(63–64) “And recall when We took your covenant and raised the Mount above you, saying, ‘Hold firmly to what We have given you, and remember what is in it, so that you may become righteous.’ Then, after that, you turned away. Had it not been for Allah’s grace upon you and His mercy, you would certainly have been among the losers.”

That is: Recall “when We took your covenant”—the solemn, binding covenant reinforced by frightening them when the Mount was raised above them (1)—and they were told: “Hold firmly to what We have given you” of the Torah; that is, with earnestness, diligence, and steadfastness in obeying Allah’s commands. “And remember what is in it”; that is, what is in your Scripture, by reciting and learning it, “so that you may become righteous”—meaning, so that you may guard yourselves against Allah’s punishment and wrath, or become people of piety.

Yet after this emphatic confirmation, “you turned away” and rejected it. This warranted the greatest punishments descending upon you. However, “had it not been for Allah’s grace upon you and His mercy, you would certainly have been among the losers.”