Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 63

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And when We took the pledge from you, and raised high above you the (Mount of) Tūr: “Hold fast to what We have given to you, and remember what is in it, so that you may become God-fearing.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember˺ when We took a covenant from you and raised the mountain above you ˹saying˺, “Hold firmly to that ˹Scripture˺ which We have given you and observe its teachings so perhaps you will become mindful ˹of Allah˺.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

And [remember] when We took your covenant [O Children of Israel] and raised above you the mountain [saying], “Hold firmly to what We have given you and observe its teachings, so that you may become righteous.”

A. J. Arberry

And when We took compact with you, and raised above you the Mount: 'Take forcefully what We have given you, and remember what is in it; haply you shall be godfearing.'

Abdul Haleem

Remember when We took your pledge, and made the mountain tower high above you, and said, ‘Hold fast to what We have given you and bear its contents in mind, so that you may be conscious of God.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And recall what time We took your bond, and raised over you the Tur saying: hold fast to that which We have vouchsafed unto you, and remember that which is therein, that haply ye may become God-fearing.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And remember We took your covenant and We raised above you (The towering height) of Mount (Sinai); (Saying); "Hold firmly to what We have given you and bring (ever) to remembrance what is therein; Perchance ye may fear Allah."

Abul Ala Maududi

Call to mind the time when We raised above you the Tur and made a covenant with you, saying, "Hold fast to the Book which We are giving you and bear in mind the commands and precepts contained therein. It is expected that this will lead you on to the paths of virtue and piety."

Ahmed Ali

Remember the day We made the covenant with you and exalted you on the Mount and said: "Hold fast to what We have given you, and remember what is therein that you may take heed."

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when We made a covenant with you and raised the Mount above you; “Accept and hold fast to what We give you, and remember what is in it, so that you may attain piety.”

Ali Quli Qarai

And when We took a pledge from you, and raised the Mount above you, [declaring], ‘Hold on with power to what We have given you and remember that which is in it so that you may be Godwary.’

Ali Ünal

And (remember) when We took your promise (to keep Our covenant) and (in order to stress the importance of both the covenant and keeping it, and warn you against breaking it,) We raised the Mount (causing it to tower) over you: "Hold firmly to what We haven given you (of the Book) and study its commandments and instructions so that you may attain reverent piety toward God and His protection (against any kind of straying and its consequent punishment in this world and the Hereafter.)"

Amatul Rahman Omar

And (recall, O Children of Israel!) when We took a covenant from you, (and it was the time when you were at the foot of Sinai), with (the summits of) the Mount towering above you (saying), `Hold fast to what We have given you, and bear in mind that which is in it, so that you may guard against evil.´

English Literal

And when We took your promise/covenant , and We raised above you the mountain , take/receive what We gave you with strength/power , and mention/remember what (is) in it, maybe you fear and obey (God).

Faridul Haque

And when We made a covenant with you and raised the Mount above you; "Accept and hold fast to what We give you, and remember what is in it, so that you may attain piety."

Hamid S. Aziz

And when We took a covenant with you and held the mountain over you; (saying) "Accept what We have brought you with strong will, and bear in mind what is therein, per chance (or possibly) you yet may fear."

Hilali & Khan

And (O Children of Israel, remember) when We took your covenant and We raised above you the Mount (saying): "Hold fast to that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein so that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V. 2:2).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when We made a covenant with you and raised the mountain above you: Hold fast that which We have given you, and bear in mind what is in it, so that you guard against evil.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when We took a promise from you and lifted the mountain over you: Take hold of the law (Tavrat) We have given you with firmness and bear in mind what is in it, so that you may guard (against evil).

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And (remember, O Children of Israel) when We made a covenant with you and caused the mount to tower above you, (saying): Hold fast that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein, that ye may ward off (evil).

Muhammad Sarwar

Children of Israel, recall when We made a covenant with you, raised Mount Tur (Sinai) above you and told you to receive earnestly what We had given to you and bear it in mind so that you would protect yourselves against evil.

Qaribullah & Darwish

And when We made a covenant with you and raised the Mount above you, (saying) 'Take what We have given you forcefully and remember what is in it, so that you will be cautious'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And (O Children of Isra'il, remember) when We took your covenant and We raised above you the Mount (saying): "Hold fast to that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein so that you may acquire Taqwa.

Wahiduddin Khan

[Children of Israel], We made a covenant with you and raised the mountain high above you, saying, "Hold fast to what We have given you and bear its contents in mind, so that you may guard yourselves [against evil]."

Talal Itani

And recall when We received a pledge from you, and raised the Mount above you: “Take what We have given you earnestly, and remember what is in it, that you may attain righteousness.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And, mention, when We made a covenant with you, your pledge to act according to what is in the Torah, and We, had, raised above you the Mount, which We uprooted from the earth [and placed] above you when you refused to accept it [sc. the Torah], and We said, `Take forcefully, seriously and with effort, what We have given you, and remember what is in it, acting in accordance with it, so that you might preserve yourselves', from the Fire or acts of disobedience.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Taking the Covenant from the Jews

Allah tells;

وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَكُمْ وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَكُمُ الطُّورَ خُذُواْ مَا اتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ وَاذْكُرُواْ مَا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ




And (O Children of Isra'il, remember) when We took your covenant and We raised above you the Mount (saying);"Hold fast to that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein so that you may acquire Taqwa.

Allah reminded the Children of Israel of the pledges, covenants and promises that He took from them to believe in Him alone, without a partner, and follow His Messengers. Allah stated that when He took their pledge from them, He raised the mountain above their heads, so that they affirm the pledge that they gave Allah and abide by it with sincerity and seriousness. Hence, Allah's statement,

وَإِذ نَتَقْنَا الْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُ ظُلَّةٌ وَظَنُّواْ أَنَّهُ وَاقِعٌ بِهِمْ خُذُواْ مَأ ءَاتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ وَاذْكُرُواْ مَا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

And (remember) when We raised the mountain over them as if it had been a canopy, and they thought that it was going to fall on them. (We said);"Hold firmly to what We have given you (Tawrah), and remember that which is therein (act on its commandments), so that you may fear Allah and obey Him." (7;171).

The mount mentioned here is At-Tur, just as it was explained in Surah Al-A`raf, according to the Tafsir of Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Ata, Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Ad-Dahhak, Ar-Rabi bin Anas and others. This is more obvious.

There is another report from Ibn Abbas saying;

`The Tur is a type of mountain that vegetation grows on, if no vegetation grows on it, it is not called Tur.'

And in the Hadith about the trials, Ibn Abbas said;

"When they (the Jews) refused to obey, Allah raised the mountain above their heads so that they would listen."

Al-Hasan said that Allah's statement,
خُذُواْ مَا اتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ
(Hold fast to that which We have given you),

means, the Tawrah.

Mujahid said that the Ayah commanded,

"Strictly adhere to it."

Abu Al-Aliyah and Ar-Rabi said that,
وَاذْكُرُواْ مَا فِيهِ
(and remember that which is therein) means,

"Read the Tawrah and implement it."

Allah's statement