3. Sura al-Imran, Medina 89 [3H, 10H]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ...

3: 195. And their Lord hath accepted of them, and answered them:

...أَنِّي لاَ أُضِيعُ عَمَلَ عَامِلٍ مِّنكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَى بَعْضُكُم مِّن بَعْضٍ...

"Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female:

ye are members, one of another;

C500. In Islam the equal status of the sexes is not only recognised but insisted on. If sex distinction, which is a distinction in nature, does not count in spiritual matters, still less of course would count artificial distinctions, such as rank, wealth, position, race, colour, birth, etc,

...فَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُواْ وَأُخْرِجُواْ مِن دِيَارِهِمْ وَأُوذُواْ فِي سَبِيلِي وَقَاتَلُواْ وَقُتِلُواْ...

those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in My cause, or fought or been slain,

...لأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلأُدْخِلَنَّهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ ...

verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into gardens with rivers flowing beneath;

... ثَوَابًا مِّن عِندِ اللّهِ...

a reward from the presence of Allah,

C501. Here, and in 3:198 below, and in many places elsewhere, stress is laid on the fact that whatever gift, or bliss will come to the righteous, its chief merit will be that it proceeds from Allah Himself.

"Nearness to Allah" expresses it better than any other symbol.

...وَاللّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الثَّوَابِ ﴿١٩٥﴾

and from His presence is the best of rewards."

Asad’s version

3: 195 And thus does their Sustainer answer their prayer: " I shall not lose sight of the labor of any of you who labors (in My wau), be it man or woman: each of you is an issue of the other, ……driven from homeland…suffer hurt in My cause…and are slain……….. For with God is the most beauteous of rewards"