The Primordial Covenant between God and Man (Bazm-i Alast) in the Tafsīr Literature

According to the verse 7/el-Arāf:172-173 of the Qur’an, before human beings were created on earth, a covenant (mīthāq) had been made between God and human beings to the effect that they would recognize Allah as their Lord. This article surveys the ways in which this covenant was understood in the Tafsīr literature. The issue of Allah’s making a covenant with human beings has been discussed widely in this literature, resulting in a controversy as to how to interpret it: did the whole event really take place as is described or is it only a figurative expression. Those who believe that it was a real event base their view on narratives. Those on the other side construe the verse figuratively as referring to the disposition in human nature to accept the existence and the oneness of God and reject the first view by pointing to theoretical problems in it. This study offers a survey of the arguments of both sides along with certain theological approaches to the issue and also presents briefly the sufi esoteric understanding of the verse.