Page 173
wa-ʾidh nataqnā l-jabala fawqahum ka-ʾannahū ẓullatun wa-ẓannū ʾannahū wāqiʿun bihim khudhū mā ʾātaynākum bi-quwwatin wa-dhkurū mā fīhi laʿallakum tattaqūna
When We plucked the mountain [and held it] above them as if it were a canopy (and they thought it was about to fall on them): ‘Hold on with power to what We have given you and remember that which is in it, so that you may be Godwary.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-‘Araf – Verse 171
171 . “And (remember) when We plucked the mountain (and held it) above them as if it were a canopy, and they supposed it was about to fall on them (when We told them: ) ‘Hold you firmly what We gave you and remember what is in it, that you may keep from evil’.”
This is the last verse in this Surah which is upon the life of the Children of Israel. In this verse, the Qur’ān reminds the community of the Jews another happening. The event is both a lesson of admonition and an evidence of giving a covenant. It says:
It was so that they imagined the mountain was nigh to fall down over them. Therefore, a shaking horror and anxiety encompassed them, thoroughly their entity, and they began weeping with supplication. The verse says:
It was at the same time that they were in that condition and they were told to hold firm what Allah gave them. The verse continues saying:
They ought to be in awe of Allah’s punishment and fulfil their duty according to the covenants He has taken from them in it. The verse says:
This means that the entire messengership of Moses (as) and other prophets, and their constant struggles and hard conflicts, as well as the grievous anxieties and laborious hardships that they tolerated, all were for the sake that the command of Allah and the principles of the truth, justice, purity, and piety be executed rather perfectly among all human beings.