Surah 3. Aal-Imran

Alif. Lam. Mim.¹

  - Mohammad Asad

See Appendix II.

Alif Lam M'im

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Alif-Lãm-Mĩm.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Alif. Lam. Mim.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

A.L.M. ³⁴²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See note to ii. 1.

GOD - there is no deity save Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All Being!

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah! There is no god but Him; the Living, the Eternal.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Allah! There is no god 'worthy of worship' except Him- the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Allah! There is no God save Him, the Alive, the Eternal.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Allah! there is no god but He the Living the Self-Subsisting Eternal. ³⁴³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. ii. 255.

Step by step has He bestowed upon thee from on high this divine writ,² setting forth the truth which confirms whatever there still remains [of earlier revelations]:³ for it is He who has bestowed from on high the Torah and the Gospel

  - Mohammad Asad

The gradualness of the Qur'anic revelation is stressed here by means of the grammatical form nazzala.

Most of the commentators are of the opinion that ma bayna yadayhi - lit., "that which is between its hands" - denotes here "the revelations which came before it", i.e., before the Qur'an. This interpretation is not, however, entirely convincing. Although there is not the least doubt that in this context the pronominal ma refers to earlier revelations, and particularly the Bible (as is evident from the parallel use of the above expression in other Qur'anic passages), the idiomatic phrase ma bayna yadayhi does not, in itself, mean "that which came before it" - i.e., in time - but, rather (as pointed out by me in surah {2}, note [247]), "that which lies open before it". Since, however, the pronoun "it" relates here to the Qur'an, the metaphorical expression "between its hands" or "before it" cannot possibly refer to "knowledge" (as it does in 2:255 ), but must obviously refer to an objective reality with which the Qur'an is "confronted": that is, something that was coexistent in time with the revelation of the Qur'an. Now this, taken together (a) with the fact - frequently stressed in the Qur'an and since established by objective scholarship - that in the course of the millennia the Bible has been subjected to considerable and often arbitrary alteration, and (b) with the fact that many of the laws enunciated in the Qur'an differ from the laws of the Bible, brings us forcibly to the conclusion that the "confirmation" of the latter by the Qur'an can refer only to the basic truths still discernible in the Bible, and not to its time-bound legislation or to its present text - in other words, a confirmation of whatever was extant of its basic teachings at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an: and it is this that the phrase ma bayna yadayhi expresses in this context as well as in 5:46 and {48} or in 61:6 (where it refers to Jesus' confirming the truth of "whatever there still remained [i.e., in his lifetime] of the Torah").

He has revealed to you this Book with the Truth, confirming the scripture which preceded it, as He revealed the Taurat (Torah) and Injeel (Gospel),

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He has revealed to you 'O Prophet' the Book in truth, confirming what came before it, as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel

  - Mustafa Khattab

He hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture with truth, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, even as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step) in truth the Book confirming what went before it; and He sent down 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). ^{344 345}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In some editions the break between verses 3 and 4 occurs here in the middle of the sentence, but in the edition of Hafiz Uthmqan, followed by the Egyptian Concordance Fath-ur-Rahman, the break occurs at the word Furqan. In verse-divisions our classicists have mainly folloved rhythm. As the word Furqan from this point of view is parallel to the word Intiqam, which ends the next verse. I have accepted the verse-division at Furqan as more in consonance with Quranic rhythm. It makes no real difference to the numbering of the verses, as there is only a question of whether one line should go into verse 3 or verse 4.

Criterion: Furqan: for meaning see ii. 53 n. 68.

aforetime, as a guidance unto mankind, and it is He who has bestowed [upon man] the standard by which to discern the true from the false.⁴ Behold, as for those who are bent on denying God's messages - grievous suffering awaits them: for God is almighty, an avenger of evil.

  - Mohammad Asad

It is to be borne in mind that the Gospel frequently mentioned in the Qur'an is not identical with what is known today as the Four Gospels, but refers to an original, since lost, revelation bestowed upon Jesus and known to his contemporaries under its Greek name of Evangelion ("Good Tiding"), on which the Arabicized form Injil is based. It was probably the source from which the Synoptic Gospels derived much of their material and some of the teachings attributed to Jesus. The fact of its having been lost and forgotten is alluded to in the Qur'an in 5:14 . Regarding my rendering of al-furqan as "the standard by which to discern the true from the false", see also note [38] on the identical phrase occurring in 2:53 .

before this, as a guidance for mankind and also revealed this Al-Furqan (criterion for judgment between right and wrong). Surely those who reject Allah's revelations will be sternly punished; Allah is Mighty, capable of retribution.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

previously, as a guide for people, and 'also' revealed the Standard 'to distinguish between right and wrong'.¹ Surely those who reject Allah's revelations will suffer a severe torment. For Allah is Almighty, capable of punishment.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The Standard (Al-Furqân) is one of the names of the Quran.

Aforetime, for a guidance to mankind; and hath revealed the Criterion (of right and wrong). Lo! those who disbelieve the revelations of Allah, theirs will be a heavy doom. Allah is Mighty, Able to Requite (the wrong).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Then those who reject Faith in the Signs of Allah will suffer the severest penalty and Allah is Exalted in Might Lord of Retribution.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Verily, nothing on earth or in the heavens is hidden from God.

  - Mohammad Asad

For sure nothing in the Earth or in the Heavens is hidden from Allah.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Surely nothing on earth or in the heavens is hidden from Allah.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! nothing in the earth or in the heavens is hidden from Allah.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

From Allah verily nothing is hidden on earth or in the heavens.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali