Quran Universe
2:64

ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيۡتُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ ذَٰلِكَۖ فَلَوۡلَا فَضۡلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَرَحۡمَتُهُۥ لَكُنتُم مِّنَ ٱلۡخَٰسِرِينَ

Thumma tawallaytum min baAAdi thalika falawla fadlu Allahi AAalaykum warahmatuhu lakuntum mina alkhasireena

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.

Word by word
  1. ثُمَّThen
  2. تَوَلَّيۡتُمyou turned away
  3. مِّنۢfrom
  4. بَعۡدِafter
  5. ذَٰلِكَۖthat
  6. فَلَوۡلَاSo if not
  7. فَضۡلُ(for the) Grace
  8. ٱللَّهِ(of) Allah
  9. عَلَيۡكُمۡupon you
  10. وَرَحۡمَتُهُۥand His Mercy
  11. لَكُنتُمsurely you would have been
  12. مِّنَof
  13. ٱلۡخَٰسِرِينَthe losers
Al-Baqarah · 2:64Madinah

They turned away, and mercy still caught them.

What stood between them and loss

After the pledge
firm pledgegiven under the mount
then
turned awaybroke the pledge
yet
grace and mercyforgiveness, more Messengers
Why they were not lost
they earned ittheir own record
Allah's favorthe only thing between them and loss

Even after that solemn pledge, they deviated and broke it. Ibn Kathir explains that Allah's grace showed itself by forgiving them and sending them Prophets again. Without that mercy they would have been among the losers, in this life and the next.

You promised yourself after Ramadan that things would be different. By the second week you were back to the old scroll at midnight. You broke it. And the door is still open tonight. That is not your achievement. It is His favor.

I have broken my promise to Allah too many times to come back.

The fact that I can still turn back is itself His mercy at work.

Try this

Tonight, before sleep, quietly renew one promise you broke. No speech, just a sentence.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 2:63)

And (O Children of Isra'il, remember) when We took your covenant and We raised above you the Mount (saying): "Hold fast to that which We have given you, and remember that which is therein so that you may acquire Taqwa (63)Then after that you turned away. Had it not been for the grace and mercy of Allah upon you, indeed you would have been among the losers (64)

Taking the Covenant from the Jews

Allah reminded the Children of Israel of the pledges, covenants and promises that He took from them to believe in Him alone, without a partner, and follow His Messengers. Allah stated that when He took their pledge from them, He raised the mountain above their heads, so that they affirm the pledge that they gave Allah and abide by it with sincerity and seriousness. Hence, Allah's statement,

وَإِذْ نَتَقْنَا الْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُ ظُلَّةٌ وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُ وَاقِعٌ بِهِمْ خُذُوا مَا آتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ وَاذْكُرُوا مَا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

(And (remember) when We raised the mountain over them as if it had been a canopy, and they thought that it was going to fall on them. (We said): "Hold firmly to what We have given you (Tawrah), and remember that which is therein (act on its commandments), so that you may fear Allah and obey Him.")(7:171).

The mount mentioned here is At-Tur, just as it was explained in Surat Al-A'raf, according to the Tafsir of Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid, 'Ata', 'Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Ad-Dahhak, Ar-Rabi' bin Anas and others. This is more obvious. There is another report from Ibn 'Abbas saying; 'The Tur is a type of mountain that vegetation grows on, if no vegetation grows on it, it is not called Tur.' And in the Hadith about the trials, Ibn 'Abbas said; "When they (the Jews) refused to obey, Allah raised the mountain above their heads so that they would listen."

Al-Hasan said that Allah's statement,

خُذُوا مَا آتَيْنَاكُم بِقُوَّةٍ

(Hold fast to that which We have given you) means, the Tawrah. Mujahid said that the Ayah commanded, "Strictly adhere to it." Abu Al-'Aliyah and Ar-Rabi' said that,

وَاذْكُرُوا مَا فِيهِ 

(and remember that which is therein) means, "Read the Tawrah and implement it." Allah's statement,

ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُم مِّن بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ فَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ

(Then after that you turned away. Had it not been for the grace of Allah) means, "Yet, after the firm pledge that you gave, you still deviated and broke your pledge";

فَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ 

(Had it not been for the grace and mercy of Allah upon you), meaning, by forgiving you and by sending the Prophets and Messengers to you,

لَكُنتُم مِّنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

(Indeed you would have been among the losers) meaning, in this life and the Hereafter due to their breach of the covenant.