7 Preface وَاذكُروا نِعمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيكُم وَميثاقَهُ الَّذي واثَقَكُم بِهِ إِذ قُلتُم سَمِعنا وَأَطَعنا ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَليمٌ بِذاتِ الصُّدورِYusuf AliAnd call in remembrance the favour of God unto you, and His Covenant,1 which He ratified with you, when ye said: “We hear and we obey”: And fear God, for God knoweth well the secrets of your hearts.There is a particular and a general meaning. The particular meaning refers to the solemn Pledge and Covenant taken by two groups of people at 'Aqaba, a valley near Mina, the first about fourteen months before the Hijrat, and the second a little later. These were Pledges of fealty to the Messenger of God, comparable to the Covenant under Mount Sinai taken in the time of Moses, (see 2:63 and n. 78). The general meaning has been explained in n. 682 to 5:1: man is under a spiritual obligation under an implied Covenant with God; God has given man reason, judgment, the higher faculties of the soul, and even the position of God’s vicegerent on earth (2:30), and man is bound to serve God faithfully and obey His will. That obedience begins with cleanliness in bodily functions, food, etc. It goes on to cleanliness of mind and thought, and culminates in purity of motives in the inmost recesses of his heart and soul.