Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] - those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. 62 And when We took a promise from you and lifted the mountain over you: Take hold of the law (Tavrat) We have given you with firmness and bear in mind what is in it, so that you may guard (against evil). 63 Then, even after that, ye turned away, and if it had not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy ye had 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 incident (of that town) a warning to the surrounding towns (others of their time) and to succeeding generations, and a lesson for the pious. 66 Then call to mind the other event: when Moses said to his people, "Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow," they replied, "Do you mean to have a jest with us?" He answered, "I crave Allah's protection from behaving like ignorant people." 67 They said: supplicate for us unto thy Lord that He make manifest unto us whatever she should be. He said: verily He saith, she should be a cow neither old nor young, but middle-aged betwixt that; do then as ye are commanded. 68 They said: supplicate for us unto thy Lord that He make manifest unto us whatever her colour should be. He said: verily He saith, she should be a yellow cow the colour whereof is deepest, delighting the beholders. 69 Said' they: "Pray on our behalf unto thy Sustainer that He make clear to us what she is to be like, for to us all cows resemble one another; and then, if God so wills, we shall truly 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