Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nisa Verse 154

Mufti Taqi Usmani

We raised the (Mount of) Tūr high over them for binding them to the pledge, and We said to them, “Do not transgress in (the matter of) the Sabbath.” We took from them a firm pledge.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

We raised the Mount over them ˹as a warning˺ for ˹breaking˺ their covenant and said, “Enter the gate ˹of Jerusalem˺ with humility.” We also warned them, “Do not break the Sabbath,” and took from them a firm covenant.

Ruwwad Translation Center

And We raised above them the Mount [to remind them] of their covenant, and We said to them, “Enter the gate [of Jerusalem] lowering your heads”, and said to them: “Do not break the Sabbath”, and We took from them a solemn covenant.

A. J. Arberry

And We raised above them the Mount, taking compact with them; and We said to them, 'Enter in at the gate, prostrating'; and We said to them, 'Transgress not the Sabbath'; and We took from them a solemn compact.

Abdul Haleem

We made the mountain tower high above them at their pledge; We said to them, ‘Enter the gate humbly,’ and, ‘Do not break the Sabbath,’ and took a solemn pledge from them.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And We raised the Mount over them for their bond. And We said unto them: enter the portal prostrating yourselves. And We said unto them: transgress not in the matter of the Sabbath and We took from them a firm bond.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And for their covenant we raised over them (the towering height) of Mount (Sinai); and (on another occasion) we said; "Enter the gate with humility"; and (once again) we commanded them; "Transgress not in the matter of the sabbath." And we took from them a solemn covenant.

Abul Ala Maududi

and We raised the Mount high above them and took from them a covenant (to obey the commandment), and ordered them: 'Enter the gate in the state of prostration.' And We said to them: 'Do not violate the law of the Sabbath', and took from them a firm covenant.

Ahmed Ali

We exalted them on the Mount, and they gave a solemn pledge, and We said to them: "Enter the gates submissively," and told them: "Do not break the Sabbath," and took a solemn pledge from them.

Ahmed Raza Khan

We then raised the mount (Sinai) above them to take a covenant from them and decreed them that, “Enter the gate while prostrating” and decreed them that, “Do not cross the limits of the Sabbath,” and We took from them a firm covenant.

Ali Quli Qarai

And We raised the Mount above them for the sake of their covenant, and We said to them, ‘Enter the gate prostrating’ and We said to them, ‘Do not violate the Sabbath,’ and We took from them a solemn covenant.

Ali Ünal

(Moreover) We raised the Mount to tower above them to secure their promise (to hold firmly to the Book), and (on another occasion when We guided them to a town) We commanded them, "Go into it through its gate prostrating (humbly in utmost submission to God)"; and again We once commanded them, "Do not exceed the bounds with respect to the Sabbath," and We took from them a most solemn pledge.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And We raised the Mount above them while taking their covenant (at the foot of the Mount), and We said to them, `Enter the gate (of the town) submissively,´ and We said to them, `Do not violate the (law of) Sabbath.´ And We took from them a solemn covenant.

English Literal

And We raised above them the Mountain with their promise/covenant, and We said to them: "Enter the door/entrance prostrating". And We said to them: "Do not transgress/violate in the Saturday/Sabbath". And We took from them a strong promise/covenant.

Faridul Haque

We then raised the mount (Sinai) above them to take a covenant from them and decreed them that, “Enter the gate while prostrating” and decreed them that, “Do not cross the limits of the Sabbath,” and We took from them a firm covenant.

Hamid S. Aziz

And because of their disbelief, and because of their utterance of a mighty calumny against Mary;

Hilali & Khan

And for their covenant, We raised over them the Mount and (on the other occasion) We said: "Enter the gate prostrating (or bowing) with humility;" and We commanded them: "Transgress not (by doing worldly works on) the Sabbath (Saturday)." And We took from them a firm covenant.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

The People of the Book ask thee to bring down to them a Book from heaven; indeed they demanded of Moses a greater thing than that, for they said: Show us Allah manifestly. So destructive punishment overtook them on account of their wrongdoing. Then they took the calf (for a god), after clear signs had come to them, but We pardoned this. And We gave Moses clear authority.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And We lifted the mountain (Sainai) over them at (the taking of the covenant) and We said to them: Enter the door making obeisance; and We said to them: Do not exceed the limits of the Sabbath, and We made with them a firm covenant.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And We caused the Mount to tower above them at (the taking of) their covenant: and We bade them: Enter the gate, prostrate! and We bode them: Transgress not the Sabbath! and We took from them a firm covenant.

Muhammad Sarwar

We raised Mount (Sinai) above them because of Our solemn promise to them. Also, We told them to prostrate themselves when entering the gate (of the holy house) and not to commit transgression on the Sabbath. We made a solemn covenant with them.

Qaribullah & Darwish

And We raised the Mount above them, and took covenant with them, and We said: 'Enter in at the gate, prostrating', and We said to them, 'Do not transgress the Sabbath', and We took from them a solemn covenant.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And for their covenant, We raised over them the mount and (on the other occasion) We said: "Enter the gate prostrating (or bowing) with humility;" and We commanded them: "Transgress not on the Sabbath (Saturday)." And We took from them a firm covenant.

Wahiduddin Khan

And We raised above them the Mount, while making a covenant with them, and We said to them. "Enter the gate humbly," and We also commanded them, "Transgress not in the matter of the Sabbath." We took from them a firm covenant.

Talal Itani

And We raised the Mount above them in accordance with their covenant, and We said to them, “Enter the gate humbly”, and We said to them, “Do not violate the Sabbath”, and We received from them a solemn pledge.

Tafsir jalalayn

And We raised above them the Mount, by the covenant with them, that is, on account of the covenant made with them, that they might fear, and so they accepted it; and We said to them, while it cast a shadow [hovering] above them; `Enter the gate, the gate of the town, bowing'; and We said to them, `Transgress not (a variant reading [of l ta`d] is l ta`add, where the original t' [of l tata`add] is assimilated with the dl, in other words [it is similar in meaning to] l ta`tad, `do not act unjustly [in]') the Sabbath', by fishing during it, and We took from them a firm covenant, over this, but they broke it.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَهُمُ الطُّورَ بِمِيثَاقِهِمْ

And for their covenant, We raised over them the mount,

This was when they refrained from implementing the rulings of the Tawrah and refused what Musa brought them from Allah. So Allah raised the mountain above their heads and they were ordered to prostrate, which they did. Even so, they were looking above when they were prostrating for fear that the mountain might fall on them,

وَإِذ نَتَقْنَا الْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُ ظُلَّةٌ وَظَنُّواْ أَنَّهُ وَاقِعٌ بِهِمْ خُذُواْ مَأ ءَاتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ

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." (7;171)

Allah then said,

وَقُلْنَا لَهُمُ ادْخُلُواْ الْبَابَ سُجَّدًا

and We said, "Enter the gate prostrating (or bowing) with humility;"

meaning that they also defied this command in word and action. They were commanded to enter Bayt Al-Quds (in Jerusalem) while bowing and saying "Hittah", meaning;`O Allah! take from us our sin of abandoning Jihad.'

This was the cause of their wandering in the desert of Tih for forty years. Yet, they entered the House while crawling on their rear ends and saying `Hintah (a wheat grain) in Sha`rah (the hair)'.

وَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ لَا تَعْدُواْ فِي السَّبْتِ

and We commanded them, "Transgress not the Sabbath (Saturday)."

meaning, We commanded them to honor the Sabbath and honor what Allah prohibited them on that day.

وَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُم مِّيثَاقًا غَلِيظًا



And We took from them a firm covenant.

meaning, strong covenant. They rebelled, transgressed and committed what Allah prohibited by using deceit and trickery, as is mentioned in Surah Al-A`raf.

وَسْيَلْهُمْ عَنِ الْقَرْيَةِ الَّتِى كَانَتْ حَاضِرَةَ الْبَحْرِ

And ask them about the town that was by the sea. (7;163)