Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 103

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And had they accepted the faith, and been God-fearing, the reward from Allah would have always been far better. If only they knew!

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

If only they were faithful and mindful ˹of Allah˺, there would have been a better reward from Allah, if only they knew!

Ruwwad Translation Center

If only they had believed and feared Allah, they would have a better reward from Allah, if only they knew!

A. J. Arberry

Yet had they believed, and been godfearing, a recompense from God had been better, if they had but known.

Abdul Haleem

If they had believed and been mindful of God, their reward from Him would have been far better, if only they knew.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And had they believed and feared, surely better had been the reward from before Allah, if they but knew!

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If they had kept their Faith and guarded themselves from evil, far better had been the reward from their Lord, if they but knew!

Abul Ala Maududi

Had they believed in Allah and practised piety, they would have received a far better reward from AIIah, if they had but known it.

Ahmed Ali

Had they come to believe instead, and taken heed for themselves, they would surely have earned from God a far better reward. If only they had sense!

Ahmed Raza Khan

And had they believed and been pious, then the recompense from Allah is extremely good; if only they knew!

Ali Quli Qarai

Had they been faithful and Godwary, the reward from Allah would have been better, had they known!

Ali Ünal

And if only they had believed and, in fear and reverence of God, sought to deserve His protection (against their straying and His punishment), a reward from God (of which they could not conceive) would have been absolutely good; if only they had known (acted like people of true knowledge and understanding).

Amatul Rahman Omar

And if these (Jews) had kept their faith and guarded against these evils, surely they would have received a better reward from Allâh. Had they but known (it).

English Literal

And if they had believed and feared and obeyed, then a reward (E) from at God, (is) better if they were knowing.

Faridul Haque

And had they believed and been pious, then the recompense from Allah is extremely good; if only they knew!

Hamid S. Aziz

If they had kept their faith and protected themselves from evil, far better had been the reward from their Lord, if they but knew.

Hilali & Khan

And if they had believed, and guarded themselves from evil and kept their duty to Allah, far better would have been the reward from their Lord, if they but knew!

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And if they had believed and kept their duty, reward from Allah would certainly have been better; did they but know!

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And if they had believed and guarded themselves (against evil), reward from Allah would certainly have been better; had they but known (this).

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And if they had believed and kept from evil, a recompense from Allah would be better, if they only knew.

Muhammad Sarwar

Would that they had known that if they had embraced the faith and avoided evil, they would have received better rewards from God.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Had they believed and were cautious, far better for them would be the reward from Allah, if they but knew.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And if they had believed and guarded themselves from evil and kept their duty to Allah, far better would have been the reward from their Lord, if they but knew!

Wahiduddin Khan

And had they but believed and been mindful of God, His reward would have been far better for them, if they had but known it.

Talal Itani

Had they believed and been righteous, the reward from God would have been better, if they only knew.

Tafsir jalalayn

Yet if only they, the Jews, had believed, in the Prophet and the Qur'n, and been fearful, of God's chastisement, by abandoning acts of disobedience towards Him, such as sorcery (the response to the [conditional clause beginning with] law, `if', has been omitted, [but it is intimated to be] `they would have been rewarded', and this is indicated by [His following words]) verily, a reward from God would have been better, than that for which they sold themselves, if they had but known, that this is better they would not have preferred that over this (la-mathbatun, `verily the reward', is the subject; the lm is that of oaths; and min `indi'Llhi khayrun, `from God, would have been better', is the predicate).

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

And how bad indeed was that for which they sold their own selves, if they but knew. And if they had believed and guarded themselves from evil and kept their duty to Allah, far better would have been the reward from their Lord, if they but knew!

Allah stated,
وَلَبِيْسَ
(And how bad) meaning,

what they preferred, magic, instead of faith and following the Messenger, if they but comprehend the advice.

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ امَنُواْ واتَّقَوْا لَمَثُوبَةٌ مِّنْ عِندِ اللَّه خَيْرٌ


And if they had believed and guarded themselves from evil and kept their duty to Allah, far better would have been the reward from their Lord,

meaning, "Had they believed in Allah and His Messenger and avoided the prohibitions, then Allah's reward for these good deeds would have been better for them than what they chose and preferred for themselves."

Similarly, Allah said,

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْعِلْمَ وَيْلَكُمْ ثَوَابُ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لِّمَنْ ءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَـلِحاً وَلَا يُلَقَّاهَأ إِلاَّ الصَّـبِرُونَ

But those who had been given (religious) knowledge said;"Woe to you! The reward of Allah (in the Hereafter) is better for those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and this none shall attain except As-Sabirun (the patient in following the truth)." (28;80