The characteristics of piety...

The characteristics of piety, enumerated in these four verses, are five: Believing in the unseen, keeping up prayers, spending benevolently out of what Allâh has given, believing in what Allâh has revealed to His apostles, and being sure of the hereafter. The pious ones acquire these spiritual qualities by a guidance from Allâh, as Allâh tells us in the next verse: "These are on a guidance from their Lord ".

They became pious and guarded themselves against evil because Allâh had guided them to it. When they got that quality, the Qur’ân became a guidance for them: "This Book . . . (is) a guidance to those who guard against evil". It clearly shows that there are two guidances, one before they became pious, the other after it. The first guidance made them pious; and thereupon Allâh raised their status by the guid­ance of His Book.

The contrast is thus made clear between the pious ones on one hand and the disbelievers and the hypocrites (who are admonished in the next fifteen verses) on the other. The later two groups are surrounded by two strayings and two blindnesses. Their first straying causes their unbelief and hypocrisy, and the second one (which comes after their unbelief and hypocrisy) confirms their first error and strengthens it.

Look at what Allâh says about the disbelievers: Allâh has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing; and there is a covering over their eyes (2:7) . Sealing their hearts has been ascribed to Allâh, but the covering over their eyes was put by the disbelievers themselves. Likewise, Allâh says about the hypocrites: There is a disease in their hearts, so Allâh added to their disease (2:10). The first disease is attributed to the hypocrites themselves, and the second one to Allâh.

The same reality has been explained in many verses. For example: He causes many to err by it and many He leads aright by it! But He does not cause to err by it (any) except the transgressors (2:26) ; . . . but when they turned aside, Allâh made their hearts turn aside (61:5). In short, the pious ones are surrounded by two guidances, as the disbelievers and hypocrites fall between two errors. The second guidance is by the Qur’ân; therefore, the first one must have been before the Qur’ân.

They must have been guided by a healthy and unimpaired psychology. If a man's nature is faultless and flawless, it cannot fail to see that it is dependent on some thing above it.