31 Preface وَلَنَبلُوَنَّكُم حَتّىٰ نَعلَمَ المُجاهِدينَ مِنكُم وَالصّابِرينَ وَنَبلُوَ أَخبارَكُمYusuf AliAnd We shall try you1 until We test those among you who strive their utmost and persevere in patience; and We shall try your reported (mettle).2Cf. 34:21, and n. 3821. The test and trial is for our own psychological development, to help in the exercise of such choice as has been given to us in our free will. Cf. also 3:154, and n. 467.Akhbar. the things reported of you; reputation for courage and constancy, which has to be brought to the test of facts and experience. In an epigram of Tacitus we are told of a Roman Emperor that he would have been considered in every way to have been worthy of being a ruler if only he had never ruled! So in life people may think us courageous, true, noble, and self-sacrificing; and we may consider ourselves as possessing all such virtues; but it is actual experience that will bring them to the test.