Appearance
Verses 40–44
يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُوا بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ ٤٠ وَآمِنُوا بِمَا أَنْزَلْتُ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا مَعَكُمْ وَلَا تَكُونُوا أَوَّلَ كَافِرٍ بِهِ ۖ وَلَا تَشْتَرُوا بِآيَاتِي ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا وَإِيَّايَ فَاتَّقُونِ ٤١ وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوا الْحَقَّ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ٤٢ وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ ٤٣ أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ ۚ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ ٤٤
O children of Israel! Remember My bounties which I bestowed on you, and be faithful to [your] covenant with Me, I will fulfill [My] covenant with you; and of Me, Me alone, should you be afraid.
And believe in what I have sent down verifying that which is with you, and be not the first to deny it, neither take a mean price in exchange for My signs; and Me, Me alone, should you fear.
And do not mix up the truth with the falsehood, nor hide the truth while you know [it].
And keep up prayer and pay the zakāt and bow down with those who bow down.
What! do you enjoin men to be good and forget your own selves while you read the Book? Have you then no sense?
Introduction & Commentary
Now begins the rebuking of the Jews that continues for more than a hundred verses. God reminds them of the bounties bestowed, of the honors given; contrasting it with their ingratitude and disobedience; showing how at every juncture they paid the favors of God with disregard of their covenant, open rebellion against divine commands and even with polytheism. The series reminds them of twelve events of their history—like rescuing them from Pharaoh and his people by parting the river, drowning of Pharaoh and his army, the appointed rendezvous at the mount Sinai, the Jews’ starting calf-worship in Moses’ absence, and Moses’ order to them to kill themselves, their demand from Moses to show their Lord to them face to face, their death by lightning and then their arising from dead and so on—all of which shows how they were chosen to receive the especial favors of God. But their ingratitude runs parallel to it. They repeatedly broke the covenants made with God, committed capital sins, heinous crimes and shameful deeds; more despicable was their spiritual poverty and moral bankruptcy—in open defiance to their book and total disregard to the reason. It was all because their hearts were hardened, their souls lost and their endeavors worthless.
يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُوا بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ ٤٠
(2:40) O children of Israel! Remember My bounties which I bestowed on you, and be faithful to [your] covenant with Me, I will fulfill [My] covenant with you; and of Me, Me alone, should you be afraid.
al-ʿAhd (covenant) literally means guarding and maintenance. By association it has come to mean covenant, oath, testament, will, encounter, house, and so on.
...and of Me, Me alone, should you be afraid (fa-rhabūn): al-Rahbah (fear) is opposite of al-Raghbah (desire).
وَآمِنُوا بِمَا أَنْزَلْتُ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا مَعَكُمْ وَلَا تَكُونُوا أَوَّلَ كَافِرٍ بِهِ ۖ وَلَا تَشْتَرُوا بِآيَاتِي ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا وَإِيَّايَ فَاتَّقُونِ ٤١ِ
(2:41) And believe in what I have sent down verifying that which is with you, and be not the first to deny it, neither take a mean price in exchange for My signs; and Me, Me alone, should you fear,
The clause, and be not the first to deny it means, first among the people of the book, or first among your own people. The clause, be not the first is not all-inclusive, because the disbelievers of Mecca had rejected the Message before the Jews.
The author has not discussed the rest of the verses in this section () probably because the meaning of these verses is very clear. (Ed.) ↩︎