Āl ʿImrān 3:145-148

Wa mā kāna li-nafsin an tamūta illā bi-idhni'llāhi kitāban muʾajjalā, wa man yurid thawāba'd-dunyā nuʾtihī minhā wa man yurid thawāba'l-ākhirati nuʾtihī minhā, wa sa-najzi'sh-shākirīn · Wa ka-ayyin min nabiyyin qātala maʿahū ribbiyyūna kathīrun fa-mā wahanū limā aṣābahum fī sabīli'llāhi wa mā ḍaʿufū wa ma'stakānū, wa'llāhu yuḥibbu'ṣ-ṣābirīn · Wa mā kāna qawlahum illā an qālū rabbana'ghfir lanā dhunūbanā wa isrāfanā fī amrinā wa thabbit aqdāmanā wa'nṣurnā ʿala'l-qawmi'l-kāfirīn · Fa-ātāhumu'llāhu thawāba'd-dunyā wa ḥusna thawābi'l-ākhira, wa'llāhu yuḥibbu'l-muḥsinīn

"No soul dies except by God's leave: it is a writ whose term is set. Whoever wants the reward of this world, We give him of it; whoever wants the reward of the hereafter, We give him of it. And We shall reward the thankful. · How many a prophet has fought, and with him many rabbānīs; they did not slacken at what befell them in the way of God, nor did they weaken, nor did they submit. God loves the steadfast. · Their only word was: 'Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and our excess in our affair, make our feet firm, and help us against the people who deny.' · So God gave them the reward of this world and the good reward of the hereafter. God loves those who do good."

ك-ت-ب — a writ. أ-ج-ل — with a term set. And the construction: "a writ whose term is set".

I record this as an observation about the word order, and its being placed inside a block about a defeat is significant: the sentence says that death is not tied to battle. And this is the first form of a note that will be repeated at verses 156 and 168 — there the saying "had they been with us they would not have died" will be transmitted and refuted.

Fa-mā wahanū… wa mā ḍaʿufū… wa ma'stakānū

All three verbs are negated. And the field of the three differs: the first is capacity, the second strength, the third bearing.

I record this as an observation about the words: the list moves from inside outward — first the coming undone within, then the weakness in the body, then the submission shown outwardly.

And the root of the verb istakānū is س-ك-ن, the same root as maskana in verse 112. Two occurrences, the same root: one in a ruling, the other in a negation.

رِبِّيُّون — there is disagreement over the reading and the sense of the word, and it is not to be concealed:

All three are transmitted; I do not impose a preference. The word is also read with different vowels in the variant readings; I give no reciter's name.

And the word order of the prayer must be recorded, because its sequence is striking:

And the real note is this: the prayer does not begin by asking for help. Help is fourth in order.

The first two requests concern their own failings. And the second must be recorded separately: isrāfanā fī amrinā — "our excess in our affair".

The root س-ر-ف: to overstep the bound, to lose the measure. And the note is fī amrinā — that is, not in worship but in the affair.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the order of the prayer: the prayer names its own share before asking for help from outside. And this coincides with the axis recorded in the introduction to the sūra — in three separate places (7, 152, 165) the sūra asked that a person see his own share. This prayer is that share spoken in the person's own mouth.

And fa-ātāhumu'llāhu thawāba'd-dunyā wa ḥusna thawābi'l-ākhira (148) — the answer gives both of the two choices counted at verse 145 at once. That is, the two recompenses counted separately at 145 are given together at 148. This is a link verifiable from the text.