chapter 3 sura In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful. 1. Alif, Lam, Meem. 2. God, there is no god but He, the Living, the Eternal. 3. He sent down to you the Book with the Truth, confirming what came before it; and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel. 4. Aforetime, as guidance for mankind; and He sent down the Criterion. Those who have rejected God’s signs will have a severe punishment. God is Mighty, Able to take revenge. 5. Nothing is hidden from God, on earth or in the heaven. 6. It is He who forms you in the wombs as He wills. There is no god except He, the Almighty, the Wise. 7. It is He who revealed to you the Book. Some of its verses are definitive; they are the foundation of the Book, and others are unspecific. As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow the unspecific part, seeking dissent, and seeking to derive an interpretation. But none knows its interpretation except God and those firmly rooted in knowledge say, “We believe in it; all is from our Lord.” But none recollects except those with understanding. 8. “Our Lord, do not cause our hearts to swerve after You have guided us, and bestow on us mercy from Your presence; You are the Giver.” 9. “Our Lord, You will gather the people for a Day in which there is no doubt.” God will never break His promise. 10. As for those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them anything against God. These will be fuel for the Fire. 11. Like the behavior of Pharaoh’s people and those before them. They rejected Our signs, so God seized them for their sins. God is Strict in retribution. 12. Say to those who disbelieve, “You will be defeated, and rounded up into Hell—an awful resting-place.” 13. There was a sign for you in the two parties that met. One party fighting in the way of God, and the other was disbelieving. They saw them with their own eyes twice their number. But God supports with His help whomever He wills. In that is a lesson for those with insight. 14. Adorned for the people is the love of desires, such as women, and children, and piles upon piles of gold and silver, and branded horses, and livestock, and fields. These are the conveniences of the worldly life, but with God lies the finest resort. 15. Say, “Shall I inform you of something better than that? For those who are righteous, with their Lord are Gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they will remain forever, and purified spouses, and acceptance from God.” God is Observant of the servants. 16. Those who say, “Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us our sins, and save us from the suffering of the Fire.” 17. The patient, and the truthful, and the reverent, and the charitable, and the seekers of forgiveness at dawn. 18. God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels, and those endowed with knowledge—upholding justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise. 19. Religion with God is Islam. Those to whom the Scripture was given differed only after knowledge came to them, out of envy among themselves. Whoever rejects the signs of God—God is quick to take account. 20. If they argue with you, say, “I have surrendered myself to God, and those who follow me.” And say to those who were given the Scripture, and to the unlearned, “Have you surrendered?” If they have surrendered, then they are guided; but if they turn away, then your duty is to convey. God is Seeing of the servants. 21. As for those who defy God’s revelations, and kill the prophets unjustly, and kill those who advocate justice among the people—promise them a painful retribution. 22. They are those whose deeds will come to nothing, in this world and in the Hereafter; and they will have no saviors. 23. Have you not considered those who were given a share of the Scripture, as they were called to the Scripture of God to arbitrate between them; then some of them turned back, and declined? 24. That is because they said, “The Fire will not touch us except for a limited number of days.” They have been misled in their religion by the lies they fabricated. 25. How about when We gather them for a Day in which there is no doubt, and each soul will be paid in full for what it has earned, and they will not be wronged? 26. Say, “O God, Owner of Sovereignty. You grant sovereignty to whom You will, and You strip sovereignty from whom you will. You honor whom you will, and You humiliate whom you will. In Your hand is all goodness. You are Capable of all things.” 27. “You merge the night into the day, and You merge the day into the night; and you bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living; and You provide for whom you will without measure.” 28. Believers are not to take disbelievers for friends instead of believers. Whoever does that has nothing to do with God, unless it is to protect your own selves against them. God warns you to beware of Him. To God is the destiny. 29. Say, “Whether you conceal what is in your hearts, or disclose it, God knows it.” He knows everything in the heavens and the earth. God is Powerful over everything. 30. On the Day when every soul finds all the good it has done presented. And as for the evil it has done, it will wish there were a great distance between them. God cautions you of Himself. God is Kind towards the servants. 31. Say, “If you love God, then follow me, and God will love you, and will forgive you your sins.” God is Forgiving and Merciful. 32. Say, “Obey God and the Messenger.” But if they turn away—God does not love the faithless. 33. God chose Adam, and Noah, and the family of Abraham, and the family of Imran, over all mankind. 34. Offspring one of the other. God is Hearer and Knower. 35. The wife of Imran said, “My Lord, I have vowed to You what is in my womb, dedicated, so accept from me; You are the Hearer and Knower.” 36. And when she delivered her, she said, “My Lord, I have delivered a female,” and God was well aware of what she has delivered, “and the male is not like the female, and I have named her Mary, and have commended her and her descendants to Your protection, from Satan the outcast.” 37. Her Lord accepted her with a gracious reception, and brought her a beautiful upbringing, and entrusted her to the care of Zechariah. Whenever Zechariah entered upon her in the sanctuary, he found her with provision. He said, “O Mary, where did you get this from?” She said, “It is from God; God provides to whom He wills without reckoning.” 38. Thereupon Zechariah prayed to his Lord; he said, “My Lord, bestow on me good offspring from Your presence; You are the Hearer of Prayers.” 39. Then the angels called out to him, as he stood praying in the sanctuary: “God gives you good news of John; confirming a Word from God, and honorable, and moral, and a prophet; one of the upright.” 40. He said, “My Lord, how will I have a son, when old age has overtaken me, and my wife is barren?” He said, “Even so, God does whatever He wills.”