| THE MESSAGE OF THE QUR'AN: 3/184 TO 195 The Message of The Quran translated and explained by Muhammad Asad
3:184 And if they give thee the lie - even so, before thy time, have [other] apostles been given the lie when they came with all evidence of the truth, and with books of divine wisdom, and with lightgiving revelation. 3:185 Every human being is bound to taste death: but only on the Day of Resurrection will you be requited in full [for whatever you have done] - whereupon he that shall be drawn away from the fire and brought into paradise will indeed have gained a triumph: for the life of this world is nothing but an enjoyment of self-delusion. 3:186 You shall most certainly be tried in your possessions and in your persons; and indeed you shall hear many hurtful things from those to whom revelation was granted before your time, as well as from those who have come to ascribe divinity to other beings beside God. But if you remain patient in adversity and conscious of Him - this, behold, is something to set one's heart upon. 3:187 AND LO, God accepted a solemn pledge from those who were granted earlier revelation [when He bade them]: "Make it known unto mankind, and do not conceal it!" 143 But they cast this [pledge] behind their backs, and bartered it away for a trifling gain: and how evil was their bargain! 144 3:188 Think not that those who exult in what they have thus contrived, and who love to be praised for what they have not done145 - think not that they will escape suffering: for grievous suffering does await them [in the life to come]. 143 This connects with verses 183-184, where the Jews are spoken of as refusing to accept the message of the Qur'an. The implication of verse 187 above is that the advent of the Prophet Muhammad was predicted in both the Old and New Testaments, and that the followers of the Bible had been called upon to spread this prophecy and not - as they actually have done - to suppress it. 144 Lit., "that which they are buying" - an allusion to the belief of the Jews that they are "God's chosen people", and to the conviction of the Christians that their belief in Jesus' "vicarious atonement" automatically assures to them salvation: the "bargain" being, in both cases, an illusion of immunity in the life to come. 145 I.e., they have not, in spite of all their claims, preserved the integrity of the Bible and of Abraham's faith (Razi). 3:189 AND UNTO GOD belongs the dominion over the heavens and the earth: and God has the power to will anything. 3:190 Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are indeed messages for all who are endowed with insight, (3:191) [and] who remember God when they stand, and when they sit, and when they lie down to sleep, 146 and [thus] reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: "O our Sustainer! Thou hast not created [aught of] this without meaning and purpose. 147 Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! Keep us safe, then, from suffering through fire! 3:192 "O our Sustainer! Whomsoever Thou shalt commit to the fire, him, verily, wilt Thou have brought to disgrace [in this world]; 148 and such evildoers will have none to succour them. 3:193 "O our Sustainer! Behold, we heard a voice149 call [us] unto faith, 'Believe in your Sustainer!' - and so we came to believe. O our Sustainer! Forgive us, then, our sins, and efface our bad deeds; and let us die the death of the truly virtuous! 3:194 "And, O our Sustainer, grant us that which Thou hast promised us through Thy apostles, and disgrace us not on Resurrection Day! Verily, Thou never failest to fulfil Thy promise!"
3:195 And thus does their Sustainer answer their prayer: "I shall not lose sight of the labour of any of you who labours [in My way], be it man or woman: each of you is an issue of the other. 150 Hence, as for those who forsake the domain of evil, 151 and are driven from their homelands, and suffer hurt in My cause, and fight [for it], and are slain - I shall most certainly efface their bad deeds, and shall most certainly bring them into gardens through which running waters flow, as a reward from God: for with God is the most beauteous of rewards." 146 Lit., "and [lying] on their sides". 147 Lit., "in vain" (batilan): see note 11 on 10:5. 148 I.e., the suffering which a sinner will have to undergo in the life to come will be a consequence of the spiritual disgrace which he has already brought upon himself by his actions in this world. 149 Lit., "a caller". 150 I.e., "you all are members of one and the same human race, and therefore equal to one another". 151 See surah 2, note 203, and surah 4, note 124.
QUALITY BEFORE QUANTITY:
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