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 Call to mind the time when We raised above you the Tur and made a covenant with you, saying, "Hold fast to the Book which We are giving you and bear in mind the commands and precepts contained therein. It is expected that this will lead you on to the paths of virtue and piety." 63 Yet after that you turned away, and but for God's grace and mercy, you would have surely been among the losers. 64 You certainly knew about those among you who were transgressors on the Sabbath. We commanded them, "Become detested apes," 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 And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant." 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 But they further asked, "Please request your Lord to make it clear to us of what colour she should be." Moses answered, "He says that she should be of yellow colour, so deep and bright as to delight the beholders." 69 They said, 'Pray to thy Lord for us, that He make clear to us what she may be; cows are much alike to us; and, if God will, we shall then be guided.' 70 Moses answered, "Your Lord says, she should be a heifer which has not been yoked to plough the land or water the fields, a heifer free from any blemish." "Now you have told us the truth," they answered, and they sacrificed it, though they would rather not have done it. 71