Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:137
Similar situations [as yours] have passed on before you, so proceed throughout the earth and observe how was the end of those who denied.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: أُولَئِكَ جَزَاؤُهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ (136) ("For them their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide eternally; and how excellent is the reward of those who act" (3:136)).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His mention, means by His word "For them (ulāʾika)" those of whom He mentioned that He has prepared for them the Garden (al-janna) whose breadth is as wide as the heavens and the earth, from among the God-fearing (al-muttaqīn), and whom He described with that wherewith He described them. Then He said: these, who have this quality — "their reward (jazāʾuhum)", that is to say: their recompense for their deeds which He, exalted is His mention, described that they performed — "is forgiveness from their Lord (maghfiratun min rabbihim)". He says: a remission for them from Allah of His punishment for the sins of theirs that have preceded, and for them, for the obedience to Allah which they practiced in their good deeds — "gardens (jannāt)", and these are the orchards — "beneath which rivers flow (tajrī min taḥtihā al-anhār)". He says: the rivers flow between their trees and at their feet, as a recompense for their good deeds — "wherein they shall abide eternally (khālidīna fīhā)", that is to say: abiding forever in these gardens which He has described — "and how excellent is the reward of those who act (wa-niʿma ajru al-ʿāmilīn)", that is to say: and how excellent is the recompense of those who act for Allah, namely the gardens which He has described, as in:
7866 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "For them their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide eternally; and how excellent is the reward of those who act", that is to say: the reward of the obedient.
