آلِ عِمْرَان : ١٤٤

  • وَمَا And not
  • مُحَمَّدٌ (is) Muhammad
  • إِلَّا except
  • رَسُولٞ a Messenger
  • قَدۡ certainly
  • خَلَتۡ passed away
  • مِن from
  • قَبۡلِهِ before him
  • ٱلرُّسُلُۚ [the] (other) Messengers
  • أَفَإِيْن So if
  • مَّاتَ he died
  • أَوۡ or
  • قُتِلَ is slain
  • ٱنقَلَبۡتُمۡ will you turn back
  • عَلَىٰٓ on
  • أَعۡقَٰبِكُمۡۚ your heels
  • وَمَن And whoever
  • يَنقَلِبۡ turns back
  • عَلَىٰ on
  • عَقِبَيۡهِ his heels
  • فَلَن then never
  • يَضُرَّ will he harm
  • ٱللَّهَ Allah
  • شَيۡـٔٗاۚ (in) anything
  • وَسَيَجۡزِي And will reward
  • ٱللَّهُ Allah
  • ٱلشَّـٰكِرِينَ the grateful ones
Muḥammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels [to unbelief]? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allāh at all; but Allāh will reward the grateful.
With regard to their being routed, when it was rumoured that the Prophet had been killed and the hypocrites had said to the believers, 'If he has been killed, go back to your [previous] religion', the following was revealed: Muhammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him. Why, if he should die or is slain, like others, will you turn back on your heels, will you return to unbelief (the last statement is the locus of the interrogative of denial, in other words, 'he was not a worshipped being, so that [if he were to die] you should turn back [to your previous religion]'). If any man should turn back on his heels, he will not harm God in any way, but will be harming himself, and God will requite those that are thankful, for His graces by staying firm.