Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:64

(Then you turned away after that) meaning: You turned away from fulfilling the covenant after it had been taken, and you disobeyed. The origin of tawalli (turning away) is a physical act of turning, then it was used metaphorically for abstract turning away, such as non-acceptance. It is understood from the verse that they complied with the command, then abandoned it.

(If it were not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have been among the losers): The "grace" is the enabling toward repentance, and "mercy" is the acceptance thereof; or, the grace and mercy refer to the sending of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and their reaching his era. According to the first interpretation, the address proceeds upon the pattern of the preceding addresses, figuratively considering the predecessors. According to the second, it proceeds upon the literal meaning.

"Loss" is the departure or depletion of capital. The intended meaning is: "You would have been cheated and destroyed by plunging into sins, or by stumbling into the abysses of misguidance during the period of dormancy."

The word "lawla" (if it were not for) is either simple or composed of "law" (which indicates the negation of a thing due to the negation of another) and the negation particle. According to Sibawayh, the noun that follows it is an ibtida’ (subject) whose predicate is omitted because the state of affairs indicates it, and the response to the condition (the consequence) takes its place. The estimation is: "If it were not for the grace of Allah and His mercy being present..." It is not permissible for the response to be the predicate, because it is usually devoid of a pronoun referring back to the subject. According to the Kufans, it is the subject of an omitted verb, meaning: "If the grace of Allah the Almighty had not been established," etc.

(You would have been) is the response to lawla. It is common for the letter lam to enter the response when it is affirmative. It has been said that it is mandatory, except in cases of poetic necessity, such as the poet's saying: "If it were not for modesty and if it were not for religion, I would have reproached you for some of what is in you, as you reproached my faults." In their speech, qad also comes after the lam, such as the saying: "If it were not for the commander, and if it were not for the fear of his obedience, I would have drunk," and what is sweeter than honey. It has also occurred that the lam is dropped while keeping qad, such as: "If it were not for Zayd, I would have honored you." It has not appeared in the Quran in an affirmative form without the lam, except for what some have claimed regarding His saying: "And he would have inclined toward her," as a response to an omitted lawla that preceded it.

As for the aspect of allusion and interpretation in the verse: (And when We took your covenant) which is taken by the evidences of reason regarding the Oneness of actions and attributes. (And We raised above you the mount of the intellect) to enable the understanding of meanings and their acceptance. Or, He—Glory be to Him—alluded by the mount to the Moses of the heart, and by raising it to its loftiness and dominance in the atmosphere of guidance. (And We said: Take) meaning: Accept (what We have given you) from the book of the intellectual criterion, with diligence, and grasp what it contains of wisdom, knowledge, sciences, and laws, so that you may avoid polytheism, ignorance, and immorality. (Then you turned away) by inclining toward the lower realm. After that, if not for the wisdom of Allah the Almighty in granting respite, and His decree of bestowing bounty, the punishment would have hastened upon you, and a great calamity would have befallen you. Unto Allah, the refuser is called with proofs; if he does not answer, then the shining blades of swords shall annihilate him.