(7) “Remember Allah’s blessing upon you and His covenant by which He bound you when you said, ‘We hear and we obey.’ Fear Allah; surely Allah knows well what hearts conceal.”

Allah Most High commands His servants to remember His religious and worldly blessings with their hearts and tongues. Continually remembering them inspires gratitude and love for Allah Most High and fills the heart with awareness of His kindness. It also removes self-admiration arising from religious blessings and brings an increase in Allah’s bounty and kindness. “And His covenant” means: remember His covenant “by which He bound you”—that is, the pledge He took from you.

This does not mean that they verbally pronounced the pledge and covenant. Rather, through their faith in Allah and His Messenger, they committed themselves to obeying them both. Hence He says, “When you said, ‘We hear and we obey.’” That is: We hear what You call us to through Your Quranic signs and the signs within creation—a hearing accompanied by understanding, submission, and compliance. We obey what You have commanded by carrying it out, and what You have forbidden by avoiding it. This encompasses all the outward and inward laws of the religion.

Believers should therefore remain mindful of Allah’s pledge and covenant with them, keeping it ever before them and striving to fulfill all that they have been commanded to do, completely and without deficiency.

“Fear Allah” in all your circumstances. “Surely Allah knows well what hearts conceal”—that is, the thoughts, secrets, and passing notions they contain. Beware lest He find within your hearts anything that displeases Him, or anything hateful to Him proceed from you. Fill your hearts with knowledge and love of Him and with sincere goodwill toward His servants. If you are thus, He will forgive your sins and multiply your good deeds, for He knows the soundness of your hearts.