Surah 3. Al-i'Imran, Ayah 179
| مَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيَذَرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَىٰ مَا أَنْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّىٰ يَمِيزَ الْخَبِيثَ مِنَ الطَّيِّبِ ۗ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُطْلِعَكُمْ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَجْتَبِي مِنْ رُسُلِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۖ فَآمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ۚ وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَلَكُمْ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ |
| Transliteration | : | maa kaana 'allaah li- yadhar al- mu'minen calaa maa 'antum calay -hi h.attaa yamez al- khabeth min at.- t.ayyib wa- maa kaana 'allaah li- yut.lic -kum calaa al- ghayb wa- laakin 'allaah yajtabe min rusul -hi man yashaa' fa- 'aamino bi- 'allaah wa- rusul -hi wa- 'in tu'mino wa- tattaqo fa- la- -kum 'ajr caz.em |
| Pickthall | : | It is not (the purpose) of Allah to leave you in your present state till He shall separate the wicked from the good. And it is not (the purpose of) Allah to let you know the unseen. But Allah chooseth of His messengers whom He will, (to receive knowledge thereof.) So believe in Allah and His messengers. If ye believe and ward off (evil), yours will be a vast reward. |
| Asad | : | It is not God's will [O you who deny the truth] to abandon the believers to your way of life:136 [and] to that end He will set apart the bad from the good. And it is not God's will to give you insight into that which is beyond the reach of human perception: but [to that end] God elects whomsoever He wills from among His apostles.137 Believe, then, in God and His apostles; for if you believe and are conscious of Him, a magnificent requital awaits you. |
| Malik | : | Allah will not leave the believers in their present condition; you are in this condition only until He separates the Evil from the Good. Allah will not do this by disclosing to you the secrets of the unseen. As for disclosing the unseen, Allah chooses those of his Rasools whom He pleases. Therefore, believe in Allah and His Rasool. If you have faith and guard yourselves against evil, you shall have a great reward. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | 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 Apostles (for the purpose) whom He pleases. So believe in Allah and His Apostles: and if ye believe and do right ye have a reward without measure. 481 482 |
Note - 136Some commentators (e.g., Razi) assume that the expression
ma antum 'alayhi (lit., "that upon which you are")
denotes here "the condition in which you are" - i.e., the
state of weakness and confusion in which the Muslim
community found itself after the battle of Uhud - and
that, therefore, this passage is addressed to the
believers. This interpretation, however, is not
plausible. Apart from the fact that the believers are
here referred to in the third person. while ma antum
'alayhi is in the second person plural, the latter
expression denotes almost invariably, both in the Qur'an
and in the Traditions, people's mode of life and beliefs.
Moreover, we have reliable reports to the effect that Ibn
'Abbas, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak, Muqatil and Al-Kalbi
unhesitatingly declared that the people addressed here
are "those who deny the truth" to whom the preceding
passages refer (see Tabari's and Baghawi's commentaries
on this verse). Read in this sense, the above passage
implies that the believers would, in time, differ from
the unbelievers not only in their convictions but also in
their social aims and their manner of living.
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Note - 137I.e., it is through these apostles that God vouchsafes to
man a partial glimpse of the reality of which He alone
has full knowledge.
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Note - 481The testing of good men by calamities and evil men by
leaving them in the enjoyment of good things is part of
the trials of Allah, in which some freedom of choice is
left to man. The psychological and subjective test is
unfailing, and the separation is effected partly by the
operation of the human wills, to which some freedom is
allowed. But it must be effected, if only in the
interests of the good.
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Note - 482Man in his weak state would be most miserable if he could
see the secrets of the Future or the secrets of the
Unseen. But things are revealed to him from time to time
as may be expedient for him, by Messengers chosen for the
purpose. Our duty is to hold fast by faith and lead a
good life.
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Some commentators (e.g., Razi) assume that the expression ma antum 'alayhi (lit., "that upon which you are") denotes here "the condition in which you are" - i.e., the state of weakness and confusion in which the Muslim community found itself after the battle of Uhud - and that, therefore, this passage is addressed to the believers. This interpretation, however, is not plausible. Apart from the fact that the believers are here referred to in the third person. while ma antum 'alayhi is in the second person plural, the latter expression denotes almost invariably, both in the Qur'an and in the Traditions, people's mode of life and beliefs. Moreover, we have reliable reports to the effect that Ibn 'Abbas, Qatadah, Ad-Dahhak, Muqatil and Al-Kalbi unhesitatingly declared that the people addressed here are "those who deny the truth" to whom the preceding passages refer (see Tabari's and Baghawi's commentaries on this verse). Read in this sense, the above passage implies that the believers would, in time, differ from the unbelievers not only in their convictions but also in their social aims and their manner of living. |
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The testing of good men by calamities and evil men by leaving them in the enjoyment of good things is part of the trials of Allah, in which some freedom of choice is left to man. The psychological and subjective test is unfailing, and the separation is effected partly by the operation of the human wills, to which some freedom is allowed. But it must be effected, if only in the interests of the good. |
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Man in his weak state would be most miserable if he could see the secrets of the Future or the secrets of the Unseen. But things are revealed to him from time to time as may be expedient for him, by Messengers chosen for the purpose. Our duty is to hold fast by faith and lead a good life. |
