The Family of ‘Imran (Al-‘Imran) آل عمران 139–143
139
وَلاَ تَهِنُوا وَلاَ تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنتُمُ الأَعْلَوْنَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
And do not become faint of heart, nor grieve—you will have the upper hand, if you are believers—
140
إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ وَتِلْكَ الأيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنكُمْ شُهَدَاء وَاللّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ
if you have suffered a wound, they too have suffered a similar wound. We bring these days to men by turns, so that God may know those who believe, and choose witnesses from among you; and God does not love the unjust,
141
وَلِيُمَحِّصَ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَيَمْحَقَ الْكَافِرِينَ
so that God may purge those who believe and wipe out those who deny the truth.
142
أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُواْ مِنكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ
Do you suppose that you would enter the Garden, without God knowing those among you who would strive hard for His cause and endure with fortitude?
143
وَلَقَدْ كُنتُمْ تَمَنَّوْنَ الْمَوْتَ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَلْقَوْهُ فَقَدْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ
You were longing for death, before you met it. Now you have seen it with your own eyes.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) Accepting faith amounts to making a pledge to lead one’s life according to God’s commandments. God has promised the believers success in this world and Paradise in the next. Besides this, He will confer upon those who have suffered rejection in this world, the foremost honour of being chosen as witnesses in His court. And it will be on the basis of their evidence that the eternal fate of all human beings will be decided. But one will not receive this status merely on the strength of verbal claims to have embraced the faith; each individual will have necessarily to prove his genuineness in terms of the patience he has exercised on earth and his struggle for the cause of God. Difficulties and obstacles will be placed by others in the path of the believer in both cases, that is, whether he wants to base his personal life on faith and belief or stand before others as a witness of the religion of God. Persevering in God’s cause while facing all odds and difficulties along the way is a form of struggle, or jihad, while standing by one’s pledges and never taking an emotional step are a form of patience, or sabr. Whichever group struggles while remaining patient and peaceful will be successful in this world of God as well as in the Hereafter. It is people such as these who are deserving candidates for Paradise.