech, and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous'.

47
She said, 'Lord, how shall I have a child when no mortal has touched me?', neither through conjugality or otherwise; He said, the command, 'It is such, that God will create from you a child without a father. God creates what He will. When He decrees a thing, willing its creation, He says to it only: “Be,” and it is, that is, [and] 'he is'.

48

And We will teach him (read nu'allimuhu, or yu'allimuhu, 'He will teach him') the Book, that is, script, wisdom, and the Torah, and the Gospel.

49
And He will make him, to be a messenger to the Children of Israel, during his tender years, or after puberty. Gabriel breathed into the opening of her garment and she became pregnant. What happened to her after this is mentioned later in surat Maryam [Q. 19:21ff]. Thus, when God sent him to the Children of Israel, he said to them, 'I am God's Messenger to you', and, 'I have come to you with a sign, an indication of my truthfulness, from your Lord, and it is that, I will create (a variant reading for [the particle introducing the relative clause] anni, 'that I', has inni, 'truly I', indicating a new [independent] sentence) [that] I will fashion, for you out of clay like the shape of a bird (ka-hay'at, 'something like the shape of': the kaf is the subject of a passive participle) then I will breathe into it (fihi, the [suffixed] pronoun [-hi] refers to the [preceding] kaf), and it will be a bird (tayran, is also read ta'iran) by the leave, the will, of God. So he created for them a bat, being the most perfectly-created of birds, and they would watch it flying, but when it went out of sight, it would fall dead - so that the work of a creature [sc. Jesus] may be distinguished from the work of the Creator, namely, God, exalted be He, and that he might know that perfection belongs to God [alone]. I will also heal the blind (akmah is one that is blind from birth) and the leper; these two are singled out for mention because with both afflictions the person is completely helpless. He [Jesus] was sent in an age of [characterised by] medicinal science, and he cured, through supplication, fifty thousand in one day on the condition that each person would become a believer; and I bring to life the dead, by the leave of God - He repeats this to preclude any false attributions of divinity to him - he brought back to life his friend 'azar, the son of an old woman, and the daughter of the tithe-collector, all of whom lived on and produced offspring, and [he also brought back to life] Shem, son of Noah, but he died [again] immediately. I will inform you too of what things you eat, and what you treasure up, store, in your houses, and what I have never seen, and he would inform people what they had eaten and what they would eat. Surely in that, mentioned, is a sign for you, if you are believers.

50

Likewise, I have come to you, confirming that which was before me of the Torah, and to make lawful for you some of that which was forbidden to you, in it. Thus he made lawful for them fish and birds which had no spikes; it is also said that he made it all lawful for them, so that ba'd, 'some', means, kull, 'all'). I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, He has repeated it for emphasis and to expand upon it: so fear God, and obey me, in what I command you of affirming God's Oneness and being obedient to Him.

______________________________________________

AL IMRAN 41-45

2006-10-06T03:18:00.000+13:00

قَالَ رَبِّ اجْعَل لِّيَ آيَةً قَالَ آيَتُكَ أَلاَّ تُكَلِّمَ النَّاسَ ثَلاَثَةَ أَيَّامٍ إِلاَّ رَمْزًا وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ كَثِيراً وَسَبِّحْ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالإِبْكَارِ {41}

[Yusufali 3:41] He said: "O my Lord! Give me a Sign!" "Thy Sign," was the answer, "Shall be that thou shalt speak to no man for three days but with signals. Then celebrate the praises of thy Lord again and again, and glorify Him in the evening and in the morning."

وَإِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَى نِسَاء الْعَالَمِينَ {42}

[Yusufali 3:42] Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee- chosen thee above the women of all nations.

يَا مَرْيَمُ اقْنُتِي لِرَبِّكِ وَاسْجُدِي وَارْكَعِي مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ {43}

[Yusufali 3:43] "O Mary! worship Thy Lord devoutly: Prostrate thyself, and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down."

ذَلِكَ مِنْ أَنبَاء الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيكَ وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يُلْقُون أَقْلاَمَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يَخْتَصِمُونَ {44}

[Yusufali 3:44] This is part of the tidings of the things unseen, which We reveal unto thee (O Messenger!) by inspiration: Thou wast not with them when they cast lots with arrows, as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary: Nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point).

إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلآئِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللّهَ يُبَشِّرُكِ بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنْهُ اسْمُهُ الْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَجِيهًا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَمِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ {45}

[Yusufali 3:45] Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

41
He said, 'My Lord! Appoint for me a sign', that is, an indication of my wife's pregnancy. He said, 'Your sign, for this, is that you shall not speak to men, that is, you shall refrain from speaking to them, but not from remembrance of God, save by tokens, gestures, for three days, and nights. And remember your Lord often, and glorify, perform prayer, at evening and dawn', at the end of the day and at its beginning.

42
And, mention, when the angels, namely, Gabriel, said, 'O Mary, God has preferred you, He has elected you, and made you pure, of the touch of men; He has preferred you above all women of the worlds, that is, the inhabitants of your time.

43
O Mary, be obedient to your Lord, be compliant before Him, prostrating and bowing with those who bow', that is, pray with those who pray.

44

That, which has been mentioned of the matter of Zachariah and Mary, is of the tidings of the Unseen, of the news of what was unknown to you. We reveal it to you, O Muhammad (s), for you were not with them, when they were casting quills, in the water, drawing their lots so that it be manifested to them, which of them should have charge of, [which of them should] bring up, Mary; nor were you with them, when they were disputing, about the custodianship of Mary, such that you might have known it and related it; but truly you know it only through revelation.

45

Mention, when the angels, namely, Gabriel, said, 'O Mary, God gives you good tidings of a Word from Him, that is, a boy, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, He addresses her attributing him to her in order to point out that she will give birth to him without a father, for, the custom is to attribute the child to its father, honoured shall he be in this world, through prophethood, and the Hereafter, through [his] intercession and the high stations [al-darajat al-'ula, cf. Q. 20:75], and of those brought close, to God.

AL IMRAN 36-40

2006-10-05T03:17:00.000+13:00

فَلَمَّا وَضَعَتْهَا قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّي وَضَعْتُهَا أُنثَى وَاللّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا وَضَعَتْ وَلَيْسَ الذَّكَرُ كَالأُنثَى وَإِنِّي سَمَّيْتُهَا مَرْيَمَ وِإِنِّي أُعِيذُهَا بِكَ وَذُرِّيَّتَهَا مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ {36}

[Yusufali 3:36] When she was delivered, she said: "O my Lord! Behold! I am delivered of a female child!"- and Allah knew best what she brought forth- "And no wise is the male Like the female. I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from the Evil One, the Rejected."

فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍ وَأَنبَتَهَا نَبَاتًا حَسَنًا وَكَفَّلَهَا زَكَرِيَّا كُلَّمَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا زَكَرِيَّا الْمِحْرَابَ وَجَدَ عِندَهَا رِزْقاً قَالَ يَا مَرْيَمُ أَنَّى لَكِ هَـذَا قَالَتْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ إنَّ اللّهَ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاء بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ {37}

[Yusufali 3:37] Right graciously did her Lord accept her: He made her grow in purity and beauty: To the care of Zakariya was she assigned. Every time that he entered (Her) chamber to see her, He found her supplied with sustenance. He said: "O Mary! Whence (comes) this to you?" She said: "From Allah: for Allah Provides sustenance to whom He pleases without measure."

هُنَالِكَ دَعَا زَكَرِيَّا رَبَّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِن لَّدُنْكَ ذُرِّيَّةً طَيِّبَةً إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ الدُّعَاء {38}

[Yusufali 3:38] There did Zakariya pray to his Lord, saying: "O my Lord! Grant unto me from Thee a progeny that is pure: for Thou art He that heareth prayer!

فَنَادَتْهُ الْمَلآئِكَةُ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي فِي الْمِحْرَابِ أَنَّ اللّهَ يُبَشِّرُكَ بِيَحْيَـى مُصَدِّقًا بِكَلِمَةٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ وَسَيِّدًا وَحَصُورًا وَنَبِيًّا مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ {39}

[Yusufali 3:39] While he was standing in prayer in the chamber, the angels called unto him: "Allah doth give thee glad tidings of Yahya, witnessing the truth of a Word from Allah, and (be besides) noble, chaste, and a prophet,- of the (goodly) company of the righteous."

قَالَ رَبِّ أَنَّىَ يَكُونُ لِي غُلاَمٌ وَقَدْ بَلَغَنِيَ الْكِبَرُ وَامْرَأَتِي عَاقِرٌ قَالَ كَذَلِكَ اللّهُ يَفْعَلُ مَا يَشَاء {40}

[Yusufali 3:40] He said: "O my Lord! How shall I have son, seeing I am very old, and my wife is barren?" "Thus," was the answer, "Doth Allah accomplish what He willeth."

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

36
And when she gave birth to her, a girl, and she had been hoping for a boy, since only males were consecrated to the service of God, she said, apologetically, 'O, Lord, I have given birth to a female' - and God knew very well what she had given birth to: a parenthetical statement constituting God's speech (a variant reading [for wada'at, 'she gave birth', has wada'tu, 'I gave birth' [making these Hanna's words, sc. 'and God knows very well what I have given birth to']); the male, that she had asked for, is not as the female, that was bestowed upon her, because he is designed for the service [of God], while she would not be suitable on account of her lesser physical ability, her private parts, the effects of menstruation on her, and so on. 'And I have named her Mary, and commend her to You with her seed, her children, to protect them from the accursed, the outcast, Satan'. In a hadīth [it is stated]: 'Every new-born is touched by Satan and begins [life] by crying, except for Mary and her son', as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim].

37
Her Lord accepted the child, that is, He received Mary from her mother, with gracious acceptance, and made her grow excellently, He made her grow up with excellent character. She would grow in a day by as much as a new-born grew during a year. Her mother took her to the priests, the keepers of the Holy House [of Jerusalem] and said: 'This here before you is the dedication [I offered]'. They competed for [guardianship of] her, because she was the daughter of their religious leader, at which point Zachariah said, 'I am most worthy of her, for, her maternal aunt lives with me'. The others said, 'No, [not until] we have cast lots'. Thus, all twenty nine of them departed to the River Jordan, where they cast their quills, agreeing that the one whose quill remained fast and floated to the surface of the water would be most worthy of [being guardian over] her. Zachariah's quill remained fast [and surfaced]. He took [charge of] her and built for her a gallery-room with a ladder in the temple, and none apart from him went up to her. He used to bring her food, drink and oil, and would find her with summer fruits in winter, and winter fruits in summer, just as God says, and Zachariah took charge of her, he took her to him (a variant reading [of kafalahā, 'he took charge of her'] is kaffalahā, 'He [God] gave Zachariah charge of her', with Zakariyyā', or Zakariyyā, in the accusative and 'God' as the subject of the verb). Whenever Zachariah went into the sanctuary, that is, the room, the most noble seat [in the temple], where she was, he found her with provisions. 'O Mary,' he said, 'Whence comes this to you?' She, still very young, said, 'From God, He sends it to me from Paradise, 'Truly God provides, abundant provision, for whomever He will without reckoning, without consequence.

38
Then, when Zachariah had seen this and realised that the One with power to bring something about in other than its [natural] time, is able to bring about a child in old age, and with those of his family line all deceased, Zachariah prayed to his Lord, when he entered the sanctuary to pray in the middle of the night, saying, 'Lord, bestow upon me from You a goodly offspring, a righteous son, verily, You are the Hearer of, [You are] the One Who answers, supplication'.

39
And the angels, namely, Gabriel, called to him, standing in the sanctuary, in the temple, at worship that (anna, means bi-anna; a variant reading has inna, implying a direct speech statement) 'God gives you good tidings (read yubashshiruka, or yubshiruka) of John, who shall confirm a Word, being, from God, namely, Jesus, that he is God's Spirit; he is referred to as [God's] 'Word', because he was created through the word kun, 'Be'; a lord, with a following, and one chaste, forbidden from women, and a prophet of the righteous': it is said that he never sinned and never so intended.

40
He said, 'My Lord! How shall I have a boy, a son, when old age has overtaken me, that is, [after] I have reached extreme [old] age, 120 years [old]; and my wife is barren?', having reached the age of 98. He said, 'So it, the matter, will be', with God creating a boy from both of you. 'God does what He will', nothing can prevent Him therefrom, and in order to manifest this great power he was inspired with the question so that he would be answered through it [this great power]. And when his soul longed for the swift fulfilment of that of which good tidings had been given:

AL IMRAN 31-35

2006-10-04T22:43:00.000+13:00

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ {31}

[Yusufali 3:31] Say: "If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

قُلْ أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْكَافِرِينَ {32}

[Yusufali 3:32] Say: "Obey Allah and His Messenger": But if they turn back, Allah loveth not those who reject Faith.

إِنَّ اللّهَ اصْطَفَى آدَمَ وَنُوحًا وَآلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَآلَ عِمْرَانَ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ {33}
[Yusufali 3:33] Allah did choose Adam and Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of 'Imran above all people,-

ذُرِّيَّةً بَعْضُهَا مِن بَعْضٍ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ {34}

[Yusufali 3:34] Offspring, one of the other: And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.

إِذْ قَالَتِ امْرَأَةُ عِمْرَانَ رَبِّ إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لَكَ مَا فِي بَطْنِي مُحَرَّرًا فَتَقَبَّلْ مِنِّي إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ {35}

[Yusufali 3:35] Behold! a woman of 'Imran said: "O my Lord! I do dedicate unto Thee what is in my womb for Thy special service: So accept this of me: For Thou hearest and knowest all things."

_____________________________

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

31
When they said, 'We only worship idols out of our love for God, that they might bring us close to Him', the following was revealed: Say, O Muhammad (s), 'If you love God, follow me, and God will love you, meaning that He will reward you, and forgive you your sins; God is Forgiving, as regards the sins, committed previously, by one who [now] follows me; Merciful, to him.

32

Say, to them, 'Obey God, and the Messenger', as regards the [belief in the] Oneness of God which he enjoins upon you. But if they turn their backs, [if they] object to obedience, God loves not the disbelievers, meaning that He will chastise them (the [third person] pronominalisation ['they'] is replaced by the overt noun ['the disbelievers']).

33

Lo! God preferred, He has chosen, Adam and Noah and the House of Abraham and the House of 'Imrān, meaning [He preferred] their selves [sc. Abraham and 'Imrān], above the worlds, by making prophethood reside in [them and] their progeny:

34
the seed of one, offspring from, another, of them; God is Hearer, Knower.

35

Mention, when the wife of 'Imrān, Hanna, said, after she had reached old age and longed for a child, and supplicated to God and sensed that she was carrying child, 'O, Lord, I have vowed to, offer, You what is within my womb as a consecration, [one] liberated and delivered from the distractions of this world for the service of Your Holy House [in Jerusalem]. Accept this from me. Lo! It is You Who are the Hearer, of petition, the Knower, of intentions. 'Imrān died while she was still pregnant.
___________________________________________

AL IMRAN 26-30

2006-10-04T03:15:00.000+13:00

قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَاء وَتَنزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَاء وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَاء وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَاء بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ إِنَّكَ عَلَىَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ {26}

[Yusufali 3:26] Say: "O Allah! Lord of Power (And Rule), Thou givest power to whom Thou pleasest, and Thou strippest off power from whom Thou pleasest: Thou enduest with honour whom Thou pleasest, and Thou bringest low whom Thou pleasest: In Thy hand is all good. Verily, over all things Thou hast power.

تُولِجُ اللَّيْلَ فِي الْنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ النَّهَارَ فِي اللَّيْلِ وَتُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ الَمَيَّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَتَرْزُقُ مَن تَشَاء بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ {27}

[Yusufali 3:27] "Thou causest the night to gain on the day, and thou causest the day to gain on 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 pleasest, without measure."

لاَّ يَتَّخِذِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْكَافِرِينَ أَوْلِيَاء مِن دُوْنِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ فَلَيْسَ مِنَ اللّهِ فِي شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ أَن تَتَّقُواْ مِنْهُمْ تُقَاةً وَيُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللّهُ نَفْسَهُ وَإِلَى اللّهِ الْمَصِيرُ {28}

[Yusufali 3:28] Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except by way of precaution, that ye may Guard yourselves from them. But Allah cautions you (To remember) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah.

قُلْ إِن تُخْفُواْ مَا فِي صُدُورِكُمْ أَوْ تُبْدُوهُ يَعْلَمْهُ اللّهُ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأرْضِ وَاللّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ {29}

[Yusufali 3:29] Say: "Whether ye hide what is in your hearts or reveal it, Allah knows it all: He knows what is in the heavens, and what is on earth. And Allah has power over all things.

يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مُّحْضَرًا وَمَا عَمِلَتْ مِن سُوَءٍ تَوَدُّ لَوْ أَنَّ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَهُ أَمَدًا بَعِيدًا وَيُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللّهُ نَفْسَهُ وَاللّهُ رَؤُوفُ بِالْعِبَادِ {30}

[Yusufali 3:30] "On the Day when every soul will be confronted with all the good it has done, and all the evil it has done, it will wish there were a great distance between it and its evil. But Allah cautions you (To remember) Himself. And Allah is full of kindness to those that serve Him."
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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

When the Prophet (s) promised his community sovereignty over the lands of Persia and Byzantium, the hypocrites said, 'How preposterous!', and so the following was revealed, Say: 'O God, Master of the Kingdom, you give the Kingdom to whom You will, from among your creatures, and seize the Kingdom from whom You will; You exalt whom You will, by giving it [the kingdom] to him, and You abase whom You will, by seizing it from him; in Your hand, in Your power, is good, that is, as well as evil. You are Able to do all things.

You make the night to pass, to enter, into the day and You make the day to pass, to enter, into the night, each of them increasing by the amount by which the other decreases; You bring forth the living from the dead, such as humans and birds, from sperm-drops and eggs [respectively]; and You bring forth the dead, the sperm-drop and the egg, from the living, and You provide, with abundant provision, whom You will without reckoning'.

Let not the believers take the disbelievers as patrons, rather than, that is, instead of, the believers - for whoever does that, that is, [whoever] takes them as patrons, does not belong to, the religion of, God in anyway - unless you protect yourselves against them, as a safeguard (tuqātan, 'as a safeguard', is the verbal noun from taqiyyatan), that is to say, [unless] you fear something, in which case you may show patronage to them through words, but not in your hearts: this was before the hegemony of Islam and [the dispensation] applies to any individual residing in a land with no say in it. God warns you, He instills fear in you, of His Self, [warning] that He may be wrathful with you if you take them as patrons; and to God is the journey's end, the return, and He will requite you.

Say, to them: 'Whether you hide what is in your breasts, in your hearts, of patronage to them, or disclose it, manifest it, God knows it and, He, knows what is in the heavens and what is in the earth; and God is Able to do all things, and this includes punishing those who patronise them.

And remember, the day every soul shall find what it has done of good present before it, and what it has done of evil (the [last statement constitutes the] subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]), it will wish that between it and that there were a great distance, an extremely lengthy distance so that it [the evil] could never reach it. God warns you of His Self (this is repeated for emphasis), and God is Kind to His servants.

AL IMRAN 21-25

2006-10-03T03:15:00.000+13:00

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ النَّبِيِّينَ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ وَيَقْتُلُونَ الِّذِينَ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْقِسْطِ مِنَ النَّاسِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ {21}

[Yusufali 3:21] As to those who deny the Signs of Allah and in defiance of right, slay the prophets, and slay those who teach just dealing with mankind, announce to them a grievous penalty.

أُولَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن نَّاصِرِينَ {22}

[Yusufali 3:22] They are those whose works will bear no fruit in this world and in the Hereafter nor will they have anyone to help.

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوْتُواْ نَصِيبًا مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ يُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى كِتَابِ اللّهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّى فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ وَهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ {23}

[Yusufali 3:23] Hast thou not turned Thy vision to those who have been given a portion of the Book? They are invited to the Book of Allah, to settle their dispute, but a party of them Turn back and decline (The arbitration).

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ لَن تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلاَّ أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ وَغَرَّهُمْ فِي دِينِهِم مَّا كَانُواْ يَفْتَرُونَ {24}

[Yusufali 3:24] This because they say: "The Fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days": For their forgeries deceive them as to their own religion.

فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جَمَعْنَاهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ لاَّ رَيْبَ فِيهِ وَوُفِّيَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُونَ {25}

[Yusufali 3:25] But how (will they fare) when we gather them together against a day about which there is no doubt, and each soul will be paid out just what it has earned, without (favour or) injustice?

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

Those who disbelieve in the signs of God and slay (yaqtulūna, is also read as yuqātilūna, 'they fight against') the prophets without right, and slay those who enjoin to equity, to justice, and these are the Jews, who are reported to have killed forty three prophets and to have been forbidden this by a hundred and seventy devout worshippers among them, each of whom was killed immediately. So give them good tidings, let them know, of a painful chastisement. The use of 'good tidings' here is meant as a sarcastic ridicule of them (the fā' [of fa-bashshirhum, so give them good tidings] is considered part of the predicate of inna because its noun, that is, its relative clause, resembles a conditional [sc. in yakfurūna, 'if they disbelieve…', fa-bashshirhum, 'then, give them good tidings…']).

Those are the ones whose works, what good they did in the way of charity and kindness to kin, have failed, [whose works] are invalid, in this world and the Hereafter, and so they have nothing to reckon with, since these [works] are of no consequence; they have no helpers, [no] protectors from the chastisement.

Have you not seen those who were given a portion, a share, of the Book, the Torah, being called to the Book of God (yud'awna, 'being called', is a circumstantial qualifier), that it might decide between them, and then a party of them turned away, opposed? to the acceptance of its rulings. This was revealed concerning the Jews: two of them fornicated and they [the Jews] asked the Prophet (s) to adjudicate the case. He ruled that they be stoned, but they [the Jews] refused to do so. When the Torah was brought and consulted, the same verdict was found, and so the two were stoned, but they [the Jews] became wrathful.

That, turning away and rejection was, because they said, 'the Fire shall not touch us, except for a number of days', that is, for forty days [only], the length of time their forefathers worshipped the calf, after which it would end; and the lies they used to invent, in their saying this, have deluded them in their religion (wa-gharrahum fī dīnihim, 'it has deluded them in their religion', is semantically connected to mā kānū yaftarūna, 'the lies which they used to invent').

But how will it be, their predicament, when We gather them for a day, that is to say, on a day, of which there is no doubt, no uncertainty, that is, the Day of Resurrection; and every soul, from among the People of the Scripture and others, shall be paid in full, the requital of, what is has earned, [what] it has done of good or evil, and they, that is, people, shall not be wronged?, in that no good deed shall be diminished, and no evil deed shall be increased.

AL IMRAN 16-20

2006-10-02T03:14:00.001+13:00

الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا آمَنَّا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ {16}

[Yusufali 3:16] (Namely), those who say: "Our Lord! we have indeed believed: forgive us, then, our sins, and save us from the agony of the Fire;"-

الصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْمُنفِقِينَ وَالْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ بِالأَسْحَارِ {17}

[Yusufali 3:17] Those who show patience, Firmness and self-control; who are true (in word and deed); who worship devoutly; who spend (in the way of Allah); and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning.

شَهِدَ اللّهُ أَنَّهُ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ وَالْمَلاَئِكَةُ وَأُوْلُواْ الْعِلْمِ قَآئِمَاً بِالْقِسْطِ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ {18}

[Yusufali 3:18] There is no god but He: That is the witness of Allah, His angels, and those endued with knowledge, standing firm on justice. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Power, the Wise.

إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُ وَمَا اخْتَلَفَ الَّذِينَ أُوْتُواْ الْكِتَابَ إِلاَّ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءهُمُ الْعِلْمُ بَغْيًا بَيْنَهُمْ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ فَإِنَّ اللّهِ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ {19}

[Yusufali 3:19] The Religion before Allah is Islam (submission to His Will): Nor did the People of the Book dissent therefrom except through envy of each other, after knowledge had come to them. But if any deny the Signs of Allah, Allah is swift in calling to account.

فَإنْ حَآجُّوكَ فَقُلْ أَسْلَمْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلّهِ وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِ وَقُل لِّلَّذِينَ أُوْتُواْ الْكِتَابَ وَالأُمِّيِّينَ أَأَسْلَمْتُمْ فَإِنْ أَسْلَمُواْ فَقَدِ اهْتَدَواْ وَّإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَإِنَّمَا عَلَيْكَ الْبَلاَغُ وَاللّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِالْعِبَادِ {20}

[Yusufali 3:20] So if they dispute with thee, say: "I have submitted My whole self to Allah and so have those who follow me." And say to the People of the Book and to those who are unlearned: "Do ye (also) submit yourselves?" If they do, they are in right guidance, but if they turn back, Thy duty is to convey the Message; and in Allah's sight are (all) His servants.

*****

TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

Those (alladhīna is either an adjectival qualification of, or a substitution for, the previous alladhīna) who say: O, Our Lord, we believe, in You and in Your Prophet; so forgive us our sins, and guard us from the chastisement of the Fire.

The patient, in obedience and against disobedience (al-sābirīna, 'the patient', is an adjectival qualification [of alladhīna, 'those']) truthful, in their faith, obedient, compliant before God, expenders, of charity, imploring God's pardon, by saying, 'Lord, forgive us' at daybreak, in the last part of the night, singled out here for mention because it is the time of unawareness and of the joy of sleep.

God bears witness, [that is to say] He has made it clear to His creation through proofs and signs, that there is no god, none that is truly worshipped in existence, except Him, He has borne witness to this, and the angels [have also borne witness to this] by affirming it, and those of knowledge, from among the prophets and the believers, through [their] conviction and in words; upholding, constantly and uniquely maintaining His creations with justice (qā'iman, 'upholding', is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier and is governed by the import of the statement [implied to be something like] tafarrada, 'He alone is [upholding]…'); there is no god except Him (He has repeated it for emphasis); the Mighty, in His Kingdom, the Wise, in His actions.

Lo!, the religion with God, pleasing [to Him], is submission [to the One God], (al-islām), that is to say, the Divine Law with which the messengers were sent, founded upon the affirmation of God's Oneness (a variant reading [for inna, 'lo!'] has anna, 'that', as an inclusive substitution for annahu to the end [of that verse, sc. shahida Llāhu … anna l-dīna 'inda Llāhi l-islām, 'God bears witness that religion with God is Islām]). Those who were given the Scripture, the Jews and the Christians, differed, in religion, some affirming God's Oneness, others rejecting it, only after the knowledge, of Oneness, came to them through transgression, on the part of the disbelievers, among themselves. And whoever disbelieves in God's signs, God is swift at reckoning, that is, at requiting him.

So if they, the disbelievers, dispute with you, O Muhammad (s), concerning religion, say, to them: 'I have surrendered my countenance to God, [that is to say] I have submitted to Him, I, and whoever follows me' (wajh, 'countenance', is chosen here because of its noble character, for the other [parts of the body] will just as soon [surrender once the countenance has]); and say to those who have been given the Scripture, the Jews and the Christians, and to the uninstructed, the Arab idolaters: 'Have you submitted?', that is to say, 'Submit!' And so if they have submitted, they have been guided, from error, but if they turn their backs, to Islam, your duty is only to deliver, the Message; and God sees His servants, and so requites them for their deeds - this [statement] was [revealed] before the command to fight [them] had been revealed.

AL IMRAN 11-15

2006-10-02T03:02:00.000+13:00

كَدَأْبِ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا فَأَخَذَهُمُ اللّهُ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَاللّهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ {11}

[Yusufali 3:11] (Their plight will be) no better than that of the people of Pharaoh, and their predecessors: They denied our Signs, and Allah called them to account for their sins. For Allah is strict in punishment.

قُل لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ سَتُغْلَبُونَ وَتُحْشَرُونَ إِلَى جَهَنَّمَ وَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ {12}

[Yusufali 3:12] Say to those who reject Faith: "Soon will ye be vanquished and gathered together to Hell,-an evil bed indeed (to lie on)!

قَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ آيَةٌ فِي فِئَتَيْنِ الْتَقَتَا فِئَةٌ تُقَاتِلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَأُخْرَى كَافِرَةٌ يَرَوْنَهُم مِّثْلَيْهِمْ رَأْيَ الْعَيْنِ وَاللّهُ يُؤَيِّدُ بِنَصْرِهِ مَن يَشَاء إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَعِبْرَةً لَّأُوْلِي الأَبْصَارِ {13}

[Yusufali 3:13] "There has already been for you a Sign in the two armies that met (in combat): One was fighting in the cause of Allah, the other resisting Allah; these saw with their own eyes Twice their number. But Allah doth support with His aid whom He pleaseth. In this is a warning for such as have eyes to see."

زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَوَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاء وَالْبَنِينَ وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَالأَنْعَامِ وَالْحَرْثِ ذَلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَاللّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ {14}

[Yusufali 3:14] Fair in the eyes of men is the love of things they covet: Women and sons; Heaped-up hoards of gold and silver; horses branded (for blood and excellence); and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land. Such are the possessions of this world's life; but in nearness to Allah is the best of the goals (To return to).

قُلْ أَؤُنَبِّئُكُم بِخَيْرٍ مِّن ذَلِكُمْ لِلَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَأَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ وَرِضْوَانٌ مِّنَ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِالْعِبَادِ {15}

[Yusufali 3:15] Say: Shall I give you glad tidings of things Far better than those? For the righteous are Gardens in nearness to their Lord, with rivers flowing beneath; therein is their eternal home; with companions pure (and holy); and the good pleasure of Allah. For in Allah's sight are (all) His servants,-

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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

Their way is, as the way, as the habit, of Pharaoh's folk, and the, communities of people before them, such as 'ād and Thamūd, who denied Our signs; God seized them, He destroyed them, for their sins (this statement explains the previous one); God is severe in retribution.

When the Prophet (s) enjoined the Jews to enter into Islam, after his return from Badr, they said, 'Do not fool yourself just because you killed a few men of Quraysh, inexperienced and knowing nothing about fighting', whereupon the following was revealed: Say, O Muhammad (s), to the disbelievers, from among the Jews, 'You shall be vanquished (sa-tughlabūn, or [read] sa-yughlabūn, 'they shall be vanquished'), in this world, through being killed or taken captive and made to pay the jizya (which actually took place), and mustered, ([read] in both ways [wa-tuhsharūna, 'you will be mustered', or wa-yuhsharūna, 'they will be mustered']), in the Hereafter, to Hell, which you shall enter - an evil cradling!', [an evil] resting place.

There has already been a sign, an example (the verb qad kāna, 'there has been', is used to separate [the statement to follow from the previous one]), for you in two hosts, two parties, that met, one another in battle, on the day of Badr; one company fighting in the way of God, in obedience to Him, namely, the Prophet and his Companions, who numbered three hundred and thirteen men, most of them on foot, with two horses, six plates of armour and eight swords; and another unbelieving; they, the disbelievers, numbering almost a thousand, saw them, the Muslims, twice the like of them, that is, more numerous than themselves, as the eye sees, in manifest vision, witnessing; and God granted them victory despite their fewer number; for God confirms, He strengthens, with His help whom He will, granting him victory. Surely in that, which is mentioned, is a lesson for people of vision, those who are discerning: so will you not be warned by this and become believers?

Beautified for mankind is love of lusts, that which the self lusts after and calls for, beautified by satan, or by God as a test - of women, children, stored-up heaps of gold and silver, horses of mark, fine [horses], cattle, namely, camels, cows and sheep, and tillage, the cultivation of land. That, which is mentioned, is the comfort of the life of this world, enjoyed while it lasts, but then perishes; but God - with Him is the more excellent abode, place of return, which is Paradise, and for this reason one should desire none other than this [abode].

Say, O Muhammad (s) to your people, 'Shall I tell you, shall I inform you, of something better than that?', [that] which has been mentioned of lusts (this interrogative is meant as an affirmative). For those that are fearful, of idolatry, with their Lord ('inda rabbihim is the predicate, the subject being [the following jannātun…]') are Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding therein, decreed for them [therein] is eternal life, when they enter it, and spouses purified, of menstruation and other impurities, and beatitude (read ridwān or rudwān, meaning 'much pleasure') from God; and God is Seer, knower, of His servants, requiting each of them according to his deeds.

AL IMRAN 6-10

2006-10-01T16:13:00.000+13:00

هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَوِّرُكُمْ فِي الأَرْحَامِ كَيْفَ يَشَاء لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ {6}

[Yusufali 3:6] He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He pleases. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

هُوَ الَّذِيَ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُّحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ في قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ابْتِغَاء الْفِتْنَةِ وَابْتِغَاء تَأْوِيلِهِ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ اللّهُ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلاَّ أُوْلُواْ الألْبَابِ {7}

[Yusufali 3:7] He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord:" and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding.

رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ {8}

[Yusufali 3:8] "Our Lord!" (they say), "Let not our hearts deviate now after Thou hast guided us, but grant us mercy from Thine own Presence; for Thou art the Grantor of bounties without measure.

رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ جَامِعُ النَّاسِ لِيَوْمٍ لاَّ رَيْبَ فِيهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ {9}

[Yusufali 3:9] "Our Lord! Thou art He that will gather mankind Together against a day about which there is no doubt; for Allah never fails in His promise."

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَن تُغْنِيَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَلاَ أَوْلاَدُهُم مِّنَ اللّهِ شَيْئًا وَأُولَـئِكَ هُمْ وَقُودُ النَّارِ {10}

[Yusufali 3:10] Those who reject Faith,- neither their possessions nor their (numerous) progeny will avail them aught against Allah: They are themselves but fuel for the Fire.
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TAFSEER AL JALALAYN

He it is Who forms you in the wombs as He will, as males or females, white, black or otherwise. There is no god except Him, the Mighty, in His Kingdom, the Wise, in His actions.

He it is Who revealed to you the Book, wherein are verses [that are] clear, lucid in proof, forming the Mother Book, the original basis for rulings, and others allegorical, whose meanings are not known, such as the opening verses of some sūras. He [God] refers to the whole [Qur'ān] as: 1) 'clear' [muhkam] where He says [A Book] whose verses have been made clear [Q. 11:1], meaning that it contains no imperfections; and as 2) 'allegorical' [mutashābih], where He says A Book consimilar [Q. 39:23], meaning that its parts resemble each other in terms of beauty and veracity. As for those in whose hearts is deviation, inclination away from truth, they follow the allegorical part, desiring sedition, among the ignorant of them, throwing them into specious arguments and confusion, and desiring its interpretation, its explanation, and none knows its interpretation, its explanation, save God, Him alone. And those firmly rooted, established and capable, in knowledge (al-rāsikhūna fī'l-'ilm is the subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]) say, 'We believe in it, the allegorical part, that it is from God, and we do not know its meaning; all, of the clear and the allegorical, is from our Lord'; yet none remembers (yadhdhakkar, the initial tā' [of yatadhakkar] has been assimilated with the dhāl), that is, none is admonished, but people of pith, possessors of intellect, who, when they see those following that [allegorical part only], also say:

Our Lord, do not cause our hearts to deviate, do not cause them to incline away from the truth, in [their] desire to interpret it, such as is inappropriate for us - as You caused the hearts of those [others] to deviate - after You have guided us, [after] You have shown us the way to it; and give us mercy from You, as a strengthening; You are the Bestower.

Our Lord, You shall gather mankind for a day, that is, on a day, of which there is no doubt, no uncertainty, that is, the Day of Resurrection, when You will requite them for their deeds as You had promised; verily God will not fail the tryst, His promise of the Upraising: there is a shift of address here from the second [to the third] person and these [last words] could constitute God's speech. The purpose of their supplication in this way is to show that their concern is with the matter of the Hereafter, and for this reason they ask [God] for adherence to the path of guidance, in order to attain its reward. The two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim] reported that 'ā'isha, may God be pleased with her, said, 'The Messenger of God (s) recited this verse: It is He Who revealed to you the Book, wherein are verses clear [to the end of] the verse, and said, “When you see those pursuing the allegorical parts, [know that] these are the ones God refers to [in this verse], so beware of them” '. Al-Tabarānī reported in his al-Kabīr that Abū Mūsā al-Ash'arī heard the Prophet (s) say, 'I fear nothing for my community except three faults', and he mentioned that one of these would be when the Book is opened in front of them, and the believer will desire to interpret it, and yet none knows its interpretation, save God; and those firmly rooted in knowledge say, 'We believe in it, all is from our Lord; yet none remembers but people of pith' [Q. 3:7] [end of the] hadīth.

As for the disbelievers, neither their riches nor their children will avail, will protect, them against God, that is, [against] His chastisement; those - they shall be fuel for the Fire, [they shall constitute] what the Fire will be fuelled by (read waqūd [as opposed to wuqūd], 'fuel').

AL IMRAN 1-5

2006-10-01T15:16:00.000+13:00

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

الم {1}

[Yusufali 3:1] A. L. M.

اللّهُ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ {2}

[Yusufali 3:2] Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-Subsisting, Eternal.

نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقاً لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَأَنزَلَ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنجِيلَ {3}

[Yusufali 3:3] It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong).

مِن قَبْلُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَأَنزَلَ الْفُرْقَانَ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِآيَاتِ اللّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَاللّهُ عَزِيزٌ ذُو انتِقَامٍ {4}

[Yusufali 3:4] Then those who reject Faith in the Signs of Allah will suffer the severest penalty, and Allah is Exalted in Might, Lord of Retribution.

إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَخْفَىَ عَلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ فِي الأَرْضِ وَلاَ فِي السَّمَاء {5}

[Yusufali 3:5] From Allah, verily nothing is hidden on earth or in the heavens.

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Tafseer Al Jalalayn

Alif Lām Mīm: God knows best what He means by these [letters].

God! There is no god except Him, the Living, the Eternal.

He has revealed to you, O Muhammad (s), the Book, the Qur'ān, enveloped, by the truth, with veracity, in what it announces, confirming what was before it, of Books; and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel

before, that is to say, before revealing it [the Qur'ān], as guidance (hudan, a circumstantial qualifier meaning, hādiyīn, 'guides from error') to people, to those who followed these two [Books] (He uses the word anzala for the revelation of these two, and nazzala for that of the Qur'ān, for the latter entails repetition, whereas the two Books were revealed in one instance); and He revealed the Criterion (al-furqān), meaning the Scriptures that discriminate between truth and falsehood. He mentions this [Criterion] after He has mentioned the three Scriptures so that it encompasses all [revealed Scriptures] besides these. As for those who disbelieve in God's signs, the Qur'ān or any other [revelation], for them awaits a terrible chastisement; God is Mighty, victorious in His affair, so that nothing can prevent Him from effecting His promise and His threat; Lord of Retribution, with a severe punishment for those that disobeyed Him, the like of which none can do.

Nothing, no existent, whatever is hidden in heaven and earth from God, on account of His knowledge of universals and particulars. God specifies them [heaven and earth] because sensory perception does not go beyond these.