既然如此,那么当这四个术语的确切含义被迷雾笼罩时,《古兰经》的大部分教义——确切地说,是其真正精神的四分之三以上——变得晦暗不明,这难道还值得奇怪吗?这正是人们在信仰和行为上所见种种缺失的主要原因,尽管他们并未正式放弃伊斯兰信仰,仍然身处其中。

This being the case, is it any wonder that, through the mist that has come to surround the precise sense of the four terms in question, more than three-fourths of the teachings of the Qur'ān, or rather, the real spirit thereof, have become obscured, and this is the main cause of the shortcomings that are to be seen in peoples’ beliefs and acts despite the fact that they have not formally given up the faith of Islam but are still in its fold.

因此,要充分、完整地理解《古兰经》的教义及其核心理念,作为一名合格的穆斯林,首先必须明白这些术语的真正含义。尽管我在以往的许多著作中已对这些术语作过解释,但这些解释仍不足以消除人们心中的种种误解,也未必能让所有人信服。因为如果没有基于公认阿拉伯语用法的完整语义阐释,以及《古兰经》本身的引证,我的论述很可能被视为仅仅是个人意见,而这种意见本身也不会打动那些在其他问题上与我持不同看法的人。因此,在接下来的讨论中,我将尽力广泛引用这些词语的词典含义,并且不说任何我无法以公认用法或《古兰经》为依据的话。

It is therefore of utmost importance that in order to have a full and complete understanding of the Qur'ānic teachings and of their central idea, one should know, as a fundamental to being a good Muslim, what these terms really mean. Although I have given explanations of these terms in many earlier writings, they are not enough to remove all the misconceptions in peoples’ minds, nor are they likely to satisfy everybody because, in the absence of full semantic explanations based on recognized Arabic usage, and quotations from the Qur'ān itself, I might be taken as expressing my own opinion only - an opinion which in any case will not appeal to those who differ with me on other issues. I shall therefore endeavour, in the forthcoming discussions, to extensively quote the dictionary sense of the words, and not say anything which I cannot base either on recognized usage, or the Qur'ān.

我将遵循的顺序是：Ilaah、Rabb、Ibadah 和 Deen。

The order I shall follow will be Ilaah, Rabb, Ibadah, and Deen.