Surah Ali 'Imran Verse 169

477 A beautiful passage about the Martyrs in the cause of Truth. They are not dead; they live —and in a far higher and deeper sense than in the fife they have left. Even those who have no faith in the Hereafter honour those that die in their cause, with the crown of immortality in the minds and memories of generations unborn. But in Faith we see a higher, truer, and less relative immortality. Perhaps "immortality" is not the right word in this connection, as it implies a continuation of this life. In their case, through the gateway of death, they enter, the true real Life, as opposed to its shadow here. Our carnal life is sustained with carnal food, and its joys and pleasures at their best are those which are projected on the screen of this material world. Their real Life is sustained from the ineffable Presence and Nearness of Allah. Cf. 2:154, and see how the idea is further developed here.