Āl ʿImrān 3:183-186

Alladhīna qālū inna'llāha ʿahida ilaynā allā nuʾmina li-rasūlin ḥattā yaʾtiyanā bi-qurbānin taʾkuluhu'n-nār, qul qad jāʾakum rusulun min qablī bi'l-bayyināti wa bi'lladhī qultum fa-lima qataltumūhum in kuntum ṣādiqīn · Fa-in kadhdhabūka fa-qad kudhdhiba rusulun min qablika jāʾū bi'l-bayyināti wa'z-zuburi wa'l-kitābi'l-munīr · Kullu nafsin dhāʾiqatu'l-mawt, wa innamā tuwaffawna ujūrakum yawma'l-qiyāma, fa-man zuḥziḥa ʿani'n-nāri wa udkhila'l-jannata fa-qad fāz, wa ma'l-ḥayātu'd-dunyā illā matāʿu'l-ghurūr · La-tublawunna fī amwālikum wa anfusikum wa la-tasmaʿunna mina'lladhīna ūtu'l-kitāba min qablikum wa mina'lladhīna ashrakū adhan kathīrā, wa in taṣbirū wa tattaqū fa-inna dhālika min ʿazmi'l-umūr

"Those who said: 'God has charged us to believe in no messenger until he brings us an offering that fire consumes'… Say: 'Messengers came to you before me with clear proofs and with what you named; why then did you kill them, if you are truthful?' · If they have called you a liar, messengers before you were called liars too… · Every soul shall taste death. Your recompenses will be paid in full only on the day of resurrection. Whoever is drawn away from the fire and admitted to the garden has attained. The life of this world is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion. · You will certainly be tested in your wealth and in your persons; and you will certainly hear much that is hurtful from those given the Book before you and from those who associate. But if you are steadfast and guard yourselves — that is among the matters requiring resolve."

And the form of the answer must be recorded: fa-lima qataltumūhum in kuntum ṣādiqīn.

I record this as an observation about the word order: the answer does not refuse the claim; it asks what was done to those who did fulfil its condition. That is, it is shown from the past that even when the condition was met the outcome did not change.

And the same method was used at verse 168: fa'draʾū ʿan anfusikumu'l-mawt — there too the logic of the claim was applied to the claimant. Two occurrences, the same method.

The root ذ-و-ق: to taste. And not a verb but an active participle is used: dhāʾiqa — "taster". In Arabic the active participle conveys the coming to pass of the act with certainty and continuance.

I record this as an observation about the word: death is named not as an end but as a tasting. And to taste is to take not the whole of a thing but a part of it.

زُحْزِحَ — root ز-ح-ز-ح: to move away little by little, by pushing. The word occurs only here in the Qurʾān. And the verb is passive: the one who moves away is not named.

And what the lexicographers record must be recorded: there is a repetition in the root — a four-letter, doubled form (zaḥzaḥa), which in Arabic generally conveys a repeated movement. That is, the moving away is not in a single thrust but stage by stage.

مَتَٰعُ ٱلْغُرُور — root غ-ر-ر: to deceive; a thing's appearance misleading a person. And the word matāʿ had occurred at verse 14: dhālika matāʿu'l-ḥayāti'd-dunyā.

The difference between the two occurrences must be recorded:

And it was recorded at verse 14: matāʿ is not a bad word; it means what is used, what is drawn benefit from. Here, on the other hand, an adjective is added to the word.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the difference between the two constructions: what is bad is not the matāʿ but the wrong conclusion drawn from it. And the sūra says this in two separate places in two separate ways: unqualified at the beginning, qualified at the end.

And it must be recorded that both sources are given with the particle min.

عَزْمِ ٱلْأُمُور — the root ع-ز-م occurred at verse 159 (fa-idhā ʿazamta). Two occurrences, the same root:

And the lexicographers differ over the sense of the construction, and the disagreement is not to be concealed:

All three are transmitted; I do not impose a preference.