63. " and (remember) when we made a covenant with you, and
raised the
tur
(mountain) above you; (saying): ` hold you fast that which
we
have given you with the strength, and remember all
that
is therein (to do accordingly);
haply
you shall guard yourselves (against evil)'."
64.
" thereafter, you turned back, and had it not been for the grace and
mercy
of allah on you, you had certainly been among the losers."
commentary :
hold the signs of
allah firmly !
in these verses, the
subject of taking a covenant from the
children of israel
for the practicing of the contents of the turah and,
then, breaching that
covenant, is pointed out. at first it says:
" and
(remember) when we made a covenant with you, and raised the
tur (mountain) above
you; ..."
"... (saying):
` hold you fast that which we have given you
with the strength,
..."
"...and
remember all that is therein (to do accordingly); haply you
shall guard
yourselves (against evil)'."
but you people
neglected your covenant.
0" thereafter,
you turned back, ..."
"...and had it
not been for the grace and mercy of allah on you, you
had certainly been
among the losers. "
the objective of the
covenant, here, is the same that has been
mentioned in verse
40 of the current sura and what is in verse 83 and
84, which will be
discussed later. the items of that covenant are:
worshipping only
allah; treating parents, relations, orphans, and those
in need with
kindness; speaking to and treating people fairly; attending
and being steadfast
in ritual prayers, paying alms, avoiding shedding
blood, the like of
which had been mentioned in the turah, too.
sura al-ma'idah, no.
5, verse 12, also denotes that allah
had taken a covenant
from the children of israel to believe in all of the
divine prophets and
help them, and practice regular charity in the way
of allah. then, at
the end of the same verse, allah promises that if
they keep this
covenant and actually do it, they will be allowed to abide
in paradise.
how was the
mountain raised over the israelites' heads ?
the leading famous
commentator, the late tabarsi, has narrated
from ` abuzeyd '
that when moses (a.s.) returned from mount sinai
and brought the
turah with him, he told his people that he had brought
a divine book
consisting of some religious instructions and rules about
lawful and unlawful
things. he told them to take the instructions that
allah had ordained
and practically observe them in their lives. 1
but the jews, with
the excuse that he (a.s.) had brought them
difficult duties to
perform, disobeyed and exceeded the limits. the lord
commanded the angels
to raise a great big rock from tur mountain
above them.
at that moment moses
(a.s.) announced that if they promised to
perform the orders
of allah and repented for their disobedience, that
punishment would be
removed from over them, else they would be
destroyed.
the jews, who
expected that the mountain would fall on them at
any moment,
submitted and accepted the turah and prostrated for
allah. then,
finally, that chastisement was warded off because of
their repentance.
this very
occurrence, with a little difference, is mentioned in verse
93 of the current
sura; and in sura an-nisa', no. 4, verse 104; and
in sura al-a`raf,
no. 7, verse 171.
it is necessary to
note, here, that as for the suspending mountain
and as to how it
could stand high above as a covering overhead for the
israelites, some
commentators believe that it was by the command of
allah that tur mount
was shaken and taken up from its place and,
then,suspended above
them as a canopy. 2 a
more detailed explanation
will be referred to
when commenting on sura al-'a`raf, no. 7, verse
171.
the above mentioned
event as described in the qur'an was quite
known by the jews,
who had these original statements in the turah
about it with them.
besides that, this event is also recorded in talmud
aboda sara. 1: 2
which says: ` i will cover you with the mountain like a
roof '. talmud.