8 Preface وَما لَكُم لا تُؤمِنونَ بِاللَّهِ ۙ وَالرَّسولُ يَدعوكُم لِتُؤمِنوا بِرَبِّكُم وَقَد أَخَذَ ميثاقَكُم إِن كُنتُم مُؤمِنينَYusuf AliWhat cause have ye1 why ye should not believe in God.- and the Messenger invites you to believe in your Lord, and has indeed taken your Covenant,2 if ye are men of Faith.What cause have ye why should not. . . ? A figure of speech implying a far wider meaning than the words express. It is equivalent to saying: “There is every reason why ye should believe in God”, etc. The same construction applies to verse 10 below.There are two shades of meaning. (1) There is the implied Covenant in a man who accepts the Gospel of Unity that he will bring forth all the fruits of that Gospel, i.e., believe in God, and serve God and humanity. See n. 682 to 5:1. (2) There were at various times express Covenants entered into by the Muslims to serve God and be true to the Prophet, comparable to the Covenants of the Jewish nation about the Message of Moses; e.g., the two Covenants of 'Aqabah (5:8, and n. 705) and the Pledge of Hudaybiyah (48:10, n. 4877). For the Covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, see 2:63, n. 78.