Al-Qur'an Surah Ali 'Imran Verse 145

Mufti Taqi Usmani

It is not the choice of a person to die without the will of Allah, death being a time-bound destiny. Whoever seeks a reward in this world, We shall give him out of it, and whoever seeks a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give him out of it. We shall soon reward the grateful.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

No soul can ever die without Allah’s Will at the destined time. Those who desire worldly gain, We will let them have it, and those who desire heavenly reward, We will grant it to them. And We will reward those who are grateful.

Ruwwad Translation Center

No soul can die except with Allah’s permission at a destined time. Whoever seeks the reward of this world, We will give him thereof, and whoever seeks the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him thereof. And We will reward those who are grateful.

A. J. Arberry

It is not given to any soul to die, save by the leave of God, at an appointed time. Whoso desires the reward of this world, We will give him of this; and whoso desires the reward of the other world, We will give him of that; and We will recompense the thankful.

Abdul Haleem

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.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

It is not Possible for any person to die except by Allah's command at a term recorded. And whosoever desireth the reward of the world, We vouchsafe unto him thereof. and whosoever desireth the reward of the Hereafter, We vouchsafe unto him thereof. And anon will we recompense the grateful.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Nor can a soul die except by Allah's leave, the term being fixed as by writing. If any do desire a reward in this life, We shall give it to him; and if any do desire a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give it to him. And swiftly shall We reward those that (serve us with) gratitude.

Abul Ala Maududi

It is not given to any soul to die except with the leave of Allah, and at an appointed time. And he who desires his reward in this world, We shall grant him the reward of this world; and he who desires the reward of the Other World, We shall grant him the reward of the Other World. And soon shall We reward the ones who are grateful.

Ahmed Ali

No one can die before his appointed term except in accordance with the law of God. And to him who desires a reward in this world, We shall give it; and to him who desires a reward in the life to come, We shall do that. We shall certainly reward those who are grateful.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And no soul can die except by Allah’s command – a time has been appointed for each; whoever desires the rewards of this world, We bestow upon him from it; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We bestow upon him from it; and We shall soon reward the thankful.

Ali Quli Qarai

No soul may die except by Allah’s leave, at an appointed time. Whoever desires the reward of this world, We will give him of it; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him of it; and soon We will reward the grateful.

Ali Ünal

It never occurs that a soul dies save by God’s leave, at a time appointed. So whoever desires the reward of this world, We give him of it (in the world); and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We give him of it; and We will soon reward the thankful.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Nor can a living being die save by the leave of Allâh - a decree with a prescribed term. And he who desires the reward (for his deeds) of this world, We grant him thereof; and he who desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will grant him thereof. And We will certainly reward the grateful.

English Literal

And it was not to a self that to die except with God`s permission, a decree/destiny/fate delayed , and who wants/wills the present world`s reward, We give him from it, and who wants/wills the end`s (other life`s) reward, We give him from it, and We will reward the thankful/grateful.

Faridul Haque

And no soul can die except by Allah’s command - a time has been appointed for each; whoever desires the rewards of this world, We bestow upon him from it; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We bestow upon him from it; and We shall soon reward the thankful.

Hamid S. Aziz

How many prophets, with them large numbers of devoted men, fought (in the cause of Allah)! They did not lose heart at what befell them in Allah´s way, nor did they weaken, nor did they demean themselves - Allah loves the steadfast.

Hilali & Khan

And no person can ever die except by Allah's Leave and at an appointed term. And whoever desires a reward in (this) world, We shall give him of it; and whoever desires a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give him thereof. And We shall reward the grateful

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And Muhammad is but a messenger -- messengers have already passed away before him. If then he dies or is killed, will you turn back upon your heels? And he who turns back upon his heels will do no harm at all to Allah. And Allah will reward the grateful.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And a soul will not die but with the permission of Allah the term is fixed; and whoever desires the reward of this world, I shall give him of it, and whoever desires the reward of the hereafter I shall give him of it, and I will reward the grateful.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

No soul can ever die except by Allah's leave and at a term appointed. Whoso desireth the reward of the world, We bestow on him thereof; and whoso desireth the reward of the Hereafter, We bestow on him thereof. We shall reward the thankful.

Muhammad Sarwar

No one can die without the permission of God. This is a written decree of the appointed term for life. We shall give worldly gains to whoever wants them. Those who want rewards in the life hereafter will also receive them. We reward those who give thanks.

Qaribullah & Darwish

It is not for any soul to die except by the permission of Allah a postponed book and he who desires the reward of this world, We shall give him of it, and he who desires the reward of the Everlasting Life, We shall give him of it. And We will recompense the thankful.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And no person can ever die except by Allah's leave and at an appointed term. And whoever desires a reward in the world, We shall give him of it; and whoever desires a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give him thereof. And We shall reward the grateful.

Wahiduddin Khan

No soul shall die except with God's permission and at an appointed time. And if one desires the rewards of this world, We shall grant it to him; and if one desires the rewards of the life to come, We shall grant it to him. We will reward the grateful.

Talal Itani

No soul can die except by God’s leave, at a predetermined time. Whoever desires the reward of the world, We will give him some of it; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him some of it; and We will reward the appreciative.

Tafsir jalalayn

It is not for any soul to die, save by the leave of God, by His decree, a prescribed (kitban, here a verbal noun, that is, God has prescribed this) term, that is to say, [a term fixed] in time, neither brought forward nor deferred, so why did you retreat [in defeat]? Defeat does not ward off death, nor does standing one's ground sever life. And whoever desires, by his deeds, the reward of this world, that is, his requital in it, We will give him of it, what has been alloted to him, but he shall have no share in the Hereafter; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him of it, that is, of its reward; and We will requite the thankful.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تَمُوتَ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِ الله كِتَابًا مُّوَجَّلً

And no person can ever die except by Allah's leave and at an appointed term.

meaning, no one dies except by Allah's decision, after he has finished the term that Allah has destined for him. This is why Allah said,
كِتَابًا مُّوَجَّلً
(at an appointed term) which is similar to His statements,

وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِن مُّعَمَّرٍ وَلَا يُنقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِ إِلاَّ فِى كِتَـبٍ

And no aged man is granted a length of life nor is a part cut off from his life, but it is in a Book. (35;11)

and,

هُوَ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن طِينٍ ثُمَّ قَضَى أَجَلً وَأَجَلٌ مُّسمًّى عِندَهُ

He it is Who has created you from clay, and then has decreed a (stated) term (for you to die). And there is with Him another determined term (for you to be resurrected). (6;2)

This Ayah (3;145) encourages cowards to participate in battle; for doing so, or avoiding battle neither decreases, nor increases the life term.

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that,

Habib bin Suhban said that a Muslim man, Hujr bin Adi, said in a battle, "What prevents you from crossing this river (the Euphrates) to the enemy
وَمَا كَانَ لِنَفْسٍ أَنْ تَمُوتَ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِ الله كِتَابًا مُّوَجَّلً
(And no person can ever die except by Allah's leave and at an appointed term)."

He then crossed the river riding his horse, and when he did, the Muslims followed him. When the enemy saw them, they started shouting, "Diwan (Persian; crazy)," and they ran away.

Allah said next,

وَمَن يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الدُّنْيَا نُوْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَن يُرِدْ ثَوَابَ الاخِرَةِ نُوْتِهِ مِنْهَا

And whoever desires a reward in the world, We shall give him of it; and whoever desires a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give him thereof.

Therefore, the Ayah proclaims, whoever works for the sake of this life, will only earn what Allah decides he will earn. However, he will not have a share in the Hereafter. Whoever works for the sake of the Hereafter, Allah will give him a share in the Hereafter, along with what He decides for him in this life.

In similar statements, Allah said,

مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الاٌّخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُ فِى حَرْثِهِ وَمَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُوْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَا لَهُ فِى الاٌّخِرَةِ مِن نَّصِيبٍ

Whosoever desires (by his deeds) the reward of the Hereafter, We give him increase in his reward, and whosoever desires the reward of this world (by his deeds), We give him thereof (what is decreed for him), and he has no portion in the Hereafter. (42;20)

and,

مَّن كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعَـجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَأءُ لِمَن نُّرِيدُ ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا لَهُ جَهَنَّمَ يَصْلَـهَا مَذْمُومًا مَّدْحُورًا

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الاٌّخِرَةَ وَسَعَى لَهَا سَعْيَهَا وَهُوَ مُوْمِنٌ فَأُولَـيِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُم مَّشْكُورًا

Whoever desires the quick-passing (transitory enjoyment of this world), We readily grant him what We will for whom We like. Then, afterwards, We have appointed for him Hell; he will burn therein disgraced and despised. And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it while he is a believer, then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated. (17;18-19)

In this Ayah (3;145) Allah said,

وَسَنَجْزِي الشَّاكِرِينَ



And We shall reward the grateful.

meaning, We shall award them with Our favor and mercy in this life and the Hereafter, according to the degree of their appreciation (of Allah) and their good deeds.

Allah then comforts the believers because of what they suffered in Uhud