The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

3: 154 The Family of Imran 45
have been and gone. If he died or was killed, a would you revert to
your old ways? If anyone did so, he would not harm God in the least.
God will reward the grateful. 145 No soul may die except with God’s
permission at a predestined time. If anyone strives for the rewards of
this world, We will give him some of them. If anyone strives for the
rewards of the Hereafter, We will give him some of them: We will
reward the grateful. 146 Many prophets have fought, with large bands
of godly men alongside them who, in the face of their sufferings for
God’s cause, did not lose heart or weaken or surrender: God loves
those who are steadfast. 147 All they said was, ‘Our Lord, forgive us
our sins and our excesses. Make our feet firm, and give us help
against the disbelievers,’ 148 and so God gave them both the rewards
of this world and the excellent rewards of the Hereafter: God loves
those who do good.
149 You who believe, if you obey the disbelievers, they will make
you revert to your old ways and you will turn into losers. 150 No
indeed! It is God who is your protector: He is the best of helpers.
151 We will strike panic into the disbelievers’ hearts because they
attribute partners to God although He has sent no authority for this:
their shelter will be the Fire – how miserable is the home of the
evildoers! 152 God fulfilled His promise to you: you were routing
them, with His permission, but then you faltered, disputed the
order, and disobeyed, once He had brought you within sight of your
goal b – some of you desire the gains of this world and others desire
the world to come – and then He prevented you from [defeating]
them as a punishment. He has now forgiven you: God is most gracious
to the believers. 153 You fled without looking back while the
Messenger was calling out to you from behind, and God rewarded
you with sorrow for sorrow. [He has now forgiven you] so that you
may not grieve for what you missed or for what happened to you.
God is well aware of everything you do. 154 After sorrow, He caused
calm to descend upon you, a sleep that overtook some of you.
Another group, caring only for themselves, entertained false
thoughts about God, thoughts more appropriate to pagan ignorance,
and said, ‘Do we get a say in any of this?’ [Prophet], tell them,
a In the Battle of Uhud, it was rumoured that Muhammad had been killed.
b The archers disobeyed the Prophet’s order to remain in their positions until the
end. They thought the Muslims had won and dashed to get the booty. This allowed their
enemies to regroup and attack, so winning the battle.