VERILY, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ,] as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians - all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds - shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve. 62 And when We made a covenant with you and raised the Mount above you; “Accept and hold fast to what We give you, and remember what is in it, so that you may attain piety.” 63 Then you turned away after that. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have been among the losers. 64 You know and have known already those among you who had broken the sanctity of the Sabbath, and to whom We had said: "Become (like) apes despised," 65 So We made this punishment an example to their own and to succeeding generations and a lesson to those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious - see V. 2:2). 66 And when Moses said to his people, 'God commands you to sacrifice a cow.' They said, 'Dost thou take us in mockery?' He said, 'I take refuge with God, lest I should be one of the ignorant.' 67 'Call on your Lord' they said, 'to make known to us what she shall be.' He said: 'He says: "she is a cow neither old, nor virgin, middling between both." Therefore, do as you have been ordered' 68 They said: "Beseech on our behalf Thy Lord to make plain to us Her colour." He said: "He says: A fawn-coloured heifer, pure and rich in tone, the admiration of beholders!" 69 They said: Call on your Lord for our sake to make it plain to us what she is, for surely to us the cows are all alike, and if Allah please we shall surely be guided aright. 70 He said, 'He says she shall be a cow not broken to plough the earth or to water the tillage, one kept secure, with no blemish on her.' They said, 'Now thou hast brought the truth'; and therefore they sacrificed her, a thing they had scarcely done. 71