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 remember We took your covenant and We raised above you (The towering height) of Mount (Sinai): (Saying): "Hold firmly to what We have given you and bring (ever) to remembrance what is therein: Perchance ye may fear Allah." 63 Then ye turned away there after; so had not the grace of Allah been unto you and His mercy, ye had surely become of the losers. 64 And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath, and We said to them, "Be apes, despised." 65 We made it a punishment for the former times and for the latter, an exhortation to the cautious. 66 AND LO! Moses said unto his people: "Behold, God bids you to sacrifice a cow." They said: "Dost thou mock at us?" He answered: "I seek refuge with God against being so ignorant!" 67 "Call on your Lord for us," they said, "that He might inform us what kind she should be." "Neither old nor young, says God, but of age in between," answered Moses. "So do as you are bid." 68 "Call on your Lord," they said, "to tell us the colour of the cow." "God says," answered Moses, "a fawn coloured cow, rich yellow, well pleasing to the eye." 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, 'It is a cow neither trained to plow the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.' " They said, "Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could hardly do it. 71