63 Preface وَإِذ أَخَذنا ميثاقَكُم وَرَفَعنا فَوقَكُمُ الطّورَ خُذوا ما آتَيناكُم بِقُوَّةٍ وَاذكُروا ما فيهِ لَعَلَّكُم تَتَّقونَYusuf AliAnd remember We took your covenant and We raised above you (The towering height) of Mount (Sinai)1: (Saying): “Hold firmly to what We have given you and bring (ever) to remembrance what is therein: Perchance ye may fear God.” The Mountain of Sinai (Tur-u-Sinin), a prominent mountain in the Arabian desert, in the peninsula between the two arms of the Red Sea. Here the Ten Commandments and the Law were given to Moses. Hence it is now called the Mountain of Moses (Jabal Musa). The Israelites encamped at the foot of it for nearly a year. The Covenant was taken from them under many portents (Exods. 19:5, 8, 16, 18), which are described in Jewish tradition in great detail. Under thunder and lightning the mountain must indeed have appeared an awe-inspiring sight above to the Camp at its foot. And the people solemnly entered into the Covenant: all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do:” (Cf. 7:171, n. 705, and n. 97).