سورة آل عمران

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The defeated ones among the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) returned; so Allah revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَ لَمَّا یَعْلَمِ اللهُ الَّذِینَ جاهَدُوا مِنْکُم [Do you think that you will enter the garden while Allah has not yet known those who strive hard from among you].

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): By Allah! What you have set your eyes upon will not come to pass until you are sifted and tested, and until none of you (the Shia) remains except a few. Then he recited this verse: أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَ لَمَّا یَعْلَمِ اللهُ الَّذِینَ جاهَدُوا مِنْکُمْ وَ یَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِین [Do you think that you will enter the garden while Allah has not yet known those who strive hard from among you, and (He has not) known the patient].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): By Allah! What you long for will not come to pass until the pure among you is distinguished from the impure and you are tested. Then in this test, so many will fail out of every ten that only a very few of you will remain. Then the Imam (peace be upon him) recited this verse: أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَ لَمَّا یَعْلَمِ اللهُ الَّذِینَ جاهَدُوا مِنْکُمْ وَ یَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِینَ [Do you think that you will enter the garden while Allah has not yet known those who strive hard from among you, and (He has not) known the patient].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Dawud al-Raqqi said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the verse: أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَ لَمَّا یَعْلَمِ اللهُ الَّذِینَ جاهَدُوا مِنْکُم [Do you think that you will enter the garden while Allah has not yet known those who strive hard from among you]. He said: "Allah has greater knowledge of His creatures before He creates them — at the time when they are tiny beings in the world of dharr (particles) and have not yet been created — and He knows who will strive and who will not strive, just as He knows the time of His creation's death before He causes them to die, while they are alive and He has not shown them their death."