Another instance of their ignorance regarding the One they worship, His Messenger, and His directive is that they were commanded to enter the gate of the town God had granted them while prostrating and to say: ḥiṭṭah (Remove our sins), thus entering in humility before God and imploring Him to erase their misdeeds. Instead, they crawled in on their behinds in place of bowing to God and kept repeating: “hintah suqmānā,” meaning “dark-colored wheat.” Such was their “prostration” and their show of humility (1), and this was the “supplication” and the plea (2) by which they sought pardon for their sins!!

Another proof of their ignorance and dull-wittedness is that God—exalted is He—showed them signs of His power, the greatness of His dominion, and the truthfulness of His Messenger, leaving no room for further proof. Then He sent down His Book, took from them His covenant, and commanded them to hold to it with determination and to worship Him according to its dictates, just as He had delivered them from the bondage of Pharaoh and the Copts. Yet they refused to accept it and held back, so He suspended the mighty mountain (3) over their heads, matching its span to theirs, and it was said to them, “If you do not accept it, I shall drop it upon you.” Only then did they accept while standing beneath the mountain.

Ibn ʿAbbās said: “God raised the mountain above their heads, sent a fire before their faces, made the sea appear beneath them, and they were called out: ‘If you do not accept, I shall crush you with this, burn you with this, and drown you with this!’ So they accepted and said, ‘We hear and we obey.’ (4) Were it not for the mountain, we would not have obeyed you. Yet when they later felt safe, they said, ‘We hear, and we disobey.’ ”

Still another sign of their ignorance is that they witnessed the miracles and saw wonders so compelling that anyone of sound mind would believe