Surah Al-Hashr Verse 16

5393 An apt simile. Evil tempts man in all sorts of ways, and presents seductive promises and alliances to delude him into the belief that he will be saved from the consequences. The Evil One says, "Deny Allah": which means not merely denial in words, but denial in acts—disobedience of Allah's Law, deviation from the path of rectitude. When the sinner gets well into the mire, the Evil One says cynically: "How can I help you against Allah? Don't you see I am afraid of Him? All our alliances and understandings were moonshine. You must bear the consequences of your own folly." 5394 The "fear of Allah" is akin to love; for it means the fear of offending Him or doing anything wrong that will forfeit His Good Pleasure. This is Taqwa, which implies self-restraint, guarding ourselves from all sin, wrong, and injustice, and the positive doing of good. See 2:2, and n. 26.