VERILY, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ,] as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians - all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds - shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve. 62 [Children of Israel], We made a covenant with you and raised the mountain high above you, saying, "Hold fast to what We have given you and bear its contents in mind, so that you may guard yourselves [against evil]." 63 Then you turned away after that. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have been among the losers. 64 And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected." 65 And We made it a deterrent unto those of their day and those after them, and an exhortation unto the God-fearing. 66 Then call to mind the other event: when Moses said to his people, "Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow," they replied, "Do you mean to have a jest with us?" He answered, "I crave Allah's protection from behaving like ignorant people." 67 They said, 'Pray to thy Lord for us, that He may make clear to us what she may be.' He said, 'He says she is a cow neither old, nor virgin, middling between the two; so do that you are bidden.' 68 They said, "Call on your Lord for us, to show us what colour she should be." He answered, "God says she should be a bright yellow heifer, pleasing to the eye." 69 They said, "Call upon your Lord for us to make plain to us what it is. Verily to us all cows are alike, And surely, if Allah wills, we will be guided." 70 (Moses) answered: Lo! He saith: Verily she is a cow unyoked; she plougheth not the soil nor watereth the tilth; whole and without mark. They said: Now thou bringest the truth. So they sacrificed her, though almost they did not. 71