3. Sura al-Imran

Medina 89 [200 verses]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

مَّا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيَذَرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَى مَآ أَنتُمْ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّىَ يَمِيزَ الْخَبِيثَ مِنَ الطَّيِّبِ...

3: 179. Allah will not leave the believers in the state in which ye are now, until He separates what is evil from what is good.

C481. 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.

...وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيُطْلِعَكُمْ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ ...

Nor will He disclose to you the secrets of the Unseen.

C482. 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.

... وَلَكِنَّ اللّهَ يَجْتَبِي مِن رُّسُلِهِ مَن يَشَاء...

But He chooses of His Messengers (for the purpose) whom He pleases.

...فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ...

So believe in Allah and His Messengers:

...وَإِن تُؤْمِنُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ فَلَكُمْ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ ﴿١٧٩﴾

and if ye believe and do right, ye have a reward without measure.

Asad’s Version:

3:179 It is not God's will to abandon the believers to your way of life{ or the condition in which you are}: 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 reach of human perception:

But (to that end) God elects whosoever He wills from among His apostles.

Believe, then, in God and His apostles; for if you believe and are conscious of Him, a magnificent requital awaits you. Asad, see notes