Surah Al-Baqara · سُوْرَةُ البَقَرَةِ · Juz 1

Q 2:93

وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَـٰقَكُمْ وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَكُمُ ٱلطُّورَ خُذُوا۟ مَآ ءَاتَيْنَـٰكُم بِقُوَّةٍ وَٱسْمَعُوا۟ ۖ قَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا وَأُشْرِبُوا۟ فِى قُلُوبِهِمُ ٱلْعِجْلَ بِكُفْرِهِمْ ۚ قُلْ بِئْسَمَا يَأْمُرُكُم بِهِۦٓ إِيمَـٰنُكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

Translations

And [recall] when We took your covenant and raised over you the mount, [saying], "Take what We have given you with determination and listen." They said [instead], "We hear and disobey." And their hearts absorbed [the worship of] the calf because of their disbelief. Say, "How wretched is that which your faith enjoins upon you, if you should be believers."

Sahih International · EN

Et rappelez-vous, lorsque Nous avons pris l'engagement de vous, et brandi sur vous AT-Tûr (le Mont Sinaï) en vous disant: «Tenez ferme à ce que Nous vous avons donné, et écoutez!». Ils dirent: «Nous avons écouté et désobéi». Dans leur impiété, leurs cœurs étaient passionnément épris du Veau (objet de leur culte). Dis-[leur]: «Quelles mauvaises prescriptions ordonnées par votre foi, si vous êtes croyants».

Muhammad Hamidullah · FR

Tafsir

Remember when you made a binding promise with God to follow Moses, peace be upon him, and to accept what he brought from God. God raised the mountain over you so that you were awestruck, and told you to hold tightly and seriously to the scripture He had sent you, and to listen and follow what was revealed to you, if not God would make the mountain fall upon you, you said that you heard with your ears and rebelled in your actions. The worship of the calf took hold of their hearts because of their denial and ingratitude. O Muhammad, what their faith commands them to do is evil: disbelieving and turning away from what Allah instructs them to do – if they have any faith at all – because if they truly had faith they would not disbelieve and turn away from it.

Al-Mukhtasar fi Tafsir al-Quran · Tafsir Center for Quranic Studies

Read Ibn Kathir (Ibn Kathir (abridged, English))

And (remember) when We took your covenant and We raised above you the Mount (saying), "Hold firmly to what We have given you and hear (Our Word)." They said, "We have heard and disobeyed." And their hearts absorbed (the worship of) the calf because of their disbelief. Say: "Worst indeed is that which your faith enjoins on you if you are believers. (93) The Jews rebel after Allah took Their Covenant and raised the Mountain above Their Heads Allah reminded the Jews of their errors, breaking His covenant, transgression and defiance, when He raised Mount Tur above them so that they would believe and agree to the terms of the covenant. Yet, they broke it soon afterwards, قَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا (They said, "We have heard and disobeyed.") We have mentioned the Tafsir of this subject before. 'Abdur-Razzaq said that Ma'mar narrated that Qatadah said that, وَأُشْرِبُوا فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْعِجْلَ بِكُفْرِهِمْ (And their hearts absorbed (the worship of) the calf) means, "They absorbed its love, until its love resided in their hearts." This is also the opinion of Abu Al-'Aliyah and Ar-Rabi' bin Anas. Allah's statement, قُلْ بِئْسَمَا يَأْمُرُكُم بِهِ إِيمَانُكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ (Say: "Worst indeed is that which your faith enjoins on you if you are believers.") means, "Worse yet is the manner in which you behaved in the past and even now, disbelieving in Allah's Ayat and defying the Prophets. You also disbelieved in Muhammad ﷺ, which is the worst of your deeds and the harshest sin that you committed. You disbelieved in the Final Messenger and the master of all Prophets and Messengers, the one who was sent to all mankind. How can you then claim that you believe, while committing the evil of breaking Allah's covenant, disbelieving in Allah's Ayat and worshipping the calf instead of Allah?"

Arabic text: Tanzil (Uthmani). Translations: Sahih International (en), Muhammad Hamidullah (fr). tanzil.net