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12
۞ وَلَقَد أَخَذَ اللَّهُ ميثاقَ بَني إِسرائيلَ وَبَعَثنا مِنهُمُ اثنَي عَشَرَ نَقيبًا ۖ وَقالَ اللَّهُ إِنّي مَعَكُم ۖ لَئِن أَقَمتُمُ الصَّلاةَ وَآتَيتُمُ الزَّكاةَ وَآمَنتُم بِرُسُلي وَعَزَّرتُموهُم وَأَقرَضتُمُ اللَّهَ قَرضًا حَسَنًا لَأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنكُم سَيِّئَاتِكُم وَلَأُدخِلَنَّكُم جَنّاتٍ تَجري مِن تَحتِهَا الأَنهارُ ۚ فَمَن كَفَرَ بَعدَ ذٰلِكَ مِنكُم فَقَد ضَلَّ سَواءَ السَّبيلِ

Muhammad Asad

AND, INDEED, God accepted a [similar] solemn pledge1 from the children of Israel when We causedtwelve of their leaders to be sent [to Canaan as spies].2 And God said: "Behold, I shall be with you! If you are constant in prayer, and spend in charity, and believe in My apostles and aid them, and offer up unto God a goodly loan,3 I will surely efface your bad deeds and bring you into gardens through which running waters flow. But he from among you who, after this, denies the truth, will indeed have strayed from the right path!"
  • The interpolation of "similar" is justified by the obvious reference to verse 7 above. The pledge was similar in that it related to obedience to God's commandments.
  • Lit., "when We sent out twelve leaders from among them". This is a reference to the Biblical story (in Numbers xiii), according to which God commanded Moses to send out one leading personality from each of the twelve tribes "to spy out the land of Canaan - before the children of Israel invaded it. (The noun naqib, here rendered as "leader", has also the meaning of "investigator" or "spy" inasmuch as it is derived from the verb naqaba, which signifies - among other things - "he scrutinized" or "investigated"). The subsequent near-revolt of the children of Israel - caused by their fear of the powerful tribes which inhabited Canaan (cf. Numbers xiv)- is briefly referred to in the first sentence of verse 13 and more fully described in verses 20-26- of this surah.
  • I.e., by doing righteous deeds.