The pious - see V.2:2

Question

I have seen this more than a couple times now while reading the Quran. I will quote ayat 19 of surah 45 to help with my question, which is about the bolded part):

Verily, they can avail you nothing against Allah (if He wants to punish you). Verily, the Zalimun (polytheists, wrong-doers, etc.) are Auliya' (protectors, helpers, etc.) to one another, but Allah is the Wali (Helper, Protector, etc.) of the Muttaqun (pious - see V. 2:2). (45:19)

What does "see V. 2:2" mean? I thought it was the details and characteristics of the Muttaqun, and I thought it was referring to ayat 2 of surah 2, but when I read 2:2, it was nothing related to this verse.

Can anyone please shed some light on what this is referring to?

Answer 1

That looks like the Muhsin Khan translation: It has a tendency to cross-reference itself like that, and many of the cross-references only really make sense if you're also looking them up in the Khan translation.

It's not so much referring to the actual ayah of al-Baqarah:2, that's just where the term Muttaqun first appeared in the book. Rather than translating al-Muttaqun like most other translations would (since any such translation risks losing some, if not most, of the meaning of the original Arabic term), the Khan translation inserts a parenthetical explanation of the term and leaves a romanization of the original Arabic. When the term is used again, rather than just repeating that exact same explanation every time it simply refers back to the original.

For reference, I have quoted here the Khan translation of Al-Baqarah 2 with the parenthetical explanation emphasised:

This is the Book (the Quran), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].