AN EXPLANATION

      The Arabic `TAGHWط' which is a key word in Quran literature, is usually translated to God- fearing, and fear of God, and etc. But why should we fear a Being Who is, Absolute goodness and mere Beauty - the Most Gracious, All-mercy, Who never oppresses His servants the amount of an electrons weight? If one has to fear some body, he must fear his own very self, and the sins which he commits. He has to fear his own evil deeds the consequences of which become a chain around his neck and will eventually smite him down.

      Therefore by `TACHWط' piety, virtuousness, and avoiding evil is wanted, and one has to beware not to lose his love for God, and be cautious not to disconnect his connection and relation with Him. If there is a fear on account of God, it is the awful fear to lose Him, and be Godless! I, contrary to almost all the translators who have translated the frequently used imperative verb, `ETTAGHU- ALLAH' into, `FEAR ALLAH', have used the phrase, `BEWARE OF ALLAH' or to be on your guard of Him, or be cautious and avoid evil deeds, and etc., for I know that an honest man has nothing to fear, but the fear of losing his love for God.   TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

FAITH AND INSIGHT (VERSE NO. 29)

      Piety and avoiding evil deeds is the foundation on which all virtues and good characters can be built. The verse implies that, if we beware of Allah, and for His sake, we fear and avoid evil deeds- if we become pious and carefully observe our religious duties; Allah will grant us insight and discernment as a criterion to distinguish wrong and right, false and true.

      Man in his way toward evolution, always confronts with some by-ways, which may mislead him, or lead him into deadlocks, lagoons, or marshy grounds. Many a time he comes to a point wherein truth is mingled with falsehood, and wrong is mixed with right and bitter is covered under the cover of a sweet! Here is where decision making is critical and a hard job to do. Wisdom may give us a hand in such cases, but it is not enough, because man's wisdom itself is surrounded with the opposition of caprices, fancies, imaginations, lusts and etc.

      An effective means of help in such cases is, `PIETY' which arises from our love for God, and our avoiding evil deeds. This verse which we comment it, counts four fruits of piety and proves four valuable results for being cautious of Allah:

      ``O, you who believe! If you beware of Allah, He will grant you a criterion, and will cover your faults, and will forgive you, for Allah is of Great Grace.''

      It firstly implies that, if you become pious, Allah will grant an insight, so that you may easily distinguish between right and wrong and separate truth from falsehood. There is an Islamic tradition that; `a believer sees through the light of God.''

      The second result of piety is that Allah will cover our sins. In other word, He nullifies and renders them ineffective. And thirdly, He may forgive our sins if we adhere to piety, and take care of our deeds. Besides; He may give the pious, other great rewards which depend on the Grace of God and the extent to which the pious has avoided evil and has done good deeds.

      It must be taken serious that; being pious and devoted to religious duties is not to wash your hands and cleanse your clothes every now and then, or perform ceremonial ablutions; or to doubt of the cleanliness of everything and every one! A pious man needs not to withdraw from the society, or to seclude and sequester from the world. In other word, the piety of Islam is not the piety of evading, but rather the piety of invading. As an instance of this; to live and work with the fair sex and to control your passion, lust, and greed, has a much higher value than secluding yourself, and escaping the sexes in order to avoid committing a sin. Of course, he who does not write a dictation will never have a mistake.