After verse 62 took the criterion of salvation out of names, peoples, and religious identities, and returned it to faith in The God, the Last Day, and righteous action, verse 63 brings the Children of Israel back again to the question of the Book, covenant, and responsibility. This order matters: the name is not saving, and even having the Book is not enough; the Book must be accompanied by covenant, strength, remembrance, and mindful guarding (taqwa).

The verse begins by recalling a weighty scene: “wa-idh akhadhna mithaqakum”; and when We took your covenant. Covenant (mithaq) comes from the root W TH Q, a root connected with firmness, trust, becoming secure, and being bound firmly. So covenant (mithaq) is not just a simple promise or verbal pledge; it is a firm and responsibility-producing covenant that makes the human being committed before truth and accountable.

In the expression “mithaqakum” there is also a precise point. This covenant was not something they constructed for themselves or defined according to their own preference; it was a covenant taken from them. That means the side of obligation and responsibility was placed upon them from The God. They stood before a divine covenant; a covenant tied to the Book, command, remembrance, and mindful guarding (taqwa).

Then the verse says: “wa-rafana fawqakum al-tur”; and We raised the Mount above you. This image shows the outer weight of that same covenant. The Book was not only in their hands; the covenant stood above them like a heavy reality over their heads. The Qur'an presents this same scene in Surah Al-A'raf with a clearer image: the mountain was above them as if it were a canopy, and they thought it would fall upon them. This image shows that the covenant is not something light, decorative, or open to being played with.

This scene should not be confused with an initial compulsion into faith. The Qur'an has made the principle “no compulsion in religion” clear. Here the speech concerns a people who had already experienced rescue, signs, provision, water, a prophet, the Book, and covenant. The issue is not initial entry into religion; the issue is fidelity to a covenant that came upon their shoulders after seeing the signs and receiving guidance.

So the raising of the Mount is not merely frightening; it is the declaration of the weight of the covenant. Sometimes a human being has the Book in hand but imagines he is dealing with something weightless. The verse shows that the Book given by The God has weight. If the Book is not taken with strength, that same Book can become a heavy proof against the human being.

Then the command comes: “khudhu ma ataynakum”; take what We have given you. Taking here is not merely possessing a copy of the Book. Taking means responsible acceptance, bringing it into the self, action, ethics, judgment, memory, and life. A people may have the Book without having taken the Book; they may carry it while not carrying its reality.

This same contrast appears in Surah Al-Jumu'ah through a sharper image: those who were made to carry the Torah and then did not carry it are like a donkey carrying books. This image reveals the difference between outward carrying and real taking. Carrying the Book without understanding, remembrance, and action does not make the human being truly People of the Book; it only places the load of the Book on his back.

But verse 63 does not say only take; it says: “bi-quwwah”; with strength. Strength (quwwah) comes from the root Q W Y and is connected with power, firmness, and capacity. But here strength does not mean violence. Taking the Book with strength means not taking it with weakness, play, habit, politeness, selective picking, forgetfulness, and irresponsibility. It means taking it seriously, firmly, knowingly, and with readiness to act.

This expression also appears about Yahya: “ya Yahya khudh al-kitab bi-quwwah”; O Yahya, take the Book with strength. So taking the Book with strength is a general Qur'anic principle. Even a prophet like Yahya is commanded not to treat the Book lightly. If the Book becomes only inheritance, recitation, slogan, dry law, or a tool of religious pride, it loses its formative effect.

After taking with strength, the verse says: “wa-udhkurū ma fihi”; and remember what is in it. This expression is very precise. The Qur'an does not say only keep the Book, only recite it, only memorize it, or only take pride in having it. It says remember what is in it. That means the content must remain alive.

Remembrance here is not only saying something with the tongue. Remembrance means keeping present, not forgetting, bringing to mind at the moment of decision, and returning life to the content of the Book. If the Book is recited but “what is in it” is forgotten, the outward form of the Book remains while its spirit has left life.

This danger is not only about the Children of Israel. Any society may have the divine Book, honor its name, recite its verses beautifully, decorate its copies, but forget justice, fulfilling covenant, oneness, mercy, mindful guarding (taqwa), spending, avoiding wrongdoing, and human responsibility. Such a society has the Book, but it has not remembered what is in the Book.

The end of the verse is the key to everything: “la'allakum tattaqun”; so that you may practice mindful guarding (taqwa). The aim of covenant, the Book, taking with strength, and remembering the content is not to produce religious identity. The aim is not for a people to say: we have the Book and others do not. The aim is not for the human being to boast over others in the name of the Book. The aim is for the human being to reach mindful guarding (taqwa).

Mindful guarding (taqwa) in the Qur'an is not simply fear. It means wakefulness, vigilance, self-guarding, placing oneself within the protection of truth, and living with moral sensitivity before The God. The person of mindful guarding (taqwa) does not become numb before wrongdoing, rebellion, ingratitude, forgetfulness, the self, corruption, or breaking the covenant. He sees himself as responsible before his Lord, His creation, and truth.

At the beginning of Surah Al-Baqarah, the Qur'an said about the Book: “hudan lil-muttaqin”; guidance for the people of mindful guarding (taqwa). Now in verse 63, the same path is seen from another angle: the Book must be taken with strength and what is in it must be remembered so that the human being may reach mindful guarding (taqwa). So the Book is both guidance for the people of mindful guarding (taqwa) and, if taken correctly, it also leads the human being toward mindful guarding (taqwa).

If we read this verse in continuation of verse 62, the meaning becomes clearer. Verse 62 said salvation is not by name; it is by faith and righteous action. Verse 63 shows that faith and righteous action do not take shape without covenant, without taking the Book seriously, and without remembering the content of the Book. So neither the name People of the Book is enough, nor the name believer, nor having the Book, nor claiming covenant. Everything must reach mindful guarding (taqwa).

The lesson of the verse is this: do not take the covenant lightly. Do not take the Book weakly. Take what has been given to you with strength. Keep alive what is in it. For the aim of the Book is not to construct religious identity; the aim is for the human being to awaken before The God, truth, creation, and his own responsibility, and to practice mindful guarding (taqwa).

• Al-Baqarah 2:40— The beginning of the address to the Children of Israel with remembrance of blessing and fulfilling covenant.
• Al-Baqarah 2:62— The criterion of salvation returns to faith and righteous action; verse 63 shows that this path is tied to covenant, the Book, and mindful guarding (taqwa).
• Al-Baqarah 2:93— The repetition of taking covenant, raising the Mount, and the command to take what was given with strength.
• An-Nisa 4:154— The raising of the Mount above them in connection with covenant.
• Al-A'raf 7:143— A different scene involving the Mount: the manifestation of the Lord to the mountain and its collapse; useful for understanding the awe of the Mount in the story of Musa, not for collapsing the two events into one.
• Al-A'raf 7:155— The chosen men of Musa's people and the trembling that seized them; part of the weighty atmosphere of encounter with the signs.
• Al-A'raf 7:171— The direct parallel scene: the mountain was above them like a canopy, and the command came to take what was given with strength and remember what is in it.
• Maryam 19:12— The address to Yahya: take the Book with strength; a witness that taking the Book with strength is a general Qur'anic principle.
• Al-Baqarah 2:2— The Book is guidance for the people of mindful guarding (taqwa); verse 63 shows that taking the Book with strength and remembering its content leads to mindful guarding (taqwa).
• Al-Baqarah 2:256— No compulsion in religion; important for distinguishing compulsion into faith from responsibility after covenant.
• Ta-Ha 20:80-81— Rescue, good provision, and the prohibition of rebellion; the link between blessing, responsibility, and divine consequence.
• Al-Ma'idah 5:44— The Torah had guidance and light, and the prophets judged by it; important for understanding the responsibility of the People of the Book toward what they received.
• Al-Ma'idah 5:66— If they had upheld the Torah, the Gospel, and what was sent down to them from their Lord, they would have eaten from above and below; the connection between the Book, upholding, and blessing.
• Al-Jumu'ah 62:5— The likeness of those who were made to carry the Torah but did not carry it; a witness to the danger of having the Book without truly taking it and acting by it.