وَإِذْ نَتَقْنَا الْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُ ظُلَّةٌ وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُ وَاقِعٌ بِهِمْ خُذُوا مَا آتَيْنَاكُمْ بِقُوَّةٍ وَاذْكُرُوا مَا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿۱۷۱﴾ وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَى شَهِدْنَا أَنْ تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ ﴿۱۷۲﴾ أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ ﴿۱۷۳﴾

﴾171﴿ Wa iz nataqnal jabala fawqahum ka annahoo zullatunw wa zannooo annahoo waaqi'un bihim khuzoo maaa aatainaakum biquwwatinw wazkuroo maa feehi la'allakum tattaqoon
﴾172﴿ Wa iz akhaza Rabbuka min Baneee Aadama min zuhoorihim zurriyyatahum wa ashhadahum 'alaa anfusihim alastu bi Rabbikum qaaloo balaa shahidnaaa; an taqooloo Yawmal Qiyaamati innaa kunnaa 'an haazaa ghaafileen
﴾173﴿ Aw taqoolooo innamaaa ashraka aabaaa 'unaa min qablu wa kunnaa zurriyyatan min ba'dihim 'a fa tuhlikunaa bi maa fa'alal mubtiloon

﴾171﴿ And when We raised the mountain above them as if it were a canopy, and they believed that it was coming down upon them (We said) Take the Book which We have given you, and strive, and remember what is in it, that you may become righteous
﴾172﴿ And when your Lord took from the children of Adam, from their loins, their offspring, and made them witnesses against themselves Am I not your Lord? They said, Yes, You are, We bear witness (to this promise) lest you not say on the Day of Resurrection, Indeed, we were unaware of this monotheism
﴾173﴿ Or do not say, It is nothing but that our fathers before us committed idolatry, and we were their descendants after them so you will not say Will you destroy us with what the false worshippers did

[171] This is the second refutation of their claim. The point being made is: If you were truly forgiven, then why was the mountain raised over you at the time the covenant was taken, and why were you forced to accept it?
This verse clearly states that the mountain was physically raised above them—a fact also mentioned in verses 63 and 93 of Surah Al-Baqarah.
(نَتَقْنَا) – In linguistic terms, natq means to uproot something from its base and cast it aside. In this context, it refers to raising the mountain, as supported by the verses mentioned.
(ظُلَّةٌ) – This refers to anything that provides shade—whether it's the roof of a room, a cloud, or a canopy.
[172] This is the third refutation of their claim. The message is: If you were truly forgiven, then why was the covenant of tawḥīd (monotheism) taken from you? And why do prophets and scriptures continue to remind you of it?
This verse refers to the covenant taken in the Realm of Spirits (‘Ālam al-Arwāḥ). Although there is no fully authentic (ṣaḥīḥ marfū‘) hadith directly from the Prophet (peace be upon him) on this, there is an authentic mawqūf hadith (a narration from a Companion), and in such matters, mawqūf reports are accepted like marfū‘ ones.
The essence of the narration is that all the offspring of Adam (peace be upon him) were extracted from his back in the form of tiny, ant-like creatures, and from them the covenant of tawḥīd was taken.
Some commentators have interpreted this verse to mean that every newborn is born with innate recognition of tawḥīd (monotheism), and this natural disposition is metaphorically referred to as taking the covenant.
According to the first interpretation, “Children of Adam” refers to the souls extracted from Adam (peace be upon him). Or, it could mean they were created then in the same way they would later be created physically—but this interpretation contradicts clear hadith reports.
There is also a linguistic objection to the first view: it would be more eloquent to refer directly to “Adam” rather than using “Children of Adam” if the intent was only to mention him personally.
[173] The essence of the verse is that if no covenant had been taken from the polytheists, and no reminder had been given to them through the messengers, they would have made two excuses:
1. Claiming ignorance or forgetfulness (ghaflah), and
2. Saying they were merely following their forefathers (taqlīd).
But after the sending of messengers, ignorance is no longer a valid excuse, and blind imitation (taqlīd) is not acceptable either.